Basic needs for small pond

[j.w]

@tbendl You appreciate good grammar my friend and I know you will make good use of that one. We are kindred spirits

 

[dieselplower]

This is just my opinion but I don't think much of putting prefilters in the pond. Reason being, you want to remove the debris from the entire pond system, not trap it in the pond. Look at it this way... The purpose of a filter is to remove debris from a pond. If you dont remove it, it is going to break down into ammonia and other things you don't want in your pond. It does not matter if you trap the debris with a prefilter or a post pump filter UNLESS you are cleaning out the filter regularly. If you don't clean out the filter, the debris will just break down in the filter and return to the pond. An external filter can be much bigger than an in pond prefilter. I can also be much easier to clean out. I mean really, how much can those tiny prefilters hold anyway?

 

[j.w]

I've been using a prefilter system for 13yrs but just switched to this easier version. No problems w/the water or the fish so far. I do partial water changes also now and then (not winter) plus we get a lot of rain. Easy to clean once a month in Summer and in winter I just use it mainly to keep fish from getting sucked up into the pump. Take out the finer inner core so most stuff just passes through. You would be surprised how much this prefilter can hold. It's 16" tall and 8" wide. Just saying it works for my setup.

 

[Huckleberry12]

Ummm.... something you said, JW... should I be keeping my pump going all winter? I've read varying things in books on this issue. I thought I would keep it going except when it was down around freezing. Then two or three weeks ago, we had a cold snap and I wasn't really sure what to do, but it seemed to be fine, so I was just keeping an eye on it. Yes, dumb, I know. The fountain was still spurting water around. But I went out in the evening and I could tell from the sound it wasn't working properly, so I thought "oh-oh" and went over to unplug it and discovered to my shock and horror that 8" of water was gone! So I spent the next half hour running in and out of the house carrying buckets of water to fill it up. Never did figure out where the water went. Needless to say, I took the pump out. Now with this current cold spell there is some ice on the pond, so I am just taking out pots of hot water a couple of times a day to keep an air hole. So other than that, what should I actually be doing?

 

[j.w]

I leave my pump and waterfall running and a pump also attached to a fountain that just spouts one big bubbling mass of water. You don't want to run fountains that have those attachments on top that make pretty sprays as they can freeze. You can take the attachment off and just let it bubble out at the surface out of the tube. The top pipe part of mine is right under water at the surface. The water fall and the bubbler keep the ice free in those spots. Here is a photo of mine in winter when we had some pretty cold weather for a few days one year.
Here is the bubbler keeping a hole open:




Here's one time when it really got bad but the falls kept running:

You will have to decide for yourself when and if you need to turn it off. Depends on your set up and how it freezes. Keep an eye on it if you leave your fountain on to bubble up. These pix are the extreme for us and most other times it does not freeze this hard. Letting them run for me beats running out there all the time setting pots of hot water on the ice to melt a hole open.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Welcome April!! I too live in Canada but one province over, in Sunny Southern Alberta where the winters can be rough. I leave my pumps running all the time, even in Minus 40 Below Zero Temperatures! So if I can do it so can you, especially since you live on the warm western coast!
I have the same underwater filters as JW and I have been using them for years. The reason I like underwater filters is because:
#1 you can run them all winter cause they won't freeze up cause they are under the ice!
#2 you do not need to clean them every week and they can run all winter below the ice without plugging up like the small little filter that comes with the pump.
#3 after a while lots of little living things will come along like worms and stuff, will move into the underwater filter and help break down the waste.

ps. My oldest Sister Debbie lives down there too!

 

[Huckleberry12]

JW, your posts are so clear and specific, I can't tell you how much I appreciate them! And the photos really help a lot too. Thank you very much.

 

[j.w]

Anytime you need help feel free to ask away

 

[Huckleberry12]

And Huckleberry, yes you can have a pond without fish. There are a few of us with nature ponds on here. I have a new pond that I hope to eventually be filtered solely through my bog. I have had no issues with mosquitoes. Hope you'll keep us updated with pictures.

Thanks for that information. Yours sounds interesting with a bog and all! And no mosquitoes! Wow. I like my fishies but most of all I love the birds the moving water attracts. And the reflections.

 

[Huckleberry12]

Welcome April!! I too live in Canada but one province over, in Sunny Southern Alberta where the winters can be rough. I leave my pumps running all the time, even in Minus 40 Below Zero Temperatures! So if I can do it so can you, especially since you live on the warm western coast!
I have the same underwater filters as JW and I have been using them for years. The reason I like underwater filters is because:
#1 you can run them all winter cause they won't freeze up cause they are under the ice!
#2 you do not need to clean them every week and they can run all winter below the ice without plugging up like the small little filter that comes with the pump.
#3 after a while lots of little living things will come along like worms and stuff, will move into the underwater filter and help break down the waste.

ps. My oldest Sister Debbie lives down there too!

Hi Colleen! That is so good to know. Don't know how you survive those winters, though I used to live in the bush in Ontario where it got that cold. Not for me any more! Your sister lives on the west coast? I hope tomorrow that I can get to a pond store and will ask about this kind of filter material. Thanks for sharing!

 

[addy1]

Thanks for that information. Yours sounds interesting with a bog and all! And no mosquitoes! Wow. I like my fishies but most of all I love the birds the moving water attracts. And the reflections.

We have zero mosquitoes, even with all the water we have added, a lot fewer flies, crickets, bugs in general, the critters that come when you have a pond sure do help. When we moved there if I walked out at night the back patio was covered with black crickets, now you just see one off and on. The toads, frogs, birds, dragon flies have moved in. A house a street over the lady was complaining she could not sit out in the am or evening without being bitten by them. I told her put in a pond!

 

[Dave 54]

Hey, Dave, not all of Canada is like Fort St. John! It's about 1200 km. north of here and away from the coast. You have to be tough to live there! We're wimps down here and complain if it goes below freezing. There's been a real cold spell the past week - it got down to -6C (21F) at night. Thankfully it is back up to normal.
JW, I was very heartened by your situation! Thank you for telling me about it! I forgot to mention that I have a prefilter (I tend to think of it just as part of the pump):
View attachment 77422
I remove the prefilter and rinse if out once a week.
Addy, your suggestions of digging a deeper pond without shelves and straightish sides sounds like an excellent plan. I could make it a little longer too. Hopefully won't run into too much hardpan. I could do that and with the pump and prefilter see if I get on as well as JW does. And last night I spent about an hour looking at your posts and pictures of your extensive water garden. I so enjoyed reading about it! You've got a passion, that's for sure!

I was also wondering if a pond with a pump, prefilter, a fountain and plants could be balanced without fish. Would the fountain be enough to discourage mosquitoes? This forum is a grand place to learn and be inspired. Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

Hey and theres thinking you guys were all tough guys in Canada , here in the UK this country grinds to a halt even with two inches of snow , kids dont go to school the Authorities dont seem able to cope and the trains stop running because of the wrong sort of snow on the line oh boy
However it neer used to be like this winter has seen both Val and I wanling through knee high smow to get to school and the teachers made it in .
To put it quite plainly one good and heavy prolonged bout of snow would stop the UK dead in its tracks nowadays
j.w. too much of a waterfall in winter can super chill a pond which can cause all sorts of other problems as others are finding this winter already
Dave

 

[Huckleberry12]

Dave, I can't imagine that sort of snow in beautiful Devon! Scary what is happening to the world! We had that much here in 1996. Years ago I lived in Bristol for a year and we got an inch of snow. The city ground to a halt. The previous year the city had spent oodles of money on snow removal equipment but it didn't work with less than three inches of snow!

To put my pump back in the pond now as a bubbler, does it need to be just under the surface? If I put it on the tile, it's about four or five inches below surface.

 

[j.w]

@Dave 54 if my new pump puts out too much I can always switch back to the old one w/less power for winter. Or I could turn the falls off and just run the tubing over the side from the old one or even just turn the falls off completely and just let the water bubbler run. Lots of choices. Fish seem to love playing in the falls now even in winter. Crazy fish!

 

[Dave 54]

Dave, I can't imagine that sort of snow in beautiful Devon! Scary what is happening to the world! We had that much here in 1996. Years ago I lived in Bristol for a year and we got an inch of snow. The city ground to a halt. The previous year the city had spent oodles of money on snow removal equipment but it didn't work with less than three inches of snow!

To put my pump back in the pond now as a bubbler, does it need to be just under the surface? If I put it on the tile, it's about four or five inches below surface.

We can remember the bad one of 63 in my home town of Oldham Lancashire we had drifts up to the first floor window Val says it was bad down here too .
Thing is though cant remember much in the way of snow these last few years a smattering thats all otherwise its been rain .
Last year was totally different for us though the UK was hit by storm after storm after storm many force 11 on the beaufort scale we took alot of hits all around the southwest with even the coastline changing due to the power of the successive storms .
Even Plymouth got hit big style and we have a large breakwater protecting us .
They recomend the bubbler be off the bottom by about 6" for the winter and turned down some .

Dave