Crazy weather...cold then warm... my poor fish

[j.w]

I'm just going to play it by ear this winter I think. Might just leave the falls running all winter. My falls don't seem to be to harsh when hitting the surface water so thinking the fish can still find some warmer water below. Think I shall raise the pump up to the plant ledge tho.

 

[addy1]

I pulled mine yesterday, the still water of the pond was icing over, we had 8 inches of solid ice on it last winter. I would worry the bog would start icing up, then poof pond is empty...........
my aerator is making a nice ring of bubbles in the shallower end of the pond, about 15 feet plus from the deep end.

 

[taherrmann4]

I also have a lot of algae growing in the falls and streams now.

 

[sissy]

I found out yesterday why my pond water stays warmer and it never even dawned on me to think of it ,my pond is not far from my septic tank .The wishing well is over the clean out for the septic tank and that is only a few feet from the pond .I was reading about people who use pipes around there septic tanks to help heat there homes .So I went out with a probe that murphy construction came over with (they put the septic in ) he put this temp probe in the ground to show me the difference in the temp of the ground closer to the septic tank and farther out .He came up to see me as the new house being built down the road hired him to put theres in as I gave the people his name .He said something about it when I was showing him my pond .Then he showed me he has this long metal probe he puts in the ground to take the temp of the ground .He mentioned I built my pond in a great spot to keep the water warmer .Never even dawned on me .Thats why my pond has stayed above 60 degrees so far .In the snow pic below you see the wishing well

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, lucky you, Sissy! Come to think of it, my septic tank is VERY close to my waterfall, and the pond is on the other side of the waterfall from the septic tank. I even wondered if I built the falls too close, if I ever need to empty the septic. I think I'm ok, as the cap is visible, BUT, if they ever have to dig up the septic tank, I'll have to undo and redo the falls, which is no big deal. Maybe my septic will help keep my pond from freezing as solid if I keep the falls going as long as possible. I know it can be a reverse situation, though, too, as in the falls will pull more colder air and cause the pond to get colder, too.

 

[DrDave]

When it gets cold here, the Azolla and Duckweed replace the water lettuce as the primary floaters, Then the string algae starts and continues till it warms up in May or June.
My ponds have been bouncing around 55 up and down for the past few days. As long as it is over 55 I feed them figuring the water temp will hold long enough for them to digest the food.

 

[CountryEscape]

I have a lot of string algae, and am hoping it will die out during the winter; however, I suspect there will be enough of it in the pond that it will regroup and rejuvenate in the spring, so I'll still have to deal with it in the spring, right? I need to look at other posts as far as how to get rid of it next spring, assuming now it's too far into the cold weather to worry about it. I plan to get a stiff bristle brush today to brush the waterfall rocks and I've been pulling what I can along the edge of the pond, which is where it tends to be, in the first 6-10" of water, but it won't come off of the liner very easily. At least I get the most of it that is floating toward the center. I tried the bottle brush someone suggested, but it would not grab it well enough to pull it off the liner either. I just don't want it to overtake my pond next spring, so am looking for ideas now to help me get a jump start on it in the spring.

 

[sissy]

country your septic tank warms up the ground under and if it is close your bottom pond water is probably warmer than your top water .I have a digital thermometer at the bottom of my pond and temps have been staying from 60 and going up to 70 and I still have both of my waterfalls going and filters still running .Murphy construction told me that the way they tell if a septic tank is working right is by the temperature it is giving off .You can use a toilet bowl brush or even just a stick with screws or nails sticking out of it ,just be careful of your liner

 

[sissy]

I made a dowel up with holes drilled in it with smaller pieces of dowels threaded through the holes in the bigger dowel for my neighbor to use .

 

[sissy]

to check your bottom temps just take a regular thermometer and tie a weight to the bottom of it and tie a string to the top of it so you can pull it back out .Wait at least an hour pull it out and you know the bottom temp of your pond water ,

 

[koiguy1969]

fasten a toilet brush on an extension pole for your string alge...it works pretty good and wont harm your liner.

 

[sissy]

True koiguy and some of the bowl brushes the handle unscrews and you can even take a broom handle and screw it on .Id that with one I found at a dollar store and it works great from scrubbing the bottom of the pond .It is hard to find the screw on ones but I did find one at lowes that has a long handle that screws on .I guess it is for people who don't want to get to close to the bowl LOL

 

[addy1]

Hate cleaning those things..........yuck.............

 

[mikeinpgh]

Mike, how cold does it get in PA where you live? I was wondering about leaving my waterfall and skimmer running as long as possible. If the waterfall starts to freeze, of course, I will shut it all down (before that point actually) and unhook the pump and just keep it running shooting the water straight up to the surface, keep the water moving and open. Also have a heater to float if necessary to keep open area. I don't plan to pull or stop anything until I have to. My filter will be very easy to drain when I'm ready to shut down the waterfall, and the pump is just a matter of pull it up, unhook the pipe, lay pipe on the ground to drain out and pull skimmer out and unhook it. Takes all of one screwdriver and maybe 10 minutes total to get that done.

In Pittsburgh, we usually have a week or 2 in the single digits and a few days below 0. But it seems like the temps are always all over the place, upper 30's, low 20's. It's hard to say.
I would plug in the floating heater when the whole pond would get covered in ice. I would unplug it when most of the ice would melt. You're not supposed to use the heater with running water, but it worked fine for me.

 

[sissy]

I just hope this winter is not anything like last winter .Last winter is the first time my area had temps below zero for a week of course that was with the wind chill .