"Gold fish boil," anyone? or "Why ponds need shade" [in Dixie]!

[Dave 54]

Last check of the pond for the day. Temp. was 89.1, so already a whole degree less than 24 hrs. ago -- LOL! But the fish looked fine, active, unlike last night..

Now, I just hope that all of these interventions will help keep the oxygen level up since that is the real issue with elevated temps.

Maggie our water movement is like yours every day of the week with a powerful flow of air to the spindrifter bubbler which really gives us water movement
It doesnt seem to harm the fish infact I think it breaks up their outline rom above very nicely if you could run one or more of your DIY fountain heads it may just lower the temperature even more .

Dave

 

[C-Note]

So sorry you lost some, Maggie. I added the sail shades this year, and it really made a huge difference for us in water temp and algae growth. I hope it does as well for you! Sounds exactly like what I experienced with out smaller pond at the last house... high heat starved out the oxygen, and that's exactly how our fish behaved. Sounds like you've taken the right steps, and I do hope it is all stable before you have to leave town. If I were closer, I'd offer to pond-sit! Good luck!

 

[Mmathis]

@C-Note Gee, thanks for the offer.....

Well, is everyone ready for an update?

After getting the sun shade up, I've been taking water temp. readings 3 times daily. The average water temp. is running 86-87!!! Yea! So the shade is helping to keep the water cooler. And the fish are acting normal, so I can only assume there is a good level of dissolved oxygen in the water. KOKO!

 

[addy1]

Glad to hear TM. My pond is back down to 74 again, the last few nights have been in the mid 50's

 

[ronahalpern]

Good to hear that the shade sails are bringing the temp down. Very sad and I empathize with your loved fish now swimming in that great Pond above.

I couldn't sit in my yard due to the sun's heat. My solution (which took far too long for me to come up with): I researched and bought a willowy type of tall bamboo in a large plastic container. Since it's been in place providing shelter for my fish and I, we've gotten comfy and spend a lot of time together

This left me w/ one shaded area and the rest of the patio remained unusable for me. A friend pointed out a great sale on big striped umbrellas ($16) and stands. All of this inspired me to have more more plants out there. It's become a beautiful tranquil oasis.

 

[Dave 54]

Basically Maggie after chatting with Syd as I said I would his words of wisdom [not knowing your pond but woking from a rule of thumb],deeper ponds have more stable temperatures than shallow ponds.
Shallow areas, such as shelves are inadvisable since they heat up quickly and circulation then mixes the warm water with cooler and deeper water.
If the heating is primarily due to direct sunlight then shade will help.
If the air temperature is cooler than the pond then a large spray device [not a little Hippo pond fountain] or a large, splashy waterfall will cool the water.
A more expensive but complete cure for an overheating problem is a heat pump that has a cooling facility. Just as an ordinary heat pump can be set to maintain a minimum temperature, newer type heat pumps have a cooling facility which can be set to maintain a maximum temperature.
All in all good advice

Dave

 

[Mmathis]

@Dave 54 and your friend, Syd, thank you. My pond is deeper than most gold fish ponds, and averages about 3' deep. No shelves, but graduated depths for ease of entering & exiting (by me). Shade is helping. Air temp right now is 103F (despite what the temp thingy on here might say), but pond temp is holding below 90. Plus, we're having nice breezes which help.

I take it back about the shelves, because I do have ledges for holding the edging rocks. But as far as temps go, the rocks are cool to the touch compared to surrounding surfaces. There are places where I still have bare liner on the berm....that black liner is blistering hot!

 

[Dave 54]

@Dave 54 and your friend, Syd, thank you. My pond is deeper than most gold fish ponds, and averages about 3' deep. No shelves, but graduated depths for ease of entering & exiting (by me). Shade is helping. Air temp right now is 103F (despite what the temp thingy on here might say), but pond temp is holding below 90. Plus, we're having nice breezes which help.

I take it back about the shelves, because I do have ledges for holding the edging rocks. But as far as temps go, the rocks are cool to the touch compared to surrounding surfaces. There are places where I still have bare liner on the berm....that black liner is blistering hot!

Theres not much Syd doesnt know about water its been his job for many years now he recently was out your side of the pond as a guest speaker at a koi seminar .
Which he greatly enjoyed and loved your American welcome ., I would never have though about ledges being a source of heat in a pond would you ?

Dave

 

[Lisak1]

I would never have though about ledges being a source of heat in a pond would you ?

That's interesting that you say that @Dave 54. I was in the pond on a super hot day last week - it was about 95 degrees - and as I moved around the pond, I noticed that several of my shelf areas are actually cooler than the same level of the pond. The reason being is we have plants that float at the surface (floating hearts and bog bean which both grow very thick) and provide a good, solid shade cover in those areas. Shelves that are more exposed to the sun were definitely warmer which makes sense - shallow water warms faster than deeper - but I was surprised to find that the shaded areas, even though shallow, were cooler than the main pond. My fish aren't surprised though - the little guys love to hang out under there, and now I know why!

Something to think about when you're planting your pond - shade cover on your shelves is definitely a plus!

 

[Dave 54]

That's interesting that you say that @Dave 54. I was in the pond on a super hot day last week - it was about 95 degrees - and as I moved around the pond, I noticed that several of my shelf areas are actually cooler than the same level of the pond. The reason being is we have plants that float at the surface (floating hearts and bog bean which both grow very thick) and provide a good, solid shade cover in those areas. Shelves that are more exposed to the sun were definitely warmer which makes sense - shallow water warms faster than deeper - but I was surprised to find that the shaded areas, even though shallow, were cooler than the main pond. My fish aren't surprised though - the little guys love to hang out under there, and now I know why!

Something to think about when you're planting your pond - shade cover on your shelves is definitely a plus!

Hi Lisa not my wisdom I'm affraid called in a favour of one of the real water experts its not only his job but his passion , I was just passing on part of his email to me specific to Maggies questions,
Which hes just repied to after coming back from speaking as a guest of honour to a koi seminar in the US , which he enjoyed as did the people he was talking too

Dave

 

[Mmathis]

I have stopped doing thrice daily water temp. checks since the temps. are obviously holding steady at a lower reading. And the fish are happy and acting normal. Now, once a couple of days ago I checked it and almost had a heart attack -- it read something like 98F!!!! But that was my fault because I had accidently pulled the probe out of the water and it was reading the air temp. WHEW!

Since putting up the shades, I did make one other change. In post #10 I have a picture of the additional DIY spitter-fountain that I added -- it sprays out at just above water level. I extended the length of the PVC pipe so that it now sprays out from around 18" above water level.

This was the pond temp. day before yesterday, early or late afternoon Air temp. was about 103F [heat index was about 118F].

 

[tbendl]

I'm so glad you got the temperature under control TM. You guys must have hotter weather than we do, we at least get a bit of breeze off the gulf.

 

[Mmathis]

I'm so glad you got the temperature under control TM. You guys must have hotter weather than we do, we at least get a bit of breeze off the gulf.

T, if my recent visit to the coast was any indication, no, you guys are hotter -- or at least it felt hotter and more humid to us. Maybe it is the breeze. IDK.

 

[tbendl]

I'm going to stay in my happy bubble that it's cooler... I have been paying attention to the fish since it's been so hot but haven't seen any indications that they are suffering. I don't have a water thermometer though so maybe ignorance IS bliss.

 

[Mmathis]

I'm going to stay in my happy bubble that it's cooler... I have been paying attention to the fish since it's been so hot but haven't seen any indications that they are suffering. I don't have a water thermometer though so maybe ignorance IS bliss.

I got the thermometer mainly so I could monitor the winter temps. But if there's one thing I've learned, it's that observing your fish and monitoring their behavior is one of the best ways to tell what's going on with the pond! And add to that, when I see some unusual behavior, I go one step further to try to get a bigger picture. For example, right now I'm super-focused on this oxygen thing. The other afternoon I noticed that every single fish in the pond was "flashing" and gasping for air at the places where there is a spitter or a water return..... OMG, there was an instant of panic! But then, silly me, I realized that I had just finished a water change and raised the water level a few inches higher than it usually is. What I at first interpretted as a radical behavior change was actually fish being fish -- they were fighting for any little bits of "critter" that might have been released by the higher-than-usual water level [things hiding in the rock edge, etc.]. But I still kept an eye on them, and yeah, they were OK!