Hi from Montana!

[addy1]

Glad you have all of your fish accounted for! Mine are busy trying to make more fish. 60 must be the perfect time to spawn temperature, they are going crazy.

 

[j.w]

No spawning here yet...........fish have their little raincoats on and umbrella's up :umbrella:

 

[CountryEscape]

My fish are ready to pop, too, but water temp is too cool, so hoping they will wait a little while longer. They say getting up to 70 and sunny today. Still cloudy this morning, though. Ho hum .... Water is only 51 today, got .5" of rain in that all day light shower. Sure hoping the sun comes out soon! Looks so gloomy outside still.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Sun is out again, and I finally woke up, sleeped in late cause I was up all night playing by my ponds... to much wine and to much song, wonder how I get going all night long, I had Joy I had Fun, in the dark with no Sun, led pulg "in lights" made for a wonderful night! He he he.

 

[mtpond]

LOL Colleen, I've had nights like that before too. I usually don't do work around the pond at that time , I just sit outside and listen to the water and watch the water coming down the falls.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I find I work really hard in the middle of the night, no sun beating me to death, and then come morning I can just laze around. Neighbors must think I am weird... I can often be found working at midnight in the front flower beds, under the street lights!

 

[sissy]

hmmm and she is telling us something new .LOL colleen .We would make great neighbors then I find myself out there with an LED flashlight .We don't have street lights here .No one wants them any ways except for the people willing to pay for them and pollute the starry night sky .

 

[j.w]

Know what you mean you guys, I love the night, it's so calm and quiet and don't like street lights or porch lights. You are right sissy all the lights wreck the night star gazing! Sometimes I sneak out for a nice walk at night but one must be careful not to get eaten up by the wild things!Used to go w/ my big huge dog and he'd protect me from anything but he's been gone now for over 15 yrs, so sad :bye2:

 

[callingcolleen1]

Raining like crazy here in Alberta, what's happening down in Montana?

 

[mtpond]

It has rained, snowed and hailed today. It is hailing as I'm typing .

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have just finished hauling in all my plants ... back into the greenhouse they go, supposed to snow overnight!

 

[mtpond]

Bringing in some of my plants too. Low of 31F tonight and low of 27F tomorrow night.

 

[Dave 54]

Waterbug,

I am curious, too. But, I think that the bottom of the pond would be warmer as the ground temperature should be higher than the air temp. So, depending upon how much water circulation there is, I would expect the bottom to be warmer always. That being due to the insulation factor and the heat from the earth. But, there is one other thing to consider. Which is that when water nears the freezing point, it has a special quality that no other element does. It expands, rather than contracting, that makes it less dense. Which is why ice forms on the surface of a lake or pond instead of the bottom. So at or near the freezing point, the coldest water must be nearer the surface.

I wouldn't think that it would be noticeable at outdoor air temperatures well above freezing (like at 37°F), but maybe it starts setting itself up this way because the bottom of the pond gets the heat from the earth and the surface is exposed to the outdoor air and wind. During the daylight hours, obviously, the sunlight that hits the pond will pass through the water to the bottom and be absorbed by the darker color liner of the pond, thus heating the water at the bottom moreso than at the surface.

If everyone's temperature readings are to be taken as accurate, then there must be an explanation. The facts that I cited above are as close as I can come to explaining this. I cannot say that I am right, but there is a lot of evidence that leans this way. The only water that disagrees with me here is the ocean saltwater. Since saltwater doesn't freeze at the normal temperature, the colder water can and will sink to a lower level, at least up to a point. Without the saline factor of our oceans, the Haline conveyor would not operate and we would re-enter another ice age. That is a theory that some oceanographers and earth science folks hold with. I happen to agree with them.

I don't know if you agree with me, Waterbug, but this is the best reasoning that I can come up with off the cuff. I don't know how else to explain it. I don't think that it is critically important to a pond owner, but I think that everything is worthy of investigation. For someone in a very cold clime, it might be important. What are your own opinions?

Gordy

Gordy I believe your talking about the warmth of the earth warming your pond yes , then you need to go down by 6-8ft to find this sweat spot.
The average depth of a pond for koi is from 4 ft to 5 ft and it doest heat the pond by that much .
My friend gets around the coldest of winters in Canada by bringing them into her husbands work shop.
We ourselves cover the pond with policarbonate sheets with two void's.
Weve also built n around our filets a wooden filter housing both the pond and the pond are glad that way and there is the 22 mm insulation silver sided bubble wrap and around the pond and other insulation in the form of recycled plastic roof insulation , wg=hich does the kob nicely add a small oilheated radiator on its lowest setting 800 watt to the filterhousing to warm up the water rather tha use am inline heater of 1,000 watts upwards.

rgrds

Dave

 

[mtpond]

Shut off my skimmer and waterfall cause pond temp were dropping. I only have my air pump running now. Tomorrow is suppose to be warmer so things will be up and running again.

 

[callingcolleen1]

My pumps run all winter, and the cold water never hurts my fish, so tonight is no big deal to me, as I never shut my pumps off, and never have for over 20 years now....