I wonder how much stress this weather causes?

[Shdwdrgn]

We're at that weird time of year for our area... I wake up every morning to a fresh layer of ice on the pond, and by 10am the air temperature is up to 50 degrees and the ice is melting off quickly. Some days the water temperature is getting well into the upper 40's and the fish are looking for food near dusk. This will continue well through January until the cold really sets in around February, then we'll see how thick the ice gets. Now that we've gotten through the cold-snap from early December, I don't even bother having the heaters plugged in.

At least all the fish seem to handle it fine. Even the new fish are doing ok, and everybody seems happy to get a small nibble of some wheat-germ food (first year I've had this!) whenever the water is warmer. I suppose their activity is a good thing, in that it helps prevent food from sitting in their stomachs for too much time over the Winter.

The other annoying thing is that I have string algae blooming under the ice in the river. Come on! It's too cold for the biofilters to work, all of the water plants have died back, so there's nothing to combat the algae. Hopefully it will die off again when the next cold-spell hits, but this is boding bad tidings for what I'll be up against in the Spring.

I swear, Colorado has the most insane Winter weather of any place I've ever lived. Where else can you suffer from 95-degree weather over the weekend, and wake up to 3" of snow the next morning?

 

[sissy]

In VA we had 60 degrees yesterday and then the wind came and it dropped down to 17 degrees and today it is just as cold with wind gusting at 40 mph and then tomorrow it is supposed to be 55 degrees and by friday it is supposed to be in the mid 60's

 

[addy1]

Same here sissy, going to be in the 50's this weekend. 16 tonight, darn wind chill too

 

[taherrmann4]

It has been a mild winter so far for us, tonight is the first night that any type of ice is forming on the surface of the pond. My fish seem to like the mild temps they have been moving around quite a bit, I can see them from my house and they are usually all together though.

 

[j.w]

Just having the usual rain and mild temps here in the great PNW. Did have a windstorm last night. Thought the lights might go but only flickered a few times and then simmered down. Branches blown down here and there. Nothing too dramatic.

 

[taherrmann4]

JW in Cincinnati we had twice as much rain last year than seattle got. Hard to believe b/c the perception is that it is always raining there....

 

[j.w]

The rain in Cincinnati prolly came in downpours all at once............ours is spread out all year so it seems worse. I'd rather just get it all over with at once or actually I would prefer that it only rained during the night and we could all wake up here to bright sunshine everyday :sun_smiley:

 

[sissy]

Here we are happy to see any kind of rain after the dry summer and the drought we had .Thats why i have to reseed part of my front lawn as the grass did not make it and just didn't come back .Just bare dirt so back to square one fertilize and reseed

 

[fishin4cars]

Keep in mind that the string algae is actually a great benefit for the pond during this time of year, yes it doesn't look good but think of the benefits it's providing, feeding on nitrates and removing them during the time that you can't water change regularly , water clarifier,and food for the fish. It may continue to grow during the winter months. Hopefully it won't die back until the spring when the plants kick back in. Removing in now will allow nutrients to build that could cause green water bloom in the spring. It's going to be under the ice for the most part for a while so might as well rake in the benefits of it being there. It's actually more beneficial then problematic at this time of the year.

 

[addy1]

I left algae clumps for the fish, tads, frogs, snails to enjoy over winter. They would not enjoy a naked pond during these cold winter days.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Beneficial string algae? Now that sounds like a contradiction in terms! Well there's not much I could do about it anyway. It's covering rocks and gravel, and if I knocked it loose, it would just clog up the pumps.

I did manage to get a fair amount of debris cleaned out today. Having the river feeding to the smaller pond is working wonderfully - nearly all of the dead plants and leaves are being washed downstream, making it real easy to keep the pond cleared. I do have a layer of leaves at the bottom of the big pond, but I don't have a long enough net to try and fish that out. I may try to rig up a bypass line next year to shoot a small current of water across the bottom and try to keep that area stirred up.

Regardless, the fish are doing very well in the new pond... good color, good energy. They actually have a choice now of water location, they're not just stuck in an 18" deep pool with nowhere to go. I can only assume they must be much healthier and less stressed now. Just judging from the spawning that went on last year, they must like their new home a lot more. :goldfish:

 

[koiguy1969]

all alge is actually beneficial to a pond by way of removing nitrates...since even the best filtration systems cant...nitrates is the final product of the nitrogen / filtration cycle. its natures way of cleaning up what the plants cant. the pond and fish dont mind the alge...WE DO! they get places to hide, cleaner water, and healthy food from it... it basically comes and goes as needed, plants cant keep up with nitrate load, alge helps to pick up the slack. its that simple.

 

[addy1]

When I had fry last year, it was fun to watch them swim along the edge of the pond, they would wiggle and disappear into the coating of algae on the side. Seemed to enjoy nibbling on it also.

 

[Waterbug]

I also think nice green algae of any kind, is generally a good thing. As it dies it causes problems.

The upper 40's is in “Aeromonas Alley” so that would probably be the biggest danger.

 

[sissy]

I guess we should all be thankful so far ,none of that harsh bone chilling weather and snow like last year .I love it warm breeze ,sun and the most beautiful skies I can enjoy and nice white fluffy clouds and tons of pretty stars at night to see