My goldfish pond

[addy1]

Glad to know you are stilllll around Keith! Happy New Year to you too!

 

[callingcolleen1]

I was getting a little worried that something maybe happened to you! Good to hear all is well and that you were very busy. I was also missing your regular updates on your pond too.

 

[j.w]

Happy New Year Keith :bdaybiggrin:

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, Thanks, You too JW. Colleen here is an update. Greeting from Chiberia!! We have had winter weather here since early November and there is no end in sight to the harsh winter. Another 3-5 inches of snow today and temps are expected to go below zero F again next week. My pond has been covered in Ice and snow for the last 60 days...so not much to look. This year I did not connect my air stone but rather left two pumps running over the waterfall. I tucked in the tubes and left very short lines to helpfully avoid them freezing up. So far the waterfalls are running despite temps as low as -15 F !!. I did toss in a deicer into the pond and so far have run it only twice for about 24 hours each time to add a little warmth when I thought the snow cover might have lasted longer than I wanted. I am not as worried about the sunterra pumps freezing up because one of mine did that last year and worked perfectly after things warmed up. I think with the waterfall running all the time the fish should be in good shape come spring but have not seen a fish in a long time and won't know until the snow and ice disappears.

 

[CountryEscape]

Same here, Keith, but my temps, although they were as low as yours 2 weeks ago, have been probably warmer since then. I'm tired of the up and down stuff. If it would stay cold, fine. If it warms up, fine. But going from 45 to 15 in one day is getting tiring. My ponds have a heater in each, been plugging them in and unplugging them, to keep opening in the ponds. So far, so good. Only time they froze completely over was when I had no power for 22 hours 2 weeks ago in that "arctic freeze" we had.

 

[callingcolleen1]

We have been blessed!!! The weather is beautiful right now at 45 degrees Fahrenheit! After the extreme cold we had in early December and again after Christmas and early new year was really cold as well, we were down to minus 40's twice this winter, so I am just thankful for the nice weather these days. Ponds are almostly free of ice now and the fish look pretty good. Have not had the pond heater on all week, so I consider that very nice indeed!

 

[j.w]

Good to hear Keith that your ponds are surviving the frigid colds being sent your way. You are figuring out how to run your pond just right so you will have it down pat to a science each year to come. Never get that cold for long here and guess we are lucky that way but I sure could use a nice blast of snow thrown my way. I need to get my snow fix and then I'm good to go into the nice warm weather as soon as possible.

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks JW, yes I think I have figured it out but this is the first year I attempted to run water pumps all winter. Well I plugged my deicer in today because it's been about a month since I did it last. I'm hoping the pumps have kept a little water flowing over my waterfall but can't see anything because its all under a foot of snow or more. CE, That sounds good. I don't think one day without a hole will hurt anything. It's happened to me plenty of times in the past. Colleen, 45 degrees?? That sounds really hot. We are going back to zero again this week. Anything over zero is easy to deal with. It's the -10 to -15 degree days that are hard to get used to. I even bought a hat and wear it now because some lady I don't even know yelled at me for not wearing a hat. Naturally I am talking about F degrees not C. Boy things have changed around here... new graphics and some new buttons? I see Addy is a moderator now!! Congrats!! I guess I better be carefully what I say when she is around! Oh and I made it onto some list of notable members. That's cool. I could add some pics of my pond but it would be all snow!

 

[addy1]

lol welcome back Keith! my pond has had a small hole most of this winter, just an aerator. Snowing again, freeze cold coming again, poor fish.

I don't ever wear a hat, get to hot when I do even in zero temps.

 

[CountryEscape]

Oh my, no hat even when the temps go down to zero, Addy? Yikes, I can't stand being outside with any wind below about 50 degrees. I heard many years ago that if you ever got close to heat stroke, that it effects your ears. Maybe that's why my ears are so tender to the wind and cold. Anyhow, I'm a wimp, I guess. LOL I buy jackets ONLY if they have a hood attached. Same with all my coats. Only coat I have without a hood is one my sister bought for me.
My son said he went out to scrape his truck one morning when it was bitterly cold, around zero, lots of wind, and no gloves. Thought he was ok, but said for several days, any water on his hands burned them like the water was scalding. Pretty sure he got frostbite! They say at single digits (above zero) your exposed skin can get frost bit in 10-15 minutes. You must be really tough, Addy!

 

[addy1]

yep no hat, I was out walking in 12-15 or so, gloves, coat, no hat. My hands do get cold though, usually just pull my shirt down over my hands

 

[CometKeith]

Wow.It hit 55 degrees today!. One of the few days over freezing this year. The pond is still covered with snow. .I wonder how they are doing? I haven't seen any of them in 4 or 5 months!! Oh and the hunt is on..... My wife and I decided to downsize our house and up size our yard for guess what!

 

[callingcolleen1]

A bigger pond?? why have such a large house when in the summer months I spend so much time outside by the pond! I love my outdoor bug free zone and pond so much I am out there sunning with the fish all summer and have my coffee outside first thing in the morning on a nice summer day.

 

[CometKeith]

Colleen, I agree. It was good when we had three kids here but we are officially empty nesters now and it looks like our youngest will be getting a good job when she graduates college and I doubt she will ever be moving back. I would prefer a bigger yard and nice pond. We are only living in about a third of our house now so we won't be missing the extra space. Also we will be happy to shed the huge property tax bills we get now!

 

[herzausstahl]

Lol Keith I know how you feel with the weather, we hit about 50 here, I remember when 20 felt like a heat wave, I can only imagine what Colleen and the rest of our Canadian neighbors have to deal with. Good luck with the house hunting! It's a catch 22 now, great time to buy but also conversely hard time to sell. Even with kids my wife & I have kicked around the same idea, and yup, best part is you can design a new pond using what you've already learned. Good luck!