My pond runs all winter, zone 2/3

[callingcolleen1]

Well at least my pond is not froze up like the river! Look at the nice puppies by the river today! We had a nice long walk down at the river this afternoon... me and the puppies, all dress in their finest jingle bell collars today.

 

[addy1]

nice pictures, that river looks cold to me!

 

[j.w]

Now that's some serious freezing there Colleen and you are down to 12F right now..............

 

[sissy]

could be a little arthritis also colleen from the cold getting into his bones ,remember they are like humans in more ways than one and as they age they feel it more .I know it bothers my knees .At least we are getting a small amount of rain now .

 

[callingcolleen1]

Lots of serious freezing going on today!! Bottom two ponds got instant ice overnight even With the heater on!! Fresh pictures from 20 minutes ago... pond is iced and water moving nicely!

 

[j.w]

Looks like my crystal ball was right on

 

[callingcolleen1]

Thanks JW for the warning... freezing cold tonight too, low heavy foggy clouds everywhere. Sky all grey too. :#

 

[callingcolleen1]

Well last night was a little cold, got down to minus 17c, that like minus 5 or 6f I think! Bottom pond froze over again, like it always does, has a ice shell over the top. Small air hole can be seen in bottom pond and the water is still flowing from the top pond, then to the middle pond, then down to the bottom pond. Water temperature is 32 degrees or so. Fish are fine, not to worry!

First picture you see the bottom pond is frozen over.
Second picture is of the water way from the middle pond dropping to the bottom pond, ice shell formed over top.
The water drop not froze in middle pond as the heater is right next to it helps keep water open. This will freeze over when colder temperatures arrive. Cluster of floating hornwort plant can see see at this water drop.

Large koi in top pond, little ice there as water flows faster in the top pond.

 

[j.w]

So now how long do you have to wait for Spring to arrive there and all that cold to go away Colleen? Also can you take a piece of that Hornwort and take a close up photo of what it looks like cuz I seen some floating plants in a lake close to here and I wanna compare what you have to it. Maybe you will have to wait for a thaw before you can do that tho, like in the Spring :razz:

 

[sissy]

gosh makes me shiver .

 

[callingcolleen1]

Some plants look similar to hornwort here but not quite the same. Water ice cold, not going to stick my hand in there so I dug up some old pictures of hornwort. It floats and not attached to anything, just drifts around in pond. I have it in all the ponds, fish like to hide in hornwort and eat it. It is quite possible that hornwort in your lake too, but like I said, there is some very similar weed that grows in lake. Most of the hornwort is now resting at the bottom, but there is a clump of it in the waterway in twisted sound one of the hoses, still floating and caught in the ice now.

Hornwort loves the sun, or part sun, and even shady pond areas too. Hornwort grows nice with water lillys and just about anywhere. If fish have not had hornwort before, you may want to only place some in the pond, and some in a jar of water on a sunny window ledge, just in case the fish go crazy and munch it all away. I would start lots in jars and throw the extra to the fish till they have had there fill, and then when the sun is very hot and water warm, it should outgrow what they eat. I got tons of it now, could mail you some but they have weird border rules. You could find hornwort at any petstore too. They keep it for fish tanks all year round. You could ask and see it there. Sometimes in pet stores it don't look too good as it likes to be outside much better.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I think a Chinook is on the way, ya!

 

[capewind]

ohhhh thanks for mentioning the pet stores... I thought I saw hornwart, but didnt know what it was... just checked the petsmart site, and they do have it.... the price may be crazy, but if it grows fast, and can start inside (all winter), it may not be too hard paying for a tiny amount... I just bought a little TUBE of water wisteria for one of the tanks... hubby said it grew fast, so I only got one... got 3 little rooted clipping 3-4" tall for $6 (gringed too)... hmmm... looks like I need to blow $20 in gas to go back to petsmart LOL.

 

[j.w]

Thanks for all the photo's Colleen. I'll pick some of that plant outta the lake and compare it to yours :razz:

 

[callingcolleen1]

On the 12th Day of Christmas... My two Koi Said to me, " PLeaSe TuRn the HeaTer ON"! Cause wE HaVe BeeN FrEEzing for SO LoNg! "When Will Winter ever be gone! What? It does not even get here till the 21st Day Of Christmas! HeLp!