Need advice > Winterizing raised pond

[addy1]

We didn't have much snow last year, but the few that did dump, my kubota did a good job clearing the driveway. No snow blower attachment, but did scoop and push it.

 

[sissy]

my shovel did a great job too LOL I can say I don't need a gym membership .Last winter was the worse one we have had since I moved here .I guess I don't want winters to be minus zero like NJ had and snow above my head .But makes me wonder about this winter and what will happen and hope I am prepared for what ever it does bring ,I learned from last winter even though I insulted my pipes will and still had water flowing to water ,I will never do that again .I had my pond freeze up as the temps dropped from 60 that day to 10 degrees that night .I had water running out from everywhere and lucky I checked the pond around 4 am as if I had waited I would have had fish sticks in what little water that was left .I burned my big pump out ,but harbor freight 5 dollar warranty paid off and they gave me a new pump ,no questions asked .After that just put the pump in the pond with a bubbler and no problems the rest of the winter .I did get a pond deicer ,not taking any chances .I guess the best thing with pond winterizing is not to think it can not happen and always expect the worse from mother nature .Think ahead ,prepare for the worst and hope for the best

 

[sissy]

With hay bales you do have to worry about animals making a nest in them .I put them around my shed one winter and the mice and snakes and moles and water ever else thanked me for there warm winter home .LOL Never did that again

 

[rebelangel_3733]

Oh my...I dont want to even think about snow...we get it like that here too.

 

[herzausstahl]

ahhh...sissy, now I see why you were always recommending I insulate my plumbing for the pond, not to worry though, I won't be running any of those when the temps get that low. just a 450 gph pump connected to a foaming fountain head and an air stone (as long as the pump lasts). also might get a de icer to just keep a hole open in the ice since I think a layer of ice over most of it would work really well to insulate the rest of the water

 

[taherrmann4]

Herz do you have an aerator or are you going to have one for the winter?

 

[herzausstahl]

Tmann,
Right now I have a 450 gph pump running connected to a fountain head, it bubbles water about 2" above the surface of the water. I shut down the stream for now (I need to get a net over it) but still have my filter pump running that turns over the volume of the pond once an hr by itself. I have a little aquarium aerator running and will probably get a little giant pond one for next summer/winter. I will probably pick up a simple pond de icer just to keep a hole in the ice around december as a back up in case the 450 gph pump doesn't hold up. I was gonna let the filter run late until the water temp drops to about 40 degrees or so depending on outside temps at the time. The aquarium pump is in a protective rubbermaid type container, now sure how it will hold up over winter though. will post pics on my pond build post coming up soon.
Nathan

 

[sissy]

actually insulating the hoses is good even if you are not running them as water condensates inside them and can crack them or make them brittle .I use my air compressor to blow them out ,just like with underground sprinklers .

 

[herzausstahl]

thanks sissy,
I did use the compressor to blow the lines a little bit in my 2" Flex PVC line running the stream and then put a cap on it to keep water from getting in since I expect the area to completely fill up with snow during winter. Plus it should have some give so I don't think I will need to worry about it cracking, but time will tell. A little bit more worried about my corrugated tubing running my filter, but I plan to do the same thing with that and put caps on to keep excess water from going in the lines. my sister-in-law and her husband used to install sprinkler systems so that gave me the idea too

 

[sissy]

Some don't think of that as like a sprinkler system .I have the corrugated piping too and found even though I had cleaned them out condensation built up in them and cause them to crack ,I had them sealed off but the temps change so much here that condensation built up and it cracked .I learned the hard way last year just how they crack ,on the coldest night and pumps still pumping to the waterfall it leaked and my pond emptied out to only a foot or so of water .It was 50 degrees during the day and dropped down to 5 degrees in a couple of hours and did not expect that to happen .I can usually leave my waterfall run all winter as it hardly ever gets below 30 degrees here .This was just before christmas and the year before it was 70 degrees christmas day .Learned mother nature is something to contend with .I was lucky to have caught it before the fish froze to death

 

[herzausstahl]

Sissy,
LOL I can say that I will not have that problem in the middle of winter, our highs are usually below freezing at that time, now it might be something to watch for before I shut it down, but right now our humidity is really low, guessing yours stays high for awhile yet. So I don't think I should have that issue yet, but I will keep an eye on it, but it definitely explains why it makes sense for someone in your area/conditions to insulate the pipes. The only pump that will be running this winter will only be connected directly to a fountain head, no tubing. Plus it's only a foot below the surface, but I still don't want to have to do a bucket brigade in winter with 5 gallon pails!