Pond in the foothills

[tbendl]

it tells me that there are no cougars in the immediate area.

That's true, I live nowhere near you.

 

[sissy]

I was a country girl taken to the urban lifestyle and boy I had to put up with a lot .Neighbors close by and noise and urban street lights that blocked out the view of the stars .Now back to the country life stars and no street lights and can here the birds and see the beauty again .Well at least he did not take me to the city .But I do miss the street lights here on the highways here .

 

[MitchM]

That's true, I live nowhere near you.

.

 

[MitchM]

Hiked down to the big pond today, but it was 100% iced over. The dogs tried walking on it and getting a drink, but there was no water to be had, only a lot of ice cracking noises.
I encouraged them to get the heck off the ice, quickly.

What was cool was that I saw a lot of shrimp like creatures actively swimming under the ice.

View from the other side:

 

[CountryEscape]

T you are hilarious! Come on, you are not nearly old enough to be considered a cougar ... unless of course you like teenagers.
Mitch, if you had not said the pond was iced over ... and your dog was obviously standing ON it ... I would never have known. It is co smooth and clear. Maybe someday a heron or some type of water bird will carry two live fish to your big pond ... of course prefer a male and female! Then they can reproduce and voila, you will have pretty fish! Are trout the ONLY type of natural fish that could be put into that pond? I do totally understanding not wanting any type of fish that could be introduced into the natural waterways. For that reason, I would never put any koi into my small pond in the pasture. I am pretty far, probably 2 miles or more, from any sizable stream, but in a big rain, the pond would overflow into the ditches, and ditches flow into the streams. I sure don't want fish traced back to my pond, and me being responsible! There is a really expensive restaurant on the outer edge of Effingham. They have about an acre pond, maybe bigger. It has huge catfish and koi. You and I both know those koi are breeding, and that pond overflows into a stream, which flows into a very large Lake, I'm pretty sure! It's just a matter of time, IMO. I can't believe they are allowed to have those koi in there ...

 

[MitchM]

I know. The dogs were standing on the ice and I heard all this cracking but I had no idea where it was coming from until I tested the water myself. The ice near the edge was crystal clear.
We had to go to the running stream to find some water for them to drink.

 

[CountryEscape]

I remember going ice skating on a pond when I was in high school. All of a sudden we heard this ricocheting crack sound ... it was coming from all directions it seemed like. I think the ice was very thick, but a crack started and it went for quite a while before it stopped. No worry to the rest, but I sure made it to the edge to be sure no one was going to fall in! Bet those little critters that looked like shrimp were neat to see. Wonder if they were little craw dads?

 

[MitchM]

I finally got my pond prepped for the winter.
I had a heck of a time tracking down a milk crate to strap a pump to. By the time I found one, the pond was 100% covered wth 1-1/2 inches of ice.
I got the pump running and have turned off the breathers for now.
The pump has been running for 48 hours and the pond temperature has dropped down to it's lowest level since I have been measuring it. 1.1 celcius this morning (34F). The coldest it got a couple of years ago when we saw -40 weather was 1.7 celcius (35F).
The ice coverage has reduced down to 50%. We'll see how the pond does this winter when it starts getting cold. Up until now we have only got down to -6C/21F.
The pond temperature dropped from 4.4c/40f to 1.1c/31f in 24 hours once I plugged in the pump.
I'll be keeping an eye on evaporation this year. Evaporation has never been a problem with a 100% ice cover that I've had in previous years.

Here are a couple of pictures of the pump strapped to the crate and the pond as of today.
The pump is a Laguna Powerjet 600 gph.

 

[cas]

So am I reading this right - when you had the pond breathers going, the water stayed warmer than when you started using the pump? Are you using the pump to keep your ice thinner? Are you concerned about the pump keeping the water too cold?

 

[MitchM]

Hi cas,
Right, using the pump has cooled down the overall water temperature. The pond basically had a giant ice cube sitting on top of it, and as the warmer water circulated,the temperature has equalized.
The purpose of using a submerged pump this year was to reduce the overall time that the pond has ice cover.
I hope I can have only 4 months of ice cover instead of 6 months.

I'm expecting that I will have lower water temperatures plus evaporation, so I'm going to find out how extreme the changes will be.
There will be some trade offs from a full ice cover.

.

 

[cas]

Thanks. I will be watching your thread to see how it goes!

 

[MitchM]

0.6c/33f water temperature this morning, and the pond is 90% iced over.
Looks like it's going to be a cold winter for the fish this year.
Maybe the ice cover will be thinner after all, or maybe I'll abandon the recirculating pump idea and just go back to the breathers.
Haven't decided yet.

.

 

[CountryEscape]

I never checked the temps of my ponds, but keep a pump shooting toward the surface to keep ice off, and then when I need to put a heater on the pond, I place it over where the water is moving from the pump. Only had to use heaters about 10 days last winter, the moving water kept ponds open. But, as you said, there are trade offs for the water being cooler. I shut off waterfall, but keep the stream running. Goldfish pond seems to stay warmer, less ice, but it has a much larger bog which I keep running all winter long, pulling warmth from the ground, I would guess.
Will be interesting to see how you like the moving water vs pond breathers. Good luck!

 

[waynefrcan]

Yikes what's with all that liner showing? NO time or don't care? What was your occupation again Mitch I forgot or never knew?

I think the pump idea is a benefit. Good ol Laguna pumps, I think mine is 6 years old and works good, but this year noticed water flow is down.

 

[waynefrcan]

Hi Colleen, do the Yellow Iris need to be in water or can they just go dormant? I drained the pond.