Pond in the foothills

[MitchM]

Chris, keep your pumps running as long as you can. It depends on your setup though. Maybe start a new thread so we can get a complete picture of your pond.
The breather alone running properly will be enough to aerate the pond during winter.

 

[CountryEscape]

I found that having my waterfall running, where the water was going 2-3' above ground level, made the water colder quicker. I leave my bogs running all year long, though. It's my thought that since the water is circulating to the bottom of the bog, about 12-18" below ground level, it's pulling warmth from the ground and circulating it into the water, thus warming the water. My koi pond bog got an "ice jamb" along the edge, causing water to flow over the edge, and thank goodness I caught it early and shut off the pump. So, for the last month, the koi pond had no moving water, except for my air bubbler, and got iced over for part of that time. The goldfish pond, on the other hand, had the large bog running all the time. The koi pond froze over quicker and much thicker than the goldfish pond when we had temps down to near zero. We have been warm, cold, warm, frigid, warm .... all winter long! Currently going back down to teens and 20's for the next 5 days, so the ponds will freeze again. Got the koi pond bog running again on Sunday, though. The koi pond will be frozen 2-3 days before the goldfish pond will freeze. I also have my stream running into the goldfish pond.

 

[cas]

Hi @CountryEscape , so even with the bog pump running in both your Koi pond and your goldfish pond, the Koi pond will still freeze before the goldfish pond? What are the differences between the two ponds?

 

[CountryEscape]

The sizes of the bogs in comparison to the size of the ponds. Koi pond is 19x9x4' deep, and the bog is only about 9x3x18" deep. The goldfish pond is 17x7x3.5' deep and that bog is 17x3x18' deep!!! Much more space for the water to circulate underground. That's my thought anyhow. Both ponds are iced over again, but even when we had really cold weather for a couple of weeks, I could still hear the water running under the ice. Not had any heaters on either pond this year, it's been really mild for the most part, just some blasts of cold that last 1-2 weeks, and then we get a break with warmer temps. Right now, cold blast time! Should warm up mid week next week though.

 

[MitchM]

My pond ice covering is now down to about 4 or 5 inch thickness, water temperature is 41F.

We were out for our walk the other day and I grabbed the memory card from the trail cam at our front gate.
It caught a cougar crossing our driveway a few hours before we went by.
Kind of exciting.

 

[Nepen]

wow cougar!!! that's so cool!!

 

[MitchM]

It is exciting, Nepen, but that's the reason that I keep our dogs on a leash.

 

[morewater]

Cougars with liver spots are called leopards.

 

[MitchM]

I'm sure we have both cougars and leopards down at the saloon.

 

[myswtsins]

That's awesome! Dogs seem quite interested at that exact spot too. Going for a stroll when it's -2C, you're crazy. lol

 

[morewater]

That's awesome! Dogs seem quite interested at that exact spot too. Going for a stroll when it's -2C, you're crazy. lol

-2C? You're lucky he didn't wear his Speedo (budgie smuggler, banana hammock).

 

[addy1]

Neat picture! We keep our pup on a leash in our yard, the rabbits might hurt her!

It is exciting, Nepen, but that's the reason that I keep our dogs on a leash.

 

[MitchM]

That's awesome! Dogs seem quite interested at that exact spot too. Going for a stroll when it's -2C, you're crazy. lol

-2C is nice. -20 is where I usually draw the line.
I need to wear my snow suit then.

 

[Mike in Vermont]

wow cougar!!! that's so cool!!

+1 I have only seen bobcat and lynx.

 

[MitchM]

Pictures from the front deck this morning.
Winter wonderland.