pumping and netting Overwinter in Zone 5

[DaBagBoy]

Hi, new here but I've been "ponding" in my backyards for about 20 yrs. Mostly kept shubunkins so never worried much when the biggest one froze to death occasionally. But with each passing year my ponds and fish have become larger. This summer I finally stocked my biggest pond with 7 butterfly koi which I have now named and would like to keep alive.

I joined here as the top two threads in this overwintering subforum demonstrate my confusion.
Winterizing in zone 2
and Illinois

I've used bubblers and cattle de-icers in the past but never (intentionally) left the pumps thus waterfalls and aeration running.

Can I even run the main pump, thus the waterfalls and stream overwinter in central Michigan?
Also should I remove the netting at this point?


I've attached some pix but generally I have -
one TH400 pump (5,000gph)
and a Laguna MaxFlo 4200 (currently off for season)
pushing
150' of 3" flexible pvc piping barely buried
up about 12" headroom and linear 30' for "second" underfed bog garden
and
about 60" headroom and linear 100' for top waterfall
cascades down three step falls
into 12'x14' top / first / original pond
(lower falls and original bog garden are shut down for winter)
out of that first pond into a stream (varying from 12" - 48" wide)
into second bog garden
into main koi pond

 

[Mike in Vermont]

Welcome to the forum. I am sure someone will be along soon to answer your questions. In the meantime, this thread might be of use to you.

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/tell-us-how-you-winterize-your-pond.15988/

 

[DaBagBoy]

Thanks Mike, the holes are no problem, known that for some time, I now used 2 pumps and a heater, I've had heaters and bubblers fail in mid-January and occasionally undiscovered - or at least unfixed - until losing fish...so now I'm a prepper figuring 2 is one and 1 is none

 

[Mike in Vermont]

IMO, it's too cold in your area to run the pump and waterfall, during the winter. I am no expert, though. I am not sure about the netting either.

 

[j.w]

DaBagBoy
Can't help ya on the Michigan winter but I did live there for 2 yrs once and man does it get cold!

 

[Tula]

Welcome and I'm originally from Michigan, but now live in Cincinnati, Ohio. One concern I'd have is if your stream builds up ice damns and diverts water ...how low would your pond level drop? I'm choosing to keep my pond netted this winter. I have a lg cedar tree directly above it and it drops a lot of fine debris in the pond. I'd like to see how my pond looks in the spring without much / any organic debris. My new net is a mesh, kind of like a swimming pool cover, letting water through, but not much else.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I'm in zone 5 and I'm experimenting with running the pump all winter for the first time, but with the waterfall off, as I've heard some say icing on the waterfall can cause the water to change course or completely drain the pond. I have yet to try keeping my fish in the pond overwinter, just have frogs out there and a few baby fish. The pump is a little under-powered for my pond so I'm not too worried if it dies since I plan on getting a new one next spring.

 

[brokensword]

I'm in Michigan and I don't run the falls; just not worth the risk. I use an aerator and heater ( heater only for those coldest days when the ice trumps the aerator and I need to open a hole again, easily). Last year, the coldest in my lifetime, I lost only 3 fish out of about 100. I put it down to weak fish, not due to any gas buildup/O2 issues. The only problem I've seen around here with ponds and ice is when the snow coverage and ice is on the pond too long, without some sort of thaw to allow for the O2 and gas exchange. Typically, we get the January thaw and that is enough. So imo, no falls in the winter.

Michael

 

[MitchM]

I don't see any benefit to running the stream during the winter, plus the risk is pretty high for an ice dam to form and drain your pond.

 

[Dave 54]

I certainly wouldnt run your water falls throughout the winter unless you want to superchill your pond water may I ask what depth you have your koi swimming in , they should be in a bare minimum of 4ft ideal depth of 5ft , our own pond being 4.5ft in depth.
By now you should have netted the pond against leaves , have given the bottom of your pond a good clean removing all you can detritus and dead leaves wise and also ensured that our filters have been given a once over prior to the freeze.
We keep an air bubbler on in our pond but reduced in output to half that of normal.
However weve insulated every inch of our pond and filter housing and cover our pond with Policarbonate roofing sheets to keep a steady temperature of at -15c of 7c .
We also do a weekly water change of 40% using the trickle method where the water temperature of the water entering the pond is warmed by the ambient temperature of our pond
Hope this has helped


Dave

 

[callingcolleen1]

Your stream could dam and water can be lost that way, plus the long stream will ice up and water can be displaced into ice from main pond.

I do not run waterfall, just my water ways that spills cleanly into lower ponds. It works well for me. You will most likely need a heater to keep pond from freezing to hard

 

[AnthonyRibis]

This is my second winter ever with a pond and I run my waterfall straight through winter. So far so good... I don't have a stream, I believe that's where you would run into trouble.

 

[teeemkay]

This is my first year dealing with a pond. The previous owners of our house said they left the waterfalls on all winter last year (and we had a record-breaking cold and snowy winter) and had no problems at all. We even have a stream on ours, and that actually had the *least* amount of ice on it this past week when we had sub-zero temperatures. The pond and waterfall itself iced over but not enough to impede the water flow. As soon as the air temperature hit the mid-20s overnight last night, everything started to melt. The pond was completely ice-free when I got up this morning.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!
I turn ever thing off (I have an external pump) This winter using the pond breather like Mitch in Canada uses. My pond is frozen over, the water is a toasty 41F.
I enjoy having xx months of no moving water to worry about, nice break on the electric bill too. The pond breather uses only 40watts.

Someone here lost every fish in his pond running an aerator last year. I changed my winter method for this winter.