remembering winter and are you prepared

[Mucky_Waters]

Very true colleen but it is what we live with for our winters ,maybe you need to pack up and move to zone 7 when you retire . :razz: Join us .Think how your doggies would love that outside in the winter without shivering there paws off .Just think what kind of garden you could have here .There is a place here right now 7.98 acres and 1835 sq.ft. house 3 outbuildings ,fenced pasture for horses and only 59 thousand .Views of the mountains and a stream and natural pond .Friends of mine looked at it when it was priced at 70 thousand but did not want all that land .Tried to tell them they could sub divide it up and still have the view ,oh well .

Sissy a place like that around here would sell for over 300 thousand, maybe over 400 thousand if the house was new and in good shape.

As for preparing for winter, it will be interesting to see how my pond does this winter with all the turtles and frogs and fish it is stocked with now. All I had in the pond last winter was water, and my main concern then was to make sure the water lines on the pond side of the closed valved didn't freeze inside my pump room. Although I had one issue I hope to resolve this winter, and that was frost developing around the metal door of the pump room. I knew that if it got really bad it could freeze the door shut and I would have no access until it thawed out inside. This year I plan to make a Styrofoam panel that will fit around the opening of the door inside the pump room that I can fit into place before shutting the door. Hopefully that will stop most of the moisture from condensing around the door.
As for the pond itself, I may put a small aerator in there, but maybe not. I never had one in my old pond and never lost a fish, frog or turtle. ever, and my pond would be ice covered for up to three months at a time. What I did do was make sure I got as much of the dead plant mater and muck out of my pond before it froze over. The reasoning on that was decaying plant mater consumes oxygen, by eliminating it there is more oxygen left for the critters.

 

[sissy]

Well here it is rural so lots of places like that on the market .I am still not sure about this winter and how bad it will get but hoping not to bad .But have my pond heater if it does .I had one of my patio doors freeze closed the 2010 winter .I had not pushed it all the way closed and guess condensation frosted it up and had to use a hair dryer so I could get it locked shut .Learned from that put a rubber gasket in the door as there was a slot but did not know a gasket should have been in there .I guess anderson windows and doors dropped the ball on that one .

 

[callingcolleen1]

I just leave the ponds flowing, shut down spitters and extra summer pumps, and leave the main one's going that connect all three ponds. This way I only put one heater in the middle pond where the water flows well, to evenly distribute the heat and that will keep the fish from "handing around the heater". The heater is only plugged in when very cold, below -15 c. I have a large volume of water between the three ponds so they hold their temperature much better. Larger ponds are much easier to winter because you can let the ice build up nice and thick, so when the snow falls it will cover and help insulate the pond better. No matter how cold or how much snow their is, the water always flows "under the ice", from pond to pond, kinda like the creek, it looks totally frozen, but of course it's not. The fish go to the bottom of the pond and in the middle pond, all those fish hide under the floating yellow flag iris, which makes a wonderful winter home.

Smaller ponds can be wintered too, you will just have to heat it more cause they freeze up much faster.
See how the plants grew!

If I was in warmer zones, I still would run my pond pumps if I could, or get another "winter pump" that could be used all winter. If the ponds are always flowing, the summer leaf litter will not become so rancid and smelly. Things in the spring, water plants come back much faster in ponds that have flowing water.

I

 

[Mmathis]

Is aeration (with an air pump) preferable to a water bubbler to keep a hole open if it freezes?

Also, how deep should the air stone (or whatever) be for WINTERIZING purposes? It sounds like you want your warmer, bottom water to stay where it is, but an air stone on the bottom would mix the warm with the cold..... So just curious if you'd have the air stone closer to the surface than usual, or does that matter?

I don't have an air pump that can be used outdoors. What are some things I need to look for when I purchase one? Not looking to spend big bucks, but want something reliable that is adequate for my needs [can use for winter care and adding some air, maybe to the SKIPPY].

 

[callingcolleen1]

I myself prefer a pump and could never get away with just a air stone cause it way too cold here. If you keep the pond pumping with a pump, it will stay fresher and cleaner than with just a air stone. You are in zone 8 so why not enjoy the pond all year instead of shutting it down? That way you can just use the pump you have! I never shut my main pumps down and the water stays nice and clean and fesh! If you do shut it down, pumps for ponds come on half price sales in the fall and you can look for something then, but get a good filter to go with it too that will support the size of your pond.

 

[j.w]

The big air pump I just bought that sits on the bottom of the pond will be turned off in the winter as it busts bubbles up to the surface like a volcano. I have a smaller one that I set on the plant ledge so it doesn't churn up the water on the bottom. It's an aquarium air pump that I have sitting on the covered front deck in a waterproof box. The water bubbler/fountain is also on the ledge. Both of those create enough movement here to keep a hole in any ice that might form. If I leave my pump to the falls on it sits on some bricks slightly above the bottom of the pond. I'll turn that off if it gets too cold and then turn it on in early Spring.

 

[lovinglife]

Oh sorry JW, I had an air stone going all winter.

 

[j.w]

Guess we just can't know why they die sometimes L.L. Maybe they were just weaker than the other fish or ? :sad:

 

[Fishylove]

Does anyone put netting over their ponds, to keep the leaf litter and such out? I didn't use a net the first year and I'll tell you what, that next spring was not fun getting all of that muck out.

 

[pecan]

I have heard a lot of people talk about netting their ponds in the summer for predators and winter for leaves and such. I have done neither, I haven't had trees near the pond (though I have planted some and may resort to netting in the fall once the trees get bigger) and I haven't had any real predators (crossing my fingers it stays that way).

As far as where to put the airstone. I move mine from 40" deep to about 18" deep in the winter to one of the planting shelves. I also move my marginal plants near the stone so their roots don't freeze solid as the top of the pond covers with ice.

 

[callingcolleen1]

You in zone seven are lucky, perfect weather, you can enjoy all seasons without extreme weather changes, like here in Canada. I keep extra heaters on hand, and we have two generators, you never know.... One year several people I know tried to get their fish thru the winter with these bubbles and small devices called "de-icers" and let me tell you, spring was not a pretty sight, dead fish half frozen in the ice, starting to thaw and man did they smell! I remember telling them eariler that the fish should be fine, "under the ice", but not "in the ice"!!! I also told them I used a "cattle trough heater" 25 bucks at Peavy Mart, cheap to buy, but wait till you see you electric bill! But what do you do??? It's just way too cold here, I do have other pond heaters, made for the pond, but they are less effective when it's below -40. Hey! At least we pay way less for our electric bills here than many other places, cause we have our own "power plant" in Medicine Hat, runs on Natural gas.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I do put up a very large net over the ponds, I string them up to the trees and slant the nets just right so the leaves fall mostly to one side, and they work just great. I do still get some leaves in the pond, cause some do get thru, and they settle to the bottom nicely and provide something for the snails, bacteria, and other aquatic life, during the long cold winter months. In another month or so, I will them out and get more twine to string them up from the trees to the house. I make a large tent, that you can walk under, and not notice too much, the net high up above the head. Work in the yard just never stops, always so much to do.....

 

[sissy]

I use window screen bird and froggie legs don't get stuck in it .I think fall is coming early here as it is cool and foggie out this morning and leaves are turning already .TOO EARLY

 

[sissy]

Window screening has uv protector in it also and you can still see through it.I use the electrical conduit as it can be easly extended and a piece of 2x4 long enough on the other side to go across the pond this way it is stiffer so I can lean on it to clean or what ever in the pond .Going to replace the 2x4 with a piece of drift wood soon .I have it but since I am working on the kitchen that got shifted to the back burner . :razz:baby frogs still coming out .froggie foggy morning

 

[addy1]

Does anyone put netting over their ponds, to keep the leaf litter and such out? I didn't use a net the first year and I'll tell you what, that next spring was not fun getting all of that muck out.

I have two apples and a maple that dump leaves near the pond, with luck the prevailing wind keeps a lot of them away from the pond. It is too big to net the leaves gather on the net and then fall in when you try to remove it. But during that time I keep the skimmer on full draw. Once the leaves are done I do my winter cleaning of the bottom of the pond, via a net. We usually turn the pond off dec 1. I keep a aerator running in the 2.5 foot deep area, around 15 feet from the deep end where the fish hang out over winter.