Should we stop for the winter?

[Sushiducks]

Hi,

x-posting this from my welcome thread since not sure who is still looking at that:

So I'm wondering, at this point after we have the folds out and everything situated, do we drain it and wait until spring, or try and get it finished and run it during the winter? I know the ducks will use it over the next 5 months if we finish it. Just wondering how much of a headache it will be dealing with over winter if we haven't run a pond before. We have 2 waterfalls, 2 skimmers, an aerator and was planning on getting a deicer. Anyone else finish this late on a first pond and have advice? This is how far we are (in Michigan), should have a relatively decent next 2 days:

 

[Sushiducks]

Water level will be above where rocks are now, at the rim of the liner. There are no rocks in the deep part of the pond, that's already covered by water. Still playing with them right now to decide if we want to have rocks on the upper shelves.

 

[JRS]

Looking good. There can be some effort to get pumps and filters situated and dialed in; definitely no fun in the cold. I don't have much experience with liner ponds but think it better to leave the water in, work on getting the rocks and landscaping set, and take it up in the spring.

 

[Lisak1]

I'd get as much done as I could in the next few days and then call it good. Going forward, you may or may not choose to run it all winter, but either option is viable so leaving it as is isn't that different than shutting it down would be in the future.

I would get as many rocks set as possible and make sure the liner edges are all secure. I'd want to make sure there wasn't a chance that water could seep under the edges and get behind the liner.

 

[Sushiducks]

Thanks for the advice. I guess it really depends on how running the electrical goes. Going to start that this morning. It feels like there is a ton left to do so I guess I'm feeling anxious about getting it done right. I don't want to half-ass it and have problems down the road.

 

[EricV]

Thanks for the advice. I guess it really depends on how running the electrical goes. Going to start that this morning. It feels like there is a ton left to do so I guess I'm feeling anxious about getting it done right. I don't want to half-ass it and have problems down the road.

Take your time and do it right. You may have new thoughts over the winter and change your mind about certain things. If you want a little water flow, you can always run an extension cord out there and run it off of that for the winter.