Spring Start up

[OntarioTodd]

It looks like my Pond survived the winter. It looked like this:

I took the UV filter indoors for the winter and ran the pump shooting a stream of water at about a 45 degree angle. It did a good job of keeping a hole in the pond. Temps dipped as low as -20C and usually every two days or so I'd break away some of the ice forming to keep a good sized hole. Only once did it freeze over the stream of water (strange how ice formed over a moving fountain of water!)

In the last week temps have reached as high as 14C and the ice on the pond has melted away. We covered half of the pond with a tarp so the fish could hide. They seem fine. There is a lot of string algae however. I also noticed our lillys are already starting to sprout!
I likely wont be able to add the UV filter until about mid-late April as we could still get sub zero temps.

Todd

 

[mheiderscheit]

Todd, do you still have that much ice and snow? It has been an extremely long winter here, but at least our snow is almost completely gone. March is really a transitional month. Average temps in early March is 30F and by the end of the month the average temp is 50F. We start daylight savings time tonight.

I did find one dead fish in my pond this morning. When I took him out and examined him, I couldn't see any visible sign of trauma, so I don't know what happened to him. :beerchug:

 

[DrCase]

I wont talk about my bad winter anymore
You all really get it up north

 

[mheiderscheit]

Today we hit 60 degrees. Everyone was out with shorts and tank tops on!! I started picking through leaves around my pond. I found another dead fish

 

[poodles-ponds and gardens]

My pond had up to a foot of snow covering it this winter. I had a pump with a venturi tube for air run all winter. I was able to maintain about a foot diameter hole with only having to chip at the edges a few times when we had temps in the single digits. Now all is melted and all three fishes survived! There's quite a bit of string algae. There wasn't any when I shut everything down late fall. Who'd have thought it could grow in water temps in the thirties! (38 degrees when I checked last week, with all the ice melted.) So at what temp do you all start your filters up. I know the bacteria doesn't survive the cold temps, but would the mechanical filtration help even if the bacteria isn't there.

 

[j.w]

I started up my filter and waterfall and slowly replaced some of the water w/ clean. The fish are all swimming around like they are ready to mate. Too early for that I think as we are supposed to get down into the 20's tonight. I found one little tiny goldfish dead with a tiny slash in his side. Too small of a cut for a Heron. Maybe he just ran into a rock or something or it was just part of the decay process as he was floating by the time I found him? It's going to be nice during the day but cold at night.......................Spring hurry up and get here and stay please

 

[OntarioTodd]

No, that photo was taken in January. All our snow is gone and it has been pretty mild (17C). Our fish survived (yay!) however there is a lot of crap in the bottom of the pond. Our pond is above ground. What's the best pond vac to suck all this stuff up?

Thanks
Todd

Todd, do you still have that much ice and snow? It has been an extremely long winter here, but at least our snow is almost completely gone. March is really a transitional month. Average temps in early March is 30F and by the end of the month the average temp is 50F. We start daylight savings time tonight.

I did find one dead fish in my pond this morning. When I took him out and examined him, I couldn't see any visible sign of trauma, so I don't know what happened to him. :fish:

 

[mheiderscheit]

I have a OASE Pondvac 3, but haven't used it yet. I have a lot of leaves and crud at the bottom of my pond too. I do a total clean out every spring. I have a child's swimming pool that I pump pond water into, then I put the fish in the pool. I can then pump the pond all the way down and power wash it before refilling and putting the fish back in. This takes me an entire day to clean, but it really looks nice when I am done. My pond is only 10x16, so if yours is much larger, that would be hard to do.

 

[koikeepr]

I started my pond officially two days ago. Thanks to the netting, I had no debris or anything to clean up. The water right now is a murky brownish/green, but I can see the fish fine. It'll clear up in a few weeks as I build up the good bacteria in my media.

I did a 50% water change and tossed in some liquid barley extract. I was surprised to see the water was already 58 degrees. The fish have not been begging for food any time I've gone near the pond, which was a surprise to me.

Last night I went out to sit by the fish and ponder my new pond build. I noticed they started coming closer to the top, but not all the way up. So, I grabbed a bag of spring food and tossed a bit in. The watonai goldfish came up first for food on the upper pond. The koi in the lower pond then started pecking. What a fun feeling to see them again and know that ritual of feeding is beginning again.

 

[Mrshkoiluver]

I have a OASE Pondvac 3, but haven't used it yet. I have a lot of leaves and crud at the bottom of my pond too. I do a total clean out every spring. I have a child's swimming pool that I pump pond water into, then I put the fish in the pool. I can then pump the pond all the way down and power wash it before refilling and putting the fish back in. This takes me an entire day to clean, but it really looks nice when I am done. My pond is only 10x16, so if yours is much larger, that would be hard to do.

The Oase Pond Vac 3 works great!

 

[JoaniePA]

Yup, yup.. today was/is GORGEOUS. nearly 70 degrees! I got out around 8:00 am, raked leaves away from the pond, cleaned out debris that had come through the falls, put on the waders and fed the lillies and lotus, moved a few rocks, counted all ten fish, reconnected the pump, added microbe-lift, and sat on my bench and enjoyed for about an hour. Then I got up and tested the water, folded up the tarp, wadded up the netting and put all the winter gear away, Just as I was going inside I saw a cardinal and two sparrows drinking from the falls.. I know it will still get cold, maybe even snow, but I also know that whatever comes now will be fleeting.

Oh, and I saw some wierd creature in the pond, about an inch long with a whipping like tail and a big head and little legs. Probably some kind of mayfly type larva thingie.

Hurray for spring!

 

[DrDave]

It might be dragonfly larvae.

 

[rdk]

My fish are begging me for food. The pond just reached 58% today. I read in a past post that I should wait 2 weeks before I start to feed. Is this the best thing to do? RDK

 

[DrDave]

It is ok now. Feed sparingly.

 

[koikeepr]

55 degrees for 2 weeks straight is the rule of thumb--particularly in your neck of the woods. You know how it goes, you get a few nice days and then a snow storm on April 1st. You just don't want the water to chill for a few weeks and you've got food stuck in the fish gullet. Better safe than sorry.