The pond dig has begun!

[CountryEscape]

Our temps are going down the toilet next week. Yuck, down to almost zero for lows, and only teens during the day a couple of days, but then back up to the 30's by next weekend, so all will be fine!
(I removed the YouTube link from here, because it was not yet set to "publish", so not viewable on here ... I think I have it finally posted from my FB page, which I went back and changed to "public". See few posts below ...)

 

[j.w]

CE that just took me to my own account for some reason.

 

[sissy]

yep took me to my you tube video's also

 

[CountryEscape]

Well, I'll be darn, it did to mine, too. Grr .... I uploaded it on my FB page ... wonder if I can copy and paste it from there .... Let's see ... how about this:
(I removed the link, it was not set to public yet .... see next post by me.)
Woohoo, thinking it worked this time, so I will delete the ones from the previous posts.
First pond is the goldfish pond, and I zoomed in on the outlet from the bog. The bog is on the left, with tall dead stuff. LOL Then I walk up the stream (which is fed from the skimmer in the goldfish pond ...) and then the koi pond. I zoom in on where the skimmer from the koi pond is outletting on the left side of the pond. I unhooked it from the bog (will relocate it to the fountain next spring/summer), and just let the water line free, but anchored down by plant pots. The main pump on the bottom of that pond (on a milk crate, so not really on the bottom) has been hooked up to the bog for the winter. Waterfall is not running, it cooled the pond too much.
Still, the goldfish pond remains more open longer than the koi pond. Wonder why, except that the bog is larger, is deeper so therefore the water running through it is likely warmer than the koi pond's bog. But, it has always taken longer to freeze over. This week, they both will freeze over, but warmer days next weekend again Not going to hook up heaters just yet, but AM going to pull the skimmer pumps and put them on shelves or somewhere so I don't have to worry about them freezing if the electricity goes out. Ponds are completely open now, and will be tomorrow, but by Tues they will have ice covering them, so tomorrow is my last chance to fix them RIGHT for the winter! Always tweaking ...

 

[sissy]

I just got video unavailable .i can't move video's from you tube either.You have privacy settings on your face book page so it will not allow it

 

[CountryEscape]

Well crapola! Grrr .... I thought I had it set to public, but you're right, I have that video set to friends. Let me see if I can change it ... again. LOL OK, here goes, Take 3:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=861882077167831

 

[j.w]

Got it that time and looks just fine. Hard to believe it will all freeze over in a day or so. Nice that it won't be for too long tho this time anyways.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I can't see it right now?

 

[CountryEscape]

Colleen, only try the last post that I put it on, #1686. The others don't work. Or, maybe your computer is acting up at the moment. It's not that big of a deal! I'm heading out now to pull the 2 skimmer pumps, and put them on milk crates so no worries about water freezing and causing problems with them if I have a power outage. Then let the cold temps come! Got my Christmas lights all down from outside, VERY windy, and chilly 32 right now, but it's only going to get worse. Only reason I still have to do this is because I changed my mind on how I want it to be ready for winter this year.
Oh, yeah, and my breaker flipped AGAIN! Grr .... not sure what is tripping it. I put new elec cord and 3-way to the pond pumps. Guess I'm going to unplug all the pathway lights, see if they are the cause of the breaker flipping everything off. It's a GCFI, so all I have to do is push the button, but I do NOT want everything going off when the temps go down to zero in a couple of days!

 

[callingcolleen1]

CE something is drawing too much power and could be tripping the breaker. Make sure your cords are all extra heavy duty, and rated above the wattage that you are using. To tell you the truth, my 1500 watt heater is on a total separate breaker and that was the only way I could ensure that breaker would not fail during extreme cold. Then that is all that is plugged into that breaker as well.

Love your video CE! (now I am going to be eagerly watching for more!!) Your tall sedges and grasses make a very beautiful dried display in the middle of winter, and I just love what you have done with the stream! I do have a special request, next time you say a few words cause then I can hear your accent in your voice! I love it when people speak about their ponds and stuff and love to hear other people voices cause that way I know you are more real! he he he

 

[CountryEscape]

Yeah, I thought about talking, Colleen. I will do that next weekend or whenever I get a chance to do another video. Here is what my ponds look like this morning, after being totally thawed out yesterday! Temp this morning is 9 degrees F. Brrr ... but doesn't feel any colder than yesterday's 18 with high winds! The reason for tripping the breaker had nothing to do with pulling more power, Colleen. That's what baffled me. All the same items were running that had been all summer. Something was shorting out. I unplugged all the pathway lights, and so far all has kept running. That may have been the issue, rather than the electric line running to the goldfish pond, which was just an extension cord. I, too, run one heater per circuit. I run the koi pond one from an outlet on the house (not the same bank of outlets that run the pumps ...) and the other from the dog kennel shed.
Here is the stream in the foreground. As you can see ... or maybe you can't ... it's still running. In the closest part, that is where the water comes into the stream, at the top of the stream, and it's open there, then goes under the ice to the goldfish pond. On the far end of the goldfish pond, where that squarish rock is, the water is running out of the bog. Perfect!!! No heaters going yet. Only supposed to be frigidly cold for a few days, so going to try to leave them off.

Then, in the koi pond pic below, I just took the skimmer pump and attached it to a milk crate, but actually have it suspended above the bottom by a rope, and shooting toward the surface. It's making a nice bubbling effect, and keeping the ice at bay for the time being. Not certain if the bog is running still or not. The ice is pretty thick, so can't see if it's moving under the ice. Think I will unplug that big pump, so it doesn't burn up; however, when it has been struggling before, it simply had some type of auto shut off, and it quit on it's own!

 

[j.w]

Your methods are working so far. Now lets hope it keeps working as it gets really super cold there.

 

[callingcolleen1]

you could save that big pump for summer use only and just turn it off and leave it down there and just add a smaller pump to keep water moving? If your winter is mild enough you might be able to use just that little thing that Mitch uses, what does he call it.... pond breather? Although I would be nervous about using it for the big koi....

 

[sissy]

you have to click on the pic and then it starts running .I saw it great video CE.if you click on her other pics they get bigger also .Mine do the same

 

[CountryEscape]

I will use the heaters if/when it gets cold enough that the pumps cannot keep up with the ice. This evening, both ponds and the stream look the same, so the pumps are doing their job.
Colleen, the bottom pump in the koi pond I rerouted for winter to run the bog, thinking with more water movement (4200 gph vs. the 1600 gph used previous winters) would keep the ice at bay. Don't think that worked either, it appears solid ice on the bog, although it COULD be running underneath. I have the exact same pump in the goldfish pond running a 3X larger bog, and it is running well, and did all last winter. I think the key must be larger bog, and maybe the goldfish pond bog is deeper, too, thus, brings in warmer temps down deeper in the ground. I never got the koi pond bog made larger this past summer, just could not figure out how to do it on that side, so left it to ponder for year another year. But, as you said, Colleen, the much smaller 1600 gph pump sitting on an angle held just bout 2' below the water surface is doing a fantastic job so far of keeping a nice opening in the ice. Same this evening as it was yesterday, and temps this morning were in single digits. Going to get even colder, though, so probably will have to break out the heaters for a few days. We shall see...
Since my daughter taught me in UT, they don't always use tank heaters for the horse troughs, since they don't have access to electricity where she used to board her horses, I have been chopping the ice and scooping out the chunks twice a day, and so far so good in that endeavor, too. I'm trying to keep from using heaters unless absolutely necessary. They cost me about $250 in one month last winter! Yikes.