What do with skimmer for the winter

[mgmine]

Without seeing a picture it is hard to say but general you can seal off the pipe using an expansion plug
https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Winte...qid=1476626389&sr=8-2&keywords=expansion+plug
You can get them at Home Depot or any hardware store. As far as the lines having water in them they can freeze so it's best to blow them out then cap them off. Can you drop the water level down below the pipe inlet in the skimmer? If your skimmer has a weir on it take it off if you can, there might be a spring with a pin on it that slides to move the hinge a little. The box should be fine but if there is a name on it then contact the company that made it. Why are you keeping the pond going all winter?

 

[gittyup]

Without seeing a picture it is hard to say but general you can seal off the pipe using an expansion plug
https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Winte...qid=1476626389&sr=8-2&keywords=expansion+plug
You can get them at Home Depot or any hardware store. As far as the lines having water in them they can freeze so it's best to blow them out then cap them off. Can you drop the water level down below the pipe inlet in the skimmer? If your skimmer has a weir on it take it off if you can, there might be a spring with a pin on it that slides to move the hinge a little. The box should be fine but if there is a name on it then contact the company that made it. Why are you keeping the pond going all winter?

Thanks, i could plug the pipe and blow it out, but cannot keep water out of the skimmer. This is still a viable option because the skimmer mfr says it's ok to let water freeze in it. And this option keeps me from having to run a separate aerator to keep the skimmer flowing. Have to think about this a bit......

Lowering the level enough to keep it out of the skimmer would cause the sieve to also stop. To do that, I'd have to stop all water circulation for the winter. I'm keeping it open to keep the bacteria alive in the moving bed filter. And, of course, the MB filter will then continue to process fish waste. There is an underground return from the MB filter that bypasses the falls (well below frost line).

 

[carolinaguy]

Probably too late to change but you should ideally design the pipes to shut off the bottom drains in winter and use your skimmer for recycling water. The reasoning is simple. Top surface flow keeps the bottom water warmer and disturbs ice formation. The densest water is 4 degrees Celsius. Below that water gets lighter. That's why ice floats. So your bottom water stays above 35 degrees from this phenomenon and from ground heat radiation and protects your fish from extreme cold. Interfering with an ice cap keeps oxygen exchange up so the fish can breathe.

 

[gittyup]

Probably too late to change but you should ideally design the pipes to shut off the bottom drains in winter and use your skimmer for recycling water. The reasoning is simple. Top surface flow keeps the bottom water warmer and disturbs ice formation. The densest water is 4 degrees Celsius. Below that water gets lighter. That's why ice floats. So your bottom water stays above 35 degrees from this phenomenon and from ground heat radiation and protects your fish from extreme cold. Interfering with an ice cap keeps oxygen exchange up so the fish can breathe.

Thanks for the suggestion. This winter I left both the skimmer and bottom drains open. I ran two aerators very gently all winter as well. Mild winter this year, but I think I'll continue with this method until I have a problem. I want to run the bottom drains to remove waste. I am also running a moving bed biological filter and sieve with deep returns. So I'm taking mostly bottom water and returning to bottom, with just a little pulled off the top. All the pumps and filters are sheltered in places warmer than outside air.

 

[carolinaguy]

Thanks for the suggestion. This winter I left both the skimmer and bottom drains open. I ran two aerators very gently all winter as well. Mild winter this year, but I think I'll continue with this method until I have a problem. I want to run the bottom drains to remove waste. I am also running a moving bed biological filter and sieve with deep returns. So I'm taking mostly bottom water and returning to bottom, with just a little pulled off the top. All the pumps and filters are sheltered in places warmer than outside air.

Sounds good.