Wisconsin Pond Build

[herzausstahl]

Been a long time since I had an update, but not much has been going on except the weather being abnormally warm for the time of the year (or at least feeling like it), but the highs are in the 20s or so now so back to good ol winter, no snow yet though which has my wife pretty bummed out though. So the pond finally froze over except for where the winter pump is. Its kinda cool, it started to freeze as it bubbled so it has an ice dome. I used the coffee pot to make some hot water after I took these pictures and made the small hole in the bubble dome bigger, so I will probably have to do that every so often. Will have to see how it goes this year and probably next year go with Haro's idea and use a floating tank heater and just turn it on every few days to melt a hole in the ice. I want to add more outlets in the spring anyway so I will have the electrician probably add a switch for this. But for now here are some December pics to enjoy:



You can't see it in this pic but based on the bubbles that froze in the ice I think it is about 2" thick, haven't tried walking on it yet, but I'm sure I will be able to as long as I don't go too near the bubbling pump. Reminds me of walking on the frozen creek at my parents house as a kid.



Saw 3 of the fish right away and snapped this picture of this little guy before he saw me and swam deeper. So they seem to be doing just fine, sorry the thermometer is about 18-24" inches below the surface and its string is frozen in ice so no idea how cold the water is. not 32 degrees down there tho



Here you can kind of see the air bubbles that gave me an idea as to the depth. I tried to take some pics of them and the frozen lily pads (two of them), but didn't turn out well.



The bubble ice dome that formed over the winter pump.



The right side of the pond near the deck, I like the white frost ice that formed.



You can see here where it bubbled over as the pond froze closer to the fountain and then refroze.



Here's the frozen stream.

So far for summer the only changes I plan to make are to add some more outlets so I can add some low voltage water lights and an air pump. I also want to add an outlet that is connect to a timer (they make some that go in the outlet receptacles) so I can have the stream automatically turn on in the morning and shut off at night. And then somewhere in here I will add an outlet that is controlled by a manual switch in case I add a stock tank heater for winter. It sounds like a lot, but this circuit has its own main breaker in the box, the GFCI outlet is in the garage with nothing plugged in, and extra outlet on the outside of the garage, and then the 4 outlets out there now. Its all run on 12/2 wire so it can handle a larger load, but now it doesn't run over 350 watts at a time and no matter what I add not gonna top 500 or so (which anyone running a lcd tv and home theater system is probably hitting, so not as much as it sounds). Will be nice to get all that done, so I can expand in the future if I want too. Happy holidays everyone!

Nathan

 

[sissy]

like your ice dome and I really like the pic of the edge of your pond 3rd pic looks pretty neat .Your first winter is always the scariest .I worry about this winter after the nasty winter we had here last year .I still have every thing running as it has been in the low 50's and going back up to the 60's again It was in the middle to high 60's but today only 54 .Your stream looks like a little skating rink with rocks frozen in place .I am guessing we will get cold here around christmas ,maybe .

 

[j.w]

I like your frozen pics and glad no fishies got caught in the creekbed for the whole winter.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Herz, Nice pictures. Our temps dipped down to 17 degrees last night. I checked my pond and my air pump kept a nice hole in the ice. An air pump is definitely the way to go. You won't have to fuss with your pond in the winter as much if you don't want to.

 

[sissy]

I know last year my dome of water from my pump froze to a solid dome .I'm not sure most aerators can take extreme cold .I store mine in the basement and have never tried it in the winter so really don't know .I guess I don't want to find out the hard way .

 

[addy1]

Neat looking ice!

 

[herzausstahl]

sissy,
thanks! It looks cooler in person, you can see the bubbles frozen in a lot of it. I have no pumps running that could empty the pond so I'm not too worried, I'll just have to check it to make sure the hole stays open. the temps have climbed into the 30's above freezing now so I think some of the top ice is melting, but sure it will freeze, melt a little, and refreeze until we hit our usual winter temps. wed and thurs are supposed to have rain and be in the 40's (my wife is not happy, she wants a white christmas, I'm ok with it for now)

JW,
as soon as the water temps dropped below 50s the fish never went in the stream again, they started hanging out at the middle-bottom of the pond, which is where they are now

Keith,
thanks, we were down lower than that and then its gotten warmer now, i am thinking I will add an air pump for aeration next summer and then use it for keeping a hole open, although the water pump makes some cool ice formations as it freezes and the electrical cost is only like $5 a month so not bad, but I agree that the air pump would be a lot less hassle, let me know if you run into any trouble with it

thanks addy!

 

[sissy]

yep they would head for lower ground or in there case deeper water .Yeh and once the dome gets snow on it it looks like a white pot belly .I loved watching my dome grow and I had a string tied to my pump and could move it a little .I thought that would help but last winter was just to cold here .Pump I had for it was only 450 gph .

 

[addy1]

Where the aerator is not moving the water the ice is around 3/4 in thick, we have been hitting temps in the teens, 18 this am

 

[j.w]

Only a bit of thin ice here in the mornings so far. Falls and all bubblers and air hose all doing what they do and waiting patiently for the big ice to appear so they can keep it's block knocked off!

 

[Jennywren]

I can't begin to imagine what it is like to garden/pond in such cold conditions....I take my hat off to all that do.


I saw the 17 degrees, thought that is very cold, then remembered you are talking Fahrenheit. I have no idea how to convert from Fh to Celsius. C to F I can do no probs... I shall have to look it up...

 

[addy1]

About -8 jenny in the big C temperature reading chart

 

[CountryEscape]

It got down to teens here last weekend, pond got maybe 1/2-3/4" ice sheet, except the bog is still ice free since skimmer is still pushing water into it, and the waterfall is running so open water below that, and fountain is keeping the middle open. This morning, after lows only in the mid 30's, all ice is gone. Going to have to pull the skimmer pump tonight after I run water into my basement "kiddie pool pond", since crazy me went and bought some fish off of Ebay. Will get them on Fri., and want the water warming up between now and then. Going to use filter media from my DIY Skippy into a 20 gal tote that will be my filter for the pool. Also have 2 water jet things from when I bought my used 55 gal aquarium, so will see about hooking them up to keep a swirling motion going in the pool, hopefully have all the waste pushed to the middle, where the pump will be.
Loved your ice pics, Herz! Very neat, although I much prefer our ponds with no ice. :goldfish: :goldfish:

 

[j.w]

Show us pix patti of your new fish when you get them all settled in their new digs! We've had heavy frost here in the mornings for awhile now and it doesn't all go away by afternoon. Unusual for us to have it this cold for this long in a row. But alas I am sorry to say there is no snow in sight.........boo hoo! Rain coming soon they say so temps will go up.

 

[addy1]

Rain coming here too and temps going up again. A nice 47 here today.