Wisconsin Pond Build

[herzausstahl]

addy,
they must be saving a ton around here since the plows have not been out once. we've had maybe 3 snowfalls with a total accumulation of 5-6", the exact opposite of the last couple of years.

jw,
I was glad there was no snow up till that point because it helped with being stuck inside, but was glad when we got it, and now its gone and I do miss it a little bit, but not too much yet! lol I had enough the last few years to last me this year. They started building in september or so and knocked down the crabapple that was on the other side of the fence which is good and bad. I liked the tree view over the fence better than a view of a house and the bloom in spring is awesome, but I will not miss the leaves blowing into my pond! Speaking of which, I don't like the bird netting I used this year, it wasn't rigid enough and I don't want to build a frame to go over it, so I will be looking for a creative solution next fall, although I only have city trees to worry about now so maybe not.

 

[sissy]

The bird netting held up with styrofoam works for my neighbor now .Tammy had it sinking into her pond and i just used the bigger foam blocks from the dump and wired it to the bird netting for her keeps the net up and keeps the block in place.free stuff works

 

[herzausstahl]

thanks for the advice sissy, I guess for me it was the difficulty in effectively stretching the netting accross everything and that it sticks to itself at times very easily, so I might look for something that is sturdier, not sure what yet. and with the crabapple tree gone next year, the only close threat to my pond is my 3' maple that is 40-50' away, so I will have to see if I get anything or not next fall

 

[sissy]

yeh those nets are hard to work with .I stretch mine out first on the lawn and use landscape pins to hold it while I stretch it out and I leave it out like that for a day so it keeps the memory of the stretch works better that way .But it is not sturdy or thick so you can see through it easier .This year I used window screen attached to my bridge and then attached to 2x4 .I sewed a pocket in 1 end and put pvc pipe through it and attached it to the bridge .Window screen helps with the uv rays also

 

[herzausstahl]

thanks for the advice sissy, mostly I just need something for fall and leaves, but I will have to see if I get any now that the tree next door is gone, otherwise not much else blew into the pond.

we got 3-4" of snow on thursday so here are some pics of that:



The snow covered up the fountain pump, but it didn't freeze over. I dug it out and found a slush covered hole in the ice. The rest of the ice seems to be about 2-3 inches thick.

 

[sissy]

looks nice with the ice on the pond makes for a pretty winter scene .Sorry but one I'm very happy I'm missing

 

[CountryEscape]

The high winds (35 mph) and dropping temps 2 days ago threatened my pond with ice cover, so had to reschedule my winterization for Thurs. evening, in the dark, and with the windn blowing. Got filter rinsed out and unhooked, line drained. Pulled pump (at this point when I started, only slush on the outside 12" of the pond perimeter), zip tied it to a milk crate to hold it off the bottom, put it back in, rope on handle to remove in the spring, plugged it in, nothing. :-( Brought it back out, found correct screwdrivers, removed chunk of ice in the way of propeller, put back together (tested to make sure it would work before tossing back out into the pond!) and by this time the whole pond was covered with 1" of slush, frozen on the outside edge. Made sure slush in area I was going to "toss" the pump to, as I wanted it past the shelf, next to the fountain, to try to keep the fountain from freezing. It's making a "bubbler" that is over 12" high, more than necessary, but can't change that now. I think I should have removed the reducer from the pump, which would maybe have meant less force. Bad thing is that the bubbler is less than 18" from the fountain, but the fountain is covered with ice. If it freezes and breaks, no biggie, it was less than $5. Neat thing is that the ice that has since formed, 2-3" thick, seems to almost be above the water surface! Next year, I will use the skimmer pump for the bubbler, as it is more like 1600 gph, instead of the waterfall/fountain pump, which is 4200. But, the skimmer pump is keeping my baby koi in the basement pool happy.

 

[sissy]

It seems like when winter hits it hits fast and you end up freezing getting things done It is supposed to be in the mid to high 20's at night but back up to mid 40's to high 40's and then back up to 50 .At least thats what the weather report says but you never know that could change over night

 

[j.w]

Hoping for some of that snow to stick here herz!

 

[CountryEscape]

Temps here started cold this morning, but up in the 30's this afternoon. Supposed to warm up to mid 50's on Mon. and rain. But, the ice, once it's there, will be hard pressed to melt on the pond, so I'm glad I got the pump doing the bubbler thing to keep an opening. All is well here.

 

[herzausstahl]

looks nice with the ice on the pond makes for a pretty winter scene .Sorry but one I'm very happy I'm missing

LOL sissy we had tons of snow the last 5 years or so it feels, so I have been fine with the general lack of it so far! last year I had cabin fever like crazy and hasn't been bad this year without so much snow, don't get me wrong, I like almost everything about it, but when you get a blizzard that drops half a foot plus in april like we did last year, I'm ready for a dryer year.

The high winds (35 mph) and dropping temps 2 days ago threatened my pond with ice cover, so had to reschedule my winterization for Thurs. evening, in the dark, and with the windn blowing. Got filter rinsed out and unhooked, line drained. Pulled pump (at this point when I started, only slush on the outside 12" of the pond perimeter), zip tied it to a milk crate to hold it off the bottom, put it back in, rope on handle to remove in the spring, plugged it in, nothing. :-( Brought it back out, found correct screwdrivers, removed chunk of ice in the way of propeller, put back together (tested to make sure it would work before tossing back out into the pond!) and by this time the whole pond was covered with 1" of slush, frozen on the outside edge. Made sure slush in area I was going to "toss" the pump to, as I wanted it past the shelf, next to the fountain, to try to keep the fountain from freezing. It's making a "bubbler" that is over 12" high, more than necessary, but can't change that now. I think I should have removed the reducer from the pump, which would maybe have meant less force. Bad thing is that the bubbler is less than 18" from the fountain, but the fountain is covered with ice. If it freezes and breaks, no biggie, it was less than $5. Neat thing is that the ice that has since formed, 2-3" thick, seems to almost be above the water surface! Next year, I will use the skimmer pump for the bubbler, as it is more like 1600 gph, instead of the waterfall/fountain pump, which is 4200. But, the skimmer pump is keeping my baby koi in the basement pool happy.

the 12" wont be so bad unless it blows a lot in the wind, mine is a 450 gph pump with the fountain head at water height and it bubbles only an inch or so above the surface, but this lets the water freeze into a dome over the fountain jet. the water is still moving underneath but it is in effect freezing over the top of the fountain head, creates what I called an ice dome, cool looking, but completely useless to keep the air exchange I want, so every so often I take a 5 gallon bucket of hot water out there and melt the dome away with it.

It seems like when winter hits it hits fast and you end up freezing getting things done It is supposed to be in the mid to high 20's at night but back up to mid 40's to high 40's and then back up to 50 .At least thats what the weather report says but you never know that could change over night

sissy that is the nice thing about where I live, usually we hit cold in november and it just stays there until march usually, the 45 degree days we had last week I can't remember ever having before, but at least its an anomaly. usually we hit the single digits to the low 20s for our low/highs this time of year.

Hoping for some of that snow to stick here herz!

the snow should stay now unless we get some crazy temps, but it should be around through feb I would think, with probably getting more added to it.

 

[taherrmann4]

Herz in the pics your pond looks frozen over. do you have an aerator or are you just using your pump.

 

[sissy]

Well after last winter I love this winter the shoveling was a nightmare last year because my driveway is so long .Mr snow shovel can sit and not be used at all .I like this mild winter it has given me plenty of time to fertilize and reseed my lawn .I treated myself to a new dethatcher and seeder for my little red lawnmower back in November .Old man winter can leave and young man spring can step in .

 

[herzausstahl]

Herz in the pics your pond looks frozen over. do you have an aerator or are you just using your pump.

I have a 450 gph pump with a fountain riser on it sitting on a shelf (the only one) in the pond, here is a close up of the shelf during the construction phase:



The pump sits on the shelf about a foot below the water line, and the bubbling fountain head sits right about water level. You can see the pump bubbling above the water surface here:



It keeps running, and occasionally freezes over the running water creating an ice dome, you can see it here:



So it is still running, not as strong as at first, so not sure if any ice chunks are clinging to the outside of the intake or not, will have to check it out some time, but it is still running, occasionally freezes over the top of the running water or gets covered by snow (as it was in the pictures you saw). So when that happens I get a bucket of hot water and melt the snow/ice off the top of it and reopen the hole in the ice. Works well so far, although I might have to find a way to check the intake area. Its an experiment year with it while all my goldfish are still all under 5" in length so I should have a little leeway for error with them. So far so good. I do have a heater to try for next year, but need to work out an extension cord for it, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Just need a 25' cord (to cover 5-8' that the original cord is short) and a plastic cover to cover where the cords plug into each other.

 

[addy1]

Hoping for some of that snow to stick here herz!

You got your wish! jw......

I have just air running, so far it has kept the lotus and large pond open, we have been warm this winter, did get a few times, 1.5 inches or so of ice on the ponds.