Wisconsin Pond Build

[addy1]

We all have those blonde moments Tmann! more than we care to admit at times.

 

[herzausstahl]

Herz, last year when I got my new deicer the pond was already frozen over except a small area 6" where my bubbler was so I laid it on the ice thinking it would melt it's way into the pond after a few hours. I went to check on it and there was only a very small area of water that was melted, no way this was going work. So I thought it might be too windy as it was windy that day and the heat it was generating was just being blown away and never really touching the pond. So I decided to make a tent out of aluminum foil to trap the heat inside and melt the ice on top. I checked on it after an hour and absolutely nothing happened. So then it occurred to me, the damn thing is thermostatically controlled so it would never melt the ice b/c as soon as it started melting the iced that water became warm and shut off the unit, and it kept doing this over and over again. So I had to make numerous trips to and from the house with hot water to eventually get through the 4" of ice. That was my blonde moment.

LOL Don't worry, the instructions did say you could only melt it through the ice if it wasn't too thick yet, like 1-2", which is when I would put it on there when it was only an inch thick so it would melt through but not sink in all the way. But glad you got it figured out! Yeah, I could imagine how many trips it would take to get through 4" of ice.

 

[herzausstahl]

Initially I thought I put the fish in my pond, my wife wanted was to be water, but when I saw how you can be beautiful ponds, I've changed thinking, but the problem was what I already make a pond of cement and only 50 cm deep and placed around the pebbles at the bottom of the Vulcan stone tablets and now i do not want to demolish it to dig deeper, here in Croatia there are several forums on the ponds so that I and the active and collect data and experience different, so i was yesterday heard from a man who was from my part of the country who told me that he has the same pond 50 cm deep and had no problems over the winter, says he has a couple of gold fish

Post your pictures here and people can help you out. As long as the pond does not freeze solid, all the way through, and you can keep a hole in the ice for gas from rotting waste to escape, it will be ok I think. Talk to people who live close to you in Croatia and they will know more than us.

 

[CountryEscape]

Just a warning about something I did that was totally stupid! I have a 1500 watt deicer that has the heater ring on the bottom, is a floating type. I set it on the ice, which was maybe 1" thick, and then walked around the pond while it did it's job. CAUTION: Do not leave a deicer until it has melted to the point of not twisting and moving! My deicer not only was melting the ice, but had twisted and was also melting the cord! YIKES! I wrapped the cord in electric tape, and of course it had not melted it all the way through, but that could have been REALLY bad, maybe electrocuting my fish? OMG, that would have sucked.
But, I have the bubbler effect going from my 4200 gph pump (much more water moving than necessary, but the smaller pump is in basement pool/pond for the winter), and that has kept the water open in an area at least 2" diameter, and probably costs far less than the deicer, although deicer is on "stand-by" mode just in case.
With our extremely mild winter this year, the pond remains completely thawed out, so going to shut off the pump for a few days, let the fish relax a little more for the winter. No need running it until it decides to become winter here again ....

 

[j.w]

Yike's country that is scary to think about what could have happened. Glad you caught it beforehand. Don't need those de-icer's here. Nice you are getting some warmer weather to be able and get out and do some ponding/gardening. Thought it was gonna be sunny here today but not yet.

 

[CountryEscape]

Very sunny, very windy, but the wind part is part of my property location. LOL Going to stack all the metal roofing into my horse trailer, and plan to take it to recycling place next weekend, hopefully. I also need to gather all the nuts and bolts scattered everywhere, as they will add up to lots of weight for recycling. I will get paid for this stuff, or at least I hope I do. At least to pay for the gas to get there. LOL
Turned off the pump, located all my fish, all in the deepest end under the waterfall, in a circle of about 3' in diameter, just hanging out. The little goldies were moving around, as usual, but koi are all sleeping.

 

[herzausstahl]

Just a warning about something I did that was totally stupid! I have a 1500 watt deicer that has the heater ring on the bottom, is a floating type. I set it on the ice, which was maybe 1" thick, and then walked around the pond while it did it's job. CAUTION: Do not leave a deicer until it has melted to the point of not twisting and moving! My deicer not only was melting the ice, but had twisted and was also melting the cord! YIKES! I wrapped the cord in electric tape, and of course it had not melted it all the way through, but that could have been REALLY bad, maybe electrocuting my fish? OMG, that would have sucked.
But, I have the bubbler effect going from my 4200 gph pump (much more water moving than necessary, but the smaller pump is in basement pool/pond for the winter), and that has kept the water open in an area at least 2" diameter, and probably costs far less than the deicer, although deicer is on "stand-by" mode just in case.
With our extremely mild winter this year, the pond remains completely thawed out, so going to shut off the pump for a few days, let the fish relax a little more for the winter. No need running it until it decides to become winter here again ....

Glad you caught it Patti before it did melt through, I'm not sure what would have happened, if it would have electrocuted the fish, caused a fire, or because its on a GFI outlet if it would have just tripped the circuit and the cord would just be shot. Either way, glad you didn't have to find out. And yes the 4200 gph pump probably uses a lot less than your deicer depending on the thermostat control and how often it turns on. Which in my neck of the woods would be a lot, thats why if I ever go that route I would do what I have seen Haro say he does and just turn it on long enough to melt the ice. Mostly because I have had to melt the area around the bubbler this winter a few times and it has been a mild one to say the least.

Very sunny, very windy, but the wind part is part of my property location. LOL Going to stack all the metal roofing into my horse trailer, and plan to take it to recycling place next weekend, hopefully. I also need to gather all the nuts and bolts scattered everywhere, as they will add up to lots of weight for recycling. I will get paid for this stuff, or at least I hope I do. At least to pay for the gas to get there. LOL
Turned off the pump, located all my fish, all in the deepest end under the waterfall, in a circle of about 3' in diameter, just hanging out. The little goldies were moving around, as usual, but koi are all sleeping.

I wonder if the wind slid the deicer around the cord? Not sure if it would be windy enough or if the shape of the deicer condusive to that, but a possibility. Not sure where my fish are, but all goldies and probably darting around a bit just like yours (or at least I hope they are )

Last Friday night we got about 2" of snow, not much but was coming down in some nice big flakes. So I ran out and took some pics of it, was pretty cool.

Here's the main pond:


Here is the rest of the landscape:


And here's the stream, its pretty filled in with snow at the moment:



It looks cool right now, the bubbler was still keeping an opening now that it is pushing more water since I took out the sponge filter, but the wind blew more snow around the opening and almost closed it over so I dumped another 5 gal bucket of water on it today to open it up. Unfortunately the snow will mostly be melted by Tues because our daily hi is supposed to be 40 degrees (F), but on the bright side that is also the reason I didn't bother to shovel the driveway so that is a plus.

 

[pondlover]

Wow, I have enjoyed reading your thread and watching all your hard work come to completion. Absolutely beautiful.!!

 

[CountryEscape]

Cool pics, Herz! LOVE pic #5, as it looks like someone from above is zeroing in on your pond, like there is a spotlight on the pond! And the others the way your camera flash made those snowflakes light up! Thanks for sharing.
The floating heater I have is the coil on the underside with the floating part above it, so when I set it down on the ice, and it began to melt, any amount of wind would have moved it; however, the real problem was that the cord was cold, and had been coiled for a long time, so it was simply trying to coil back on itself, thus pulling the cord next to the heating element. I do have GFCI outlets on the corner of my deck, FINALLY, as I had been asking the electric company to get that done for 4 months, and they finally did get it done in October. So, I suspect it would have grounded out the heater, but I would not have wanted to find out if any fish got hurt in the millisecond before that happened.
Good grief, supposed to be 56 today and 60 tomorrow here. Only 4 days of low temps below freezing in the next 10, although we all know that could easily change. Glad you're having a mild winter, too, Herz. Not having to shovel, that's a nice change for once, huh?!

 

[sissy]

country go to home improvement store and buy heat shrink wire protector and slip it over damaged part add heat and it shrinks around it instead of the tape .Auto part and computer stores even carry it .I use it to protect my power cords that run out and on the ground near the outlet plug and then put the wires all inside an old hose I slit up the whole one side of it .Squirrels and mice and even moles can chew through electric wires .I had some thing chew part of the way through a wire for an outside light and had to fix it and used the hose and have not had a problem since .Neighbors who have old hoses are a good source to get them with just asking and I got a couple at the dump .There garbage my treasure .

 

[CountryEscape]

That's a very clever idea, Sissy! I never heard of that heat shrink wrap stuff. I'll have to look for it. And, yes, you're so right that mice and other critters can chew through the cords. My outside cats are frequently on my back deck ... ok, every morning and evening LOL ... and to be honest, I have never seen a mouse yet since I moved to this house, even though I'm surrounded by fields on all sides. Guess those outside cats do wonders! I don't see any need for the floating heater this year, probably should put it away, but have it still sitting on my deck, as I'm a Murphy's Law person. If I put it away, it will get cold. Just like my snow fence. Put that sucker up, no snow since. Wish it would work that way all the time.

 

[sissy]

Moles chewed one of my wires .I caught the little sucker doing it .I thought it was mice or a squirrel ,but no it was a mole .Guess what I found at my local animal shelter turtles and fish .They had a lot of goldfish and even koi and had 10 turtles .The fish to adopt them were 50 cents each and the turtles were a dollar .Kathy ask me to come in , she is the animal control lady and she wanted to know if the fish that someone brought in were koi after she saw mine the other day .She talked to the neighbors next door and she threaten to take there puppies if they did not take care of them .She said they look starved and had no fresh water outside and she told them she will be back in a week and she said they better show that they got there shots from the vet and got there license. She said by law she has to give them 2 warnings and that the next time I see them on my property to take a pic .Funny thing is when she was here they came running across to where we were barking and growling ,what does that say ,she saw it with her own eyes .She went back over there before she left but not sure what she said to the lady there .I can't speak spanish and thats all they speak .

 

[sissy]

You can keep the snow herz it is pretty there but I don't want it here and hope not to get it .

 

[herzausstahl]

Wow, I have enjoyed reading your thread and watching all your hard work come to completion. Absolutely beautiful.!!

Thanks, but I don't think I'll ever be completely done. If its like the rest of the landscaping I've done, I'll keep tinkering here and there, but for me thats the fun part. It will be interesting to see what it looks like next year if we get a normal snow fall.

Cool pics, Herz! LOVE pic #5, as it looks like someone from above is zeroing in on your pond, like there is a spotlight on the pond! And the others the way your camera flash made those snowflakes light up! Thanks for sharing.
The floating heater I have is the coil on the underside with the floating part above it, so when I set it down on the ice, and it began to melt, any amount of wind would have moved it; however, the real problem was that the cord was cold, and had been coiled for a long time, so it was simply trying to coil back on itself, thus pulling the cord next to the heating element. I do have GFCI outlets on the corner of my deck, FINALLY, as I had been asking the electric company to get that done for 4 months, and they finally did get it done in October. So, I suspect it would have grounded out the heater, but I would not have wanted to find out if any fish got hurt in the millisecond before that happened.
Good grief, supposed to be 56 today and 60 tomorrow here. Only 4 days of low temps below freezing in the next 10, although we all know that could easily change. Glad you're having a mild winter, too, Herz. Not having to shovel, that's a nice change for once, huh?!

It was pretty cool taking the pictures, because I really couldn't see the flakes, then I would see the flash and all the flakes would light up, so it was pretty awesome.
Was a really nice snow fall, actually made me miss not having as much this year. I haven't had to shovel for 2 years since I got a snowblower because I got tired of 2 years in a row before that having the mounds on both sides of the driveway as tall as I was by this time year, and then I got good use the last few years having the snowblower. So the only time I shovel is if it's 1-2 inches and not worth getting the snowblower out for it. But it's been the opposite of the last 4-5 years here. This year I was expecting drifts all along the fence because thats what my neighbor had in his backyard last year, but we didn't get enough snow this year for it.

You can keep the snow herz it is pretty there but I don't want it here and hope not to get it .

LOL I was ready for a winter without so much snow, but I was beginning to miss it and don't mind it right now, of course that is because I know winter is almost over and most of it will be melted in 3 days since the highs are in the low 40's tommorrow and in the mid 30's the next couple of days. But after this mild winter I think I will be recharged and ready for more snow next year.

 

[sissy]

thats the only way to get snow here then gone .It is always fun to see what you really capture in a pic .I took a pic the other night and when i looked at it I saw all these red dots turned out it was the deer in the woods eye's glowing .Scary pic .I still have to download it to my puter