Wisconsin Pond Build

[herzausstahl]

Here are some pics of the pond from March 13, still going back and forth between being frozen and not.

 

[herzausstahl]

And here are some pics today.

Here you can see the Koi and Goldfish hanging out on the bottom. The rosy reds have been a little active.
(Lighter pics taken with the flash off)

In the last pic you can see my 2 Laguna pumps sitting on the crate to keep them off the bottom. Some of the fish are hiding in the crates. To the left of those you can see the cave I made out of a rubbermaide container, it has my lilies sitting on top of it.

Here are the overwinter pumps that I left running to circulate the water a little bit. Sometimes it kept a hole in the ice, other times it didn't. The heater floating in the pond was turned off half way through the winter because it was too cold for it. Still worked but not enough for me to want to leave it plugged in.

I have a 1500 gph running through sump pump hose into the stream and a 450 gph running through the other tubing into the main part of the pond. These are mostly set up for when we are still getting freezing temps and frost but the day temps might be higher leading to increased fish activity. I lost one last year because they got more active but there was still the potential of frozen water in my water lines so I didn't want to turn my main pumps on. These cover me during that in between period.

 

[j.w]

Hey we can see your fish now and nice clear water

 

[herzausstahl]

It was warm 2 days ago and they were all more active, but cold and windy yesterday so who knows what they were up to. Luckily no algae yet this year. Had some last year at this time where the water was exposed through the ice, I'm wondering if the cooler weather plays any part in that or not.

 

[CountryEscape]

I think it does, Nathan. But, watch out when it warms up. My pond was clear of algae until the warms temps got here, and now lots of green on the side walls, and some in the stream. Not worried, the plants will start growing soon, and smother the algae out! Loved your pics.

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks patty. I have more pics to upload. Some algae in the pond but not a ton. Figure the late snow cover over the pond also played a role. Fish were excited during that warm week, all at the surface looking to be fed, but the water was only about 52 degrees & I knew it was going to get colder again so I held off feeding them.

 

[sissy]

I am still testing my more aeration causes less algae ,so far so good since we had those 80 and 90 degree days.It is not even growing on the waterfall rocks and last year i had it growing there .I have been reading a lot on it on the internet about the more air a pond has the less algae you will get so the wait and see .

 

[CountryEscape]

Where do you have the aeration going on, Sissy? That's some great info. I thought more aeration, more oxygen in the water, more the algae grew, so if you can prove this wrong, I will be adding aeration hoses to the filtration systems I have in place. Maybe I need a tube of air going into the bogs, too. Tell us more!

 

[sissy]

I have 12 outlets on the laguna and they put the pump on sale for 119 dollars now .I have asked both pond digger and pond hunter and they both say the same ,more aeration the less algae .I saw the green water starting just before I got my air pump and so far it stopped and is clear .Even the rocks on the waterfall are clean .I have the air lines in the filters and in the pond .You can even see the bottom of the pond

 

[sissy]

you can see the crease in the liner and that is just about 4 ft down there

 

[CountryEscape]

My goldfish pond is crystal clear, but koi pond is not as clear. I can see the bottom of both ponds, but with better clarity in the goldfish pond. I think that the bog is the difference, as that bog is about 1/3 the size of the pond or more (since that pond is shallower - 3') than the koi pond bog, which is maybe 1/8 the water surface and the pond is deeper (4' in deep half). I have a huge air pump, just still have not gotten air lines to split it and send it to all the different parts of the ponds. Someday .....

 

[sissy]

I liked mine because it came with the 12 outlet metal adapter and those are 30 dollars or more

 

[CountryEscape]

That's exactly what I need. I see each of those outlets has an on/off switch. I would pay $30 to get one of them, since I already have the tubing, just not sure where to find the adapter. My pump has a black wide tube that came with it, fits right onto the pump, and it has a thing on the end that has about 12 outlets for the air, making quite a volcano of bubbles, but it's not what you have, and no on/off switches, just a bubbler. I have extra stones I bought, too, never used them yet. I think adding air to the filter system would help, and maybe one in the bogs as well. Thanks for the pics!

 

[sissy]

That is why I picked it plus there was a video on you tube and they sell those metal outlets with the on off valves on e bay

 

[herzausstahl]

I have 12 outlets on the laguna and they put the pump on sale for 119 dollars now .I have asked both pond digger and pond hunter and they both say the same ,more aeration the less algae .I saw the green water starting just before I got my air pump and so far it stopped and is clear .Even the rocks on the waterfall are clean .I have the air lines in the filters and in the pond .You can even see the bottom of the pond

Sissy what did they say about string algae? I rarely have floating algae with all the oxygen my stream creates but with that and full sun I always get a lot of string algae.