Air stones in autumn - do I switch off ??

[cas]

@snoozer did the air stones not keep a hole in the ice the year you lost some fish? Did you only use the pond breather last year and no fish loss? I am debating about using both the pond breather and a small aerator.

 

[snoozer]

I used only the 2 breathers, my pond is 25 x 35, and the only losses were 6 babies about an inch long. The airstones didn't keetp the ice open and I was out there everyday with the big blow torch my son got me trying to melt holes. Maybe I had them set too deep but when the fish you find floating are the koi you got your first year it is heartbreaking. The weather was pretty brutal though. I might have just picked toe wrong year to do something new.

 

[Fishfinder]

Hey, this might be a dumb idea, how about we collectively come up with something like The Top Ten Things You Should Do In Fall/Winter To Prepare Your Pond For the Winter.

I suggest this because for new ponders and novices, there is a heck of a lot to learn and absorb, and there are lots of threads with great information. We could either write it in bullet points and direct readers to the archives for more information, or we could try to keep the information down to a dull roar.

Yes? No?

Maybe that thread has been done somewhere and it's in the archives?

 

[bettasngoldfish]

This is what my pond looked like last winter in February I believe it was (very cold and snowy winter and we broke records for cold and snow in February) this was using one air pump and four air stones with a pond de-icer (which I left plugged in all winter)

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I didn't lose any fish over the winter and had a good amount of open area and water movement with the air stones.

I have my air pump contained in a rubber maid bin with holes drilled in it for air flow. And I put some foam padding in to help insulate it. I keep a brick on top of the bin to keep it from being blow away or tipped over (have not had any issues with it) I also have a tarp partially covering the bin to keep snow from building up around the bin and blocking air flow.

I'm not sure what the wattage is on my de-icer but I can check and post the info if you need it

 

[bettasngoldfish]

@zigzagbuddha if you pm me your name for facebook I will find you and send a friend request so you can view the video with the little giant pond aerator running.

 

[MitchM]

Hey, this might be a dumb idea, how about we collectively come up with something like The Top Ten Things You Should Do In Fall/Winter To Prepare Your Pond For the Winter.

I suggest this because for new ponders and novices, there is a heck of a lot to learn and absorb, and there are lots of threads with great information. We could either write it in bullet points and direct readers to the archives for more information, or we could try to keep the information down to a dull roar.

Yes? No?

Maybe that thread has been done somewhere and it's in the archives?

The difficulty with a list is that a lot of people have different ideas of how a pond should operate during the winter.

Some think that you HAVE to have open water
Some think that you HAVE to have water circulation
Some think that you HAVE to have the water above a certain temperature
Some think that you HAVE to have a clean pond bottom
Some think that you HAVE to do water changes
Some think that you HAVE to bring the fish indoors
Some think that you HAVE to clear the snow off of the frozen pond surface
Some think that you HAVE to add "cold water bacteria"

ect....

The best that we can do is let people run their ponds the way they do if they are happy with what they have done in the past.
However, if someone wants to change to a new way of doing things, we can certainly help them understand what is involved in helping their fish survive the winter.
All goldfish and koi really need is liquid water that has good gas exchange.

.

 

[addy1]

I use the pond breathers, a friend in Maryland lost all their fish, except one, using an aerator, nice open water 1/2 of the pond, the fish died at the end of February right after a week or so of -10 at night.

I quit using aerators the next winter.

 

[Fishfinder]

Oh, wow! How awful! I wonder what killed them.

I plan to remove the bubblers in winter. There are two waterfalls running and the they have never frozen over and the I'm in Delaware and you probably got those horrible artic blasts too, when we did. It took a heavy tool to break up the some of ice, just for my peace of mind that the gases had plenty of room to escape.

I've read that even small holes are enough to let the gasses escape. We also have that green disc thing that warms the water enough to melt ice, so I think we're good.

I hope breaking up the ice did not stress the fish. I never thought of that. I'll chip away at it if need be,

 

[zigzagbuddha]

The difficulty with a list is that a lot of people have different ideas of how a pond should operate during the winter.

Some think that you HAVE to have open water
Some think that you HAVE to have water circulation
Some think that you HAVE to have the water above a certain temperature
Some think that you HAVE to have a clean pond bottom
Some think that you HAVE to do water changes
Some think that you HAVE to bring the fish indoors
Some think that you HAVE to clear the snow off of the frozen pond surface
Some think that you HAVE to add "cold water bacteria"

ect....


The best that we can do is let people run their ponds the way they do if they are happy with what they have done in the past.
However, if someone wants to change to a new way of doing things, we can certainly help them understand what is involved in helping their fish survive the winter.
All goldfish and koi really need is liquid water that has good gas exchange. .

We moved into this house during a blizzard in Jan/Feb (that's another story entirely), and as soon as most of the ice and snow had melted and there was a little bit of sun one day, my 17 year old niece and her boyfriend were out there cleaning out the pond... and while I sure appreciated their enthusiastic energy, if it had been up to me we would have waited till spring for sure. I don't know if that would have been better or worse for the little survivor I'm about to mention.

In the process of emptying the pond they found a little goldfish in the muck. They had found a couple of other corpses so they assumed that's what this was - my sister is actually the one who picked it up and practically had the *^&% shocked out of her when the thing started flopping around in her hand.

Anyway, the poor little fellow spent the rest of the winter and pretty far into spring, in a tupperware tub with a bubbler tube going into it... he was definitely not a happy camper- he was one stressed out little fish.

It has done my heart good to set up a cozy place for him to de-stressout in... and to call home. We bought a couple of feeder fish from the pet store to keep him company and one of them was a girl fish so now there are a couple of new additions to the family swimming around.

I don't have any filters and stuff in there, although I did put a filter pad and a couple bags of charcoal in the waterfall box (that's another story itself - It didn't occur to me to rinse it off and I had black water out there for quite a while!) I depend on the waterfall to keep the water circulating... I have the pump set up on a low crate (all the fish love to hang out under there) with a couple of flat rocks on top of the crate too - which is where I was thinking to put a bubble stone. There are a bunch of underwater plants surrounding the crate. They all spend most of their time in that area, or they swim over to the waterfall to play in the bubbles... which is where I was planning to put another bubble stone. I don't know if anyone has made it this far (I do tend to ramble) but are you saying that putting those bubble stones in there would do more harm than good, and might even kill my little friends??? How could that be??? I LOVE bubblers and my little fish LOVE bubbles!!

What about if I provide backup with plastic jugs half full of water (in case the water were to freeze I could just pull the jugs out and have couple of nice air holes). Plus I'll cover the pond during snowy weather, that would help wouldn't it? These little guys are all amazing survivors and they have that crate down there where they all spend a lot of time hanging out, even in the summer, and it's in the deepest part of the pond (which isn't really all that deep, just 2 or 3 ft.)

I'm just really into low /no maintenance, user-friendly zenlike water gardens, where nature pretty much takes care of things and I just putter around doing the fun stuff like scooping the leaves out with a net and planting stuff like moss and mint and watercress... working on the pond is a moving meditation for me and it's how I like to start off every day! I don't want to have to worry about figuring it all out and having to buy or build filters and biofilters and plop in de-icers and skimmers and heaters and complicated stuff. I just want my waterfall to run all year and not have to lose my pond time to ice and snow for any amount of time. Is that too much to ask??? Hahahaha!

 

[zigzagbuddha]

@zigzagbuddha if you pm me your name for facebook I will find you and send a friend request so you can view the video with the little giant pond aerator running.

https://www.facebook.com/zigzag.buddha

 

[zigzagbuddha]

This is what my pond looked like last winter in February I believe it was (very cold and snowy winter and we broke records for cold and snow in February) this was using one air pump and four air stones with a pond de-icer (which I left plugged in all winter)

View attachment 86932 View attachment 86933 View attachment 86934

What is the purpose of a de-icer? The moving bubbles won't keep that section of water from freezing?

It breaks my heart to think I might have to go out one day and see my favorite retreat all covered in ice and snow like that!!! Where is the de-icer in the photos?

 

[zigzagbuddha]

I didn't lose any fish over the winter and had a good amount of open area and water movement with the air stones.

I have my air pump contained in a rubber maid bin with holes drilled in it for air flow. And I put some foam padding in to help insulate it. I keep a brick on top of the bin to keep it from being blow away or tipped over (have not had any issues with it) I also have a tarp partially covering the bin to keep snow from building up around the bin and blocking air flow.

I'm not sure what the wattage is on my de-icer but I can check and post the info if you need it

I'm not sure where I'm gonna put the air pump yet, but I certainly have rubbermaid bins (which I called 'tupperware tubs' somewhere else, hehe.) And there are plenty of protected spots to put it in too. What I'd really like to do is set up a little greenhouse out there, but that will have to wait I think. I'm really hoping for a mild winter so I can just leave my waterfall going all the time.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

What is the purpose of a de-icer? The moving bubbles won't keep that section of water from freezing?

It breaks my heart to think I might have to go out one day and see my favorite retreat all covered in ice and snow like that!!! Where is the de-icer in the photos?

It keeps the water warm enough to let the air stones work without freezing up. The de-icer is the round red thing you can see in the first photo (the top of it is covered in snow)

 

[bettasngoldfish]

https://www.facebook.com/zigzag.buddha

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