25 replies to this topic

[koivinz]

Got a 20'x3' 2'H raised pond with interlock stone walls on the side of the house and wondering if I could winterize to keep it running through the winter to have the fish survive.
I'm located in Canada just between zone 2 and 3. get pretty cold.
1. should I at least insulate the exposed wall above the frost line? (hay,leaves, styrofoam wall, fiberglass blanket?)
2. do I need to heat water ? (electric, solar?)
3. do I need to keep the filter and waterfall running. (insulate filter unit?)
3. what is the feeding schedule?
4. did I miss anything?

[koivinz]

koivinz said:

Got a 20'x3' 2'H raised pond with interlock stone walls on the side of the house and wondering if I could winterize to keep it running through the winter to have the fish survive.
I'm located in Canada just between zone 2 and 3. get pretty cold.
1. should I at least insulate the exposed wall above the frost line? (hay,leaves, styrofoam wall, fiberglass blanket?)
2. do I need to heat water ? (electric, solar?)
3. do I need to keep the filter and waterfall running. (insulate filter unit?)
3. what is the feeding schedule?
4. did I miss anything?

Attaching photos of last winter to show how much it snows here

Attached Thumbnails

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[DrCase]

That looks cold
can you make a frame and cover it with plastic to keep the weather out..?

[koivinz]

DrCase said:

That looks cold
can you make a frame and cover it with plastic to keep the weather out..?

I was thinking of insulating the inner walls with 1 inch foam before installing the lining of the basin.

[koikeepr]

i agree with the doc. Get 1" pvc pipe and build a frame with elbows and such. They toss a tarp on top to keep the snow off.. Make sure the tent frame is angled so that snow runs off and down--and doesn't just sit on top and drags your tarp down. In your case, you might want to purchase a pond heater. They are not expensive and don't use a terrible amount of electrcity. You can find the equivalent in your area, but places here in the US like Fosters & Smith (google 'em) sell these.

Don't seal the pvc, just put it together. And then in the spring you can just take it apart and next winter you use it again.

[koivinz]

koikeepr said:

i agree with the doc. Get 1" pvc pipe and build a frame with elbows and such. They toss a tarp on top to keep the snow off.. Make sure the tent frame is angled so that snow runs off and down--and doesn't just sit on top and drags your tarp down. In your case, you might want to purchase a pond heater. They are not expensive and don't use a terrible amount of electrcity. You can find the equivalent in your area, but places here in the US like Fosters & Smith (google 'em) sell these.

Don't seal the pvc, just put it together. And then in the spring you can just take it apart and next winter you use it again.

Thanks for the advise.
come to think of it, costco here sells a winter shed/tent 20 x 7.5 for 99 bones
(used for storring snow blowers, ATV etc) I will check it out, they were selling like hot cakes a week ago
I am tempted to use the styrofoam idea as well

[stroppy]

oh my now thats what i call snow ...we get nothing like that here

[DrCase]

You did mention haybales that would add a lot on the outside walls of the pond to hold the heat in.

[newday3000]

koivinz said:

I'm located in Canada just between zone 2 and 3. get pretty cold.

I live Ottawa as well and we are in Zone 5a (not zone 2 or 3) with average lowest temp between -20 to -15 F OR -26.2 to -28.8 C

[newday3000]

see here for Canadian zone mapping database

http://nlwis-snite1....00/index.phtml#

[chilligirl]

The hay bales can't hurt - I'm planning on using hay bales around my pond, and also doing a pvc frame with poly for a cover. I'm zone 8a, so not nearly as cold as you, but our winters here are long - we seem to have two seasons, summer from June to end of September, rain for the rest of the year *rolls eyes*.

[beeliz]

can someone here please post a pic of their pvc liners/covers?
I also need advice on winterizing my raised brick pond. I don't have a heater but I have the pump running and it should keep the surface from freezing over right? it comes up from the water in a hose I attached and runs back into the water with a good force. I was wondering if I had to cover it? I don't know what to use,,,it's 5 feet by 5 feet square and 3 feet high,,but 4 feet deep in the center.
thanks

[shakaho]

Beeliz, I think your question was overlooked because you put it at the end of a long old thread. There are many threads on winterizing that you can look through and find structures. Here's one:

http://www.gardenpon...over-t6888.html

You need to insulate the sides of your pond. From my experience in the far north, I recommend bags of leaves as the best insulation, but it may be too late to find any. Bales of straw or hay are your next best choice. Many people use an air pump to keep a hole open, but I've heard of using the water pump as well. You can also check out a stock tank heater.

I also included a link below to a place where you can get specialty pvc pipe connectors that you might not find at your hardware store. They also have plans for making various structures. It's easy to build a pipe "house" for your pond and cover it with plastic -- just like playing with tinker toys.

http://www.littlegre...sory/pvc2.shtml

[sissy]

that ice hanging down looks like daggers ,would hate to get hit by one of those and the snow load up there is a lot .I'm just glad I don't have to shovel that .Not sure mr. shovel can handle that job

[herzausstahl]

lol, this is an old thread but like your comment sissy. most of us in the far north use snow blowers (snow throwers also called) instead because of the drifting we get with the snow. I tried mr shovel for awhile, not wanting to spend a lot of $ on something I might use less than 10 times a year, until I had a couple winters in a row where the snow piles at the end of my driveway were as tall as I was. then you look at last year and we had blizzards in march/april drop 8-10 inches of snow. was not fun. his pictures look normal for me, but still wouldn't want to imagine the cold temps he gets up there tho