Above ground stock tank winterizing

[MaryP]

1st year with my stock pond. I ended up emptying out the stock tank and flipping it upside down for the winter. Won't go through this again. What do others do?. Thinking next year I'll pull the filrt put and just let the snow go in. Any ideas?

 

[brokensword]

Not sure what you mean by 'pull the filrt put', but...

that's why it's always better/easier to dig down into the earth for your pond--you get the ground's heat to help keep the pond from totally freezing. But be aware; if too shallow and/or in a very cold zone, it may freeze anyway. 24" minimum, 36" better, and some form of pump/pondbreather/aerator to keep a hole open and you'll be fine leaving the water in and keeping anything inside alive. Stock tanks/ponds above ground, always have this danger in winter; you have to either insulate, heat, or empty depending again on location. In Michigan, above ground would probably freeze all the way down as the sides are now exposed to the sub 20F we typically get often with days below freezing temps.

It may be more work, but once in the ground and established (bog filtration is your friend), your pond should be much easier to open and close depending on season.

 

[Mmathis]

Well, where do you live and what kind of winters do you have? How exposed is the tank? Do you have fish? If you have fish, and you take down your filter, you have to start from scratch. If freezing is a problem, there are ways to insulate around a stock tank.

 

[mrsclem]

I have stock tanks I have filled year round and never had one crack- except 2 that were raised above ground! Both cracked in the exact same place.

 

[addy1]

I have two, one totally buried, one partially buried. With our slope the up slope side buried, the down slope side exposed. But I took dirt, made a berm against the side, planted stuff and so far, year later, still non crackedc.