ARE THERE "CUES" TO KNOW WHEN IT'S TIME TO PREPARE "SOUTHERN" PONDS FOR WINTER?

[Mmathis]

It's time for my "newbie-ness" to resurface!

I've been through my first pond-winter and have a general idea of what needs to be done/taken care of. But for those of us who live in the South, or at least here in LA, the seasonal changes are very, VERY gradual. And sometimes, except for naked trees, brown lawns, and football, it's hard to tell we've even passed into a different season. Pretty sure that last winter I just REACTED and did stuff like, "OMG, THIS HAS GOT TO BE DONE NOW OR THE FISH WILL DIE!"

Are there any specific "cues" that would let me know the BEST point in time to start doing things like trimming my plants, sinking my lilies, de-mucking the bottom, etc., etc.?? Last winter I ran my main pump through the Skippy all winter, but dialed back on the GPH volume. Not sure when I did that, but was probably when I started to notice a temp drop in the water.

--- Of course, falling leaves and covering the pond are a no-brainer, and that's not happening yet -- we have a few leaves that actually FALL in the fall, but most come down in early winter.

Or is it as simple as waiting for the plants to start dying back.....? And follow their cues? Do EVERYTHING at one time, or gradually....?

Only in the past few weeks has it gotten hot enough [and dry enough] for the water level to show significant changes via evaporation. Go figure! And the water temps are consistently in the mid-80's, so the fish still get to eat for now

I did a little bit of water-temp tracking during the coldest months, and it seemed that no matter what the "shallow" temp was, the deeper temp [@ approx. 4'] stayed about 10 degrees warmer. Lowest recorded shallow temp reading I got was around [maybe] 32.

Oh, and another question is regarding air stones. Should I turn those off [have 3 going]? I've read that in winter, WITH ICE, you elevate the air stone = to keep a hole in the surface from freezing, but not to circulate the water where it mixes the warm with the cold water. Is there any reason to do same, even if you don't have ice? Would there be any benefits to having that water disturbance only at the surface -- would it help with oxygenation?

 

[Nepen]

I'm interested in this too. I am cleaning out the leaves now (they made my pond water red!!! :grumble: ) And set my mind in slowing down in feeding starting about now - from feeding once a day to every other day. But I'm still not sure about other things... I dont know if I even need to shut my waterfall if it's not too cold. I dont have air pump, I probably need to get it

 

[sissy]

I watch the trees when they are naked and fish are hanging out near the bottom of the pond more .I also go by temps of the water .

 

[Mmathis]

You know, I think sometimes we post [write things down] as an unconscious way for our brains to process what we already know! I really did answer my own questions, didn't I?

It's just that here in the "south," the seasonal changes are just so darn GRADUAL, and there is no black & white like there is for the "northern" ponders. One day you go out and think, "OK, it's time." And the next day everything is green & blooming, sun shining, and fish active......

I guess my first step, now, will be to get some kind of netting up -- at least that will slow down the accumulation of leaves. Then, in another month I'll draw down some water so I can do a sludge clean-up [though I've got to say that I've done good this summer, and the bottom isn't as bad as it was last year, same time]. This will be my pre-winter "water change." Will also trim back the plants at the same time.

My lilies are either in floating rings [which support them above the bottom without having to set them on crates], or are on a "ledge" that's already at their depth. Last winter, the pots containing the floating lilies sank down on their own as the water got cooler. Nice! One less thing to worry about

I guess it wouldn't hurt to leave one of the air stones active. There is one that's in a more shallow area so wouldn't think it would have THAT much of an effect on the overall top-to-bottom water temp changes.....? Ice won't be a problem, and even if we do get ice, it's only going to be fractions of an inch deep and will only last a few days.

Ah, thank goodness for yearly SKI TRIPS! At least we get to experience SOME snow & ice.....

 

[sissy]

I think the farther south you go the harder it can be .I have friends who live in Georgia and called to talk to them last night to catch up and just happened to come up they were thinking of doing a pond or pondless and they were going to call me and i called them .The first thoughts from them were about what you would do in the winter to protect the fish .I laughed and said winter geeze worry about summer more .It gets hot you know ,cooked fish not so great .They were looking at one of those preformed ponds and I told them the hazards of that idea .

 

[pecan]

I decide when to do stuff based on water temp not for the fish but for me. I have to net out the bottom in the fall and have to stand in the water to do it. So I just did that this week before the water got too cold that it would freeze me. I will probably trim up my plants within the next few weeks to a month. I only have to get in the water for a minute to do that. I shut the pumps off around the last week of Nov or the first week of Dec depending on the temps. I get into the pond to unhook the hoses and it is COOOLLLLDDD.

The air stone lives in the pond year round, I just grab the tubing and pulling it to a shallower shelf when I turn the pumps off.

 

[SouthernCross]

Very interesting topic. Weather here is now in the lower 90's, so not sure when I will start winterizing since this will be my first winter. The humidity has been lower lately, and I have had to add double the amount of water this past week. I hope this is because of evaporation and not a leak.

 

[pecan]

Very interesting topic. Weather here is now in the lower 90's, so not sure when I will start winterizing since this will be my first winter. The humidity has been lower lately, and I have had to add double the amount of water this past week. I hope this is because of evaporation and not a leak.

I live in the second driest state in the nation, almost no humidity ever. I Iose about an inch of water ever 3 days in the summer to normal evaporation.

 

[Mmathis]

Very interesting topic. Weather here is now in the lower 90's, so not sure when I will start winterizing since this will be my first winter. The humidity has been lower lately, and I have had to add double the amount of water this past week. I hope this is because of evaporation and not a leak.

You're in good company! If you'll notice in the first post I made, I also mentioned that we were JUST NOW getting to the point where evaporation was a problem -- LOL, as I was beginning to think it was my imagination! Isn't it funny how in other parts of the country folks have been dealing with evaporation issues all summer (I guess), but here in LA, where our temps and humidity are higher all summer, evaporation is just now an issue.