First Year Pond Running All Winter Zone 7a

[pecan]

After 5 years, I wanted give it a shot and let it run all winter. It's been interesting to watch.

This winter here has been wonderfully average. Snow and cold. Our lowest temp was last night at 5 degrees F (about the coldest it normally gets here).

In early December it iced over then mid December thawed when temps were in the 40's. But the last week has cooled down and it is as frozen as it has been. It is lovely to wake up and watch the frozen water fall from bed. The coldest week of the year here is normally next week then the weather starts to slowly warm.

I really am liking have it running all winter.

This picture was taken on 12/23


And these were taken this morning 12/27

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Beautiful

Please keep us updated as the winter continues.

 

[Dave 54]

Pecan would you believe we are at 13c here in the UK

Dave

 

[pecan]

That's just crazy talk Dave!

We are looking at highs in 20s to 30s F and lows between 5 and 15 F degrees for the next week. This is completely normal and the next week is typically the coldest week of the year here. It is interesting watching the ice form and a little scary at the same time.

The waterfall this morning is almost covered in ice with the water running under the ice.

The bog was left running as well for the first time and it is forming some interesting ice sculptures around the fountain pots.

 

[pecan]

Here are some pictures from this morning. Also some of the bog.

Bog


Pond

 

[Dave 54]

brrrr sooner you than me Pecan I'll stick with the 13c we have outside

Dave

 

[slick]

So am I right in thinking that you don't usually keep your pond running as it would during the winter? I don't charge anything apart from fit the polycarbonate pond covers and that's it uv pump filters ect ok ok I know we have mild winters -9c is cold here lol it still amazes me how pond keeping from different parts of the word is so different the conditions the heat the cold how easy or how difficult it is to even get hold of good pond supply s and equipment I take my hat off to you all

 

[pecan]

So am I right in thinking that you don't usually keep your pond running as it would during the winter? I don't charge anything apart from fit the polycarbonate pond covers and that's it uv pump filters ect ok ok I know we have mild winters -9c is cold here lol it still amazes me how pond keeping from different parts of the word is so different the conditions the heat the cold how easy or how difficult it is to even get hold of good pond supply s and equipment I take my hat off to you all

I normally shut it off around the first of December, drain the hoses and drop in some air stones to keep a hole in the ice. I start it back up depending on the weather between Feb 1st and March 15th typically, once the pond is completely thawed. The longest I have gone with the pond completely frozen while the pumps were shut off is about 6 weeks. But with the pumps running I am thinking about two weeks from now it will start to thaw. But not sure. We will see.

 

[slick]

So will the moving water in the pipes and filters still freeze? As all but 10% of my pipes are about 2ft under ground and the filters and uv are indoors? So how cold would it get in an average winter and the fish cope with just air stones and very little water movement? So every spring you have tl start your filters from scratch a nightmare as it takes an average of about 6 months to mature a filter system

 

[pecan]

So will the moving water in the pipes and filters still freeze? As all but 10% of my pipes are about 2ft under ground and the filters and uv are indoors? So how cold would it get in an average winter and the fish cope with just air stones and very little water movement? So every spring you have tl start your filters from scratch a nightmare as it takes an average of about 6 months to mature a filter system

Not sure how cold it would need to get but it would have to be much much colder than what we get here.

Large Pond
My set-up is very simple.

• Pond is 17' Wide X 21' Long X 38" Deep (about 4000-5000 gallons I guess)
• 9 Koi ranging from 3" - 12" and about 10 comets (have been slowly getting rid of the comets over the years, the last 10 may go this year)
• 2 submersible pumps (1 - 5000 GPH, 1 - 2500 GPH) that sit at about 24" depth
• The pumps sit in pre-filter boxes I made with plastic milk crates and window screen.
• 2, 2" hoses that run just on the exterior of the pond above ground, covered in wood chips.
• 1 hose (from the small pump) feeds a 100 gallon skippy filter
• 1 hose (from the larger pump) splits and feeds a 70 gallon skippy filter and under gravel pipe in the 4' x 4' bog above the water fall
• The water from the skippies overflows into the top of the bog while one hose pushes water up through the bottom of the bog
• All the water returns to the pond over the water fall.
• The skippies are covered with a deck and trellis on the sides. Right now there is about 6" of snow on the deck which I am sure insulates the skippies some and they have not frozen at all.

No UV, no skimmer etc...

I have a lot of filter for the size and fish load of the pond and haven't had green water issues in several years since this set up. I normally just plug everything back in, in the spring and never have water issues.

The only reason I left it running this year was to see what happens LOL plus I like the view of the water running from our bedroom.

Small Pond, with Large Bog

• Bog measures about 10' Long x 6' wide with a small pond at the tip that is about 4' long X 2.5' Wide and 2.5' Deep. with the small pond, bog and the water in the large pots I estimate it is about 700 gallons in its entirety.
• 6, 1.5" Shubunkins and 1 baby shubunkin
• 2 submersible pumps in the pond (1 - 750 GPH, 1 - 1000 GPH)
• Hoses run through the bog buried in gravel with outlets in the bottom of the large clay pots.
• The water flows up through the pots and overflows over the rim back into the bog area.

The small pond with large bog is facing south east with the brick house blocking the north and west sides. Our winter weather always hits us from the north and west sides so it is very sheltered.

I left it running as well just to see what happens LOL

 

[slick]

Sounds like a nice set up but just one question, forgive me if I sound a bit simple, but why have you got your submersible pump in a box covered with screening? Is this to stop the pump getting blocked up? If the poop is not going through the pump then how does it get out of the pond and into the filter box to be filtered? So is it mostly clean water entering the filter, as my pump handles solids up to 6mm and the filters remove the poop before it re enters the pond?

 

[pecan]

Sounds like a nice set up but just one question, forgive me if I sound a bit simple, but why have you got your submersible pump in a box covered with screening? Is this to stop the pump getting blocked up? If the poop is not going through the pump then how does it get out of the pond and into the filter box to be filtered? So is it mostly clean water entering the filter, as my pump handles solids up to 6mm and the filters remove the poop before it re enters the pond?

Yes, the screening is so the pumps don't get clogged. Surprisingly though a lot of smaller material gets through. My up flow skippy filters have clean out valves at the bottom and still get filled with gunk a few inches deep. I simply open the valve while doing water changes to the let gunk flow out (using a hose to direct it to the lucky flower bed that day) while I add fresh water directly to the pond.

Larger material too big to go through the filtration system settles to the bottom. I have a 16' pool net I use to scoop it out into a wheel barrow and haul it back to the food garden. Most of it goes in the garlic bed since garlic is my precious I scoop the bottom once in the spring and once in the fall.

I have regularly checked the chemical levels in the pond and since it was dug in 2011, I have never registered anything but 0 Nitrites, 0 Ammonia and 0 phosphate. PH stays at about 8 all the time, never had a crash or spike. Though the first year or two it was at about 9. I attributed that to the rocks around the edges. But the high desert is also a very alkaline place.

 

[pecan]

Our garlic sure is a fan of pond gunk.... This was last years crop a few weeks before harvest.

And this was the bulb size at harvest.

 

[slick]

As I asked sorry for the question it obviously works and works well for you, in Yorkshire we have a saying, if it int bust then don't fix it lol I try and remove every bit of poop and crud out of the pond my pond is just short of 6ft deep and its been up and running just under 2 years the pond bottom is spotless I have never hovered it netted it or drained it but as I said your set up sounds balanced and happy and to get the balance is hard but now you have got it wel done and enjoy, my pond was designed and built in a way that now I don't have to dredge the pond spring and fall as I used to

 

[pecan]

As I asked sorry for the question it obviously works and works well for you, in Yorkshire we have a saying, if it int bust then don't fix it lol I try and remove every bit of poop and crud out of the pond my pond is just short of 6ft deep and its been up and running just under 2 years the pond bottom is spotless I have never hovered it netted it or drained it but as I said your set up sounds balanced and happy and to get the balance is hard but now you have got it wel done and enjoy, my pond was designed and built in a way that now I don't have to dredge the pond spring and fall as I used to

I have considered a bottom drain system to sieves, to avoid the semi-annual gunk scooping, but then I think it isn't worth the effort and money to do it to avoid a couple days of work a year. But it's not off the table. As my back gets older and more painful it may seem well worth it.

Also would like to did it down to a depth of about 5'. If I do either, i'll do them at the same time in years to come.