How to close my pond

[Nyboy]

Thanks @cas sounds like just what I need for a fountain putting in at weekend home. I like that it is safe with power interruptions.

 

[DutchMuch]

Stick to what you know is my advice to you.

I kind of did "know" that, that's why I gave it.
Harsh reply.

On a side note: @DutchMuch - I would suggest you not give advice about things you have not experienced. It's not helpful. This comment "Run the filter, and the pump. Have a defroster in the water (optional) Don't run the pump or filter if you have below freezing temps" tells me you've never experienced winter. You say "run the pump" then - "don't run the pump". Have a defroster (whatever the heck that is) but you don't need it. You're just confusing the issue. And this:

Sorry if "on and off" confused you I know its hard to understand fully...
Temps don't drop from sixty to thirty two in a half hour, its not flicking a light switch up and down.
If you don't like my advice don't take it, btw this was my experience. Idk if you know but I have had 3 ponds before and am making one now.

And since when is it ever good advice to turn a pond on and off repeatedly?

I didn't know you can turn a pond off and on. Cool!
But if you mean a filter & pump, its a quite common practice... No it doesn't damage any mechanical equiptment either. (unless you just keep flickering it which is not a good thing to do)

If you lived where it got cold

it gets negative 10 where I live.... Stick to what you know.


If you don't like the manual labor use a defroster that is used for cattle, cheap and works.


Shoot I come back to the forum after 4 days of vacation and BAM get hit hard already. Way the world turns I guess, to many pricks to worry about one. How do you know what I experience and what I don't? I don't claim these things to you?

 

[DutchMuch]

breaking ice

use a knife, or a spud bar. Its less "noisy" to the fish.
Personally I just carved a circle with a knife (by carve a circle, I mean stab the ice in a circular shape) then pushed it down with my hand

 

[Mmathis]

At 225 gallons, your pond is way too small for koi to start with.
At 18 inches deep, unless you're covering the pond and going to either keep pumps running or provide some aeration, you need to bring the fish in.

I was thinking the same thing(s). At 18" deep, it's very likely to freeze solid. If that happens, I seriously doubt that a Pond Breather would help -- it's designed to keep a hole open for gas exchange, but NOT for keeping a pond from freezing.

I say, take the fish inside one more time and........ (see next sentence)

I know I this doesn't address your current question/situation, but maybe this winter would be a good time to consider and plan for construction of a larger, deeper pond. Most of us do spend our winters planning and dreaming.

 

[MitchM]

use a knife, or a spud bar. Its less "noisy" to the fish....

No, sorry, it's not.
It's much louder than, for example, tapping on the glass to fish in an aquarium.
The noise is still going to stress the fish.
In addition, a passive open water area may or may not provide sufficient gas exchange to ensure survivable conditions for the fish. By a passive open water area, I mean a simple opening in the ice with no water circulation.
A lot also depends on how much organic matter is present that will decay over the period of time that you have ice cover, and of course the size of the open water area relative to the pond size.

 

[DutchMuch]

Have you used a spud bar or knife @MitchM?

 

[MitchM]

No, a "spud bar" or knife could very well damage the liner and my ice gets 2 feet thick here.
Using a spud bar or knife would be an exercise in futility.
I prefer to work with mother nature, not against.

 

[DutchMuch]

No, a "spud bar" or knife could very well damage the liner and my ice gets 2 feet thick here.
Using a spud bar or knife would be an exercise in futility.
I prefer to work with mother nature, not against.

OK ok now your on a whole new thing here about liner for some reason.

maybe if you have a spasmatic arm while your holding a knife, your break liner, usually ponds aren't 3" below the surface. As for the spudbar, use your muscles to hold it steady...
My car can break the liner.

Using a spud bar or knife would be an exercise in futility. How would a 16lb steel bar not work?

 

[MitchM]

#1 Have you ever tried to break through 2 feet of ice?
#2 Even if I was able to open some water manually, it would freeze over again in 30 seconds. That would get real tiresome real quick with my 6 month ice cover.

 

[DutchMuch]

it would freeze over again in 30 seconds.

Im going to need some evidence here of this. Seems you have defaced from logic.

That would get real tiresome real quick with my 6 month ice cover

Maybe if you don't like effort.

 

[MitchM]

Hmmm, well ok, it's not really winter here yet, although some low lying areas around here are dipping below 40f lately.
An example of how cold it gets here is, take an example of a 1500w trough heater, as you previously said are cheap and work well. 1500w is a lot of power, yes? I tried a 1500w heater my first year with a pond and while the heater was on full power, an ice dome still formed over the entire opening in the ice. That renders an opening in the ice totally useless, right? Stick around through this winter and we can certainly perform some experiments to demonstrate the power of cold temperatures.

 

[DutchMuch]

1500w trough heater

lol who said that? https://www.grainger.com/product/TEMPCO-Precision-Tank-Heater-2VYH4
here is a floating one https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d86b6237-3ee4-422b-9887-09cb17af82a8
Stick to what you know, I love this saying, @Lisak1 thanks!


So you learned your to lazy to lift a spud bar and you stopped whining about that and a knife, so you moved onto a heater? what is this highschool to you? grow up. Your argument is rediculas if you cannot back it up. im still waiting to see where water freezes in 30 seconds in your area. You say countless unknowledgeable things and except them to be close to facts, Back them up or don't say it at all.

 

[GinoLicious]

Hmm. Not what I was really hoping to read on this post. But you all make a valid point to those who actually contributed.

I cannot recall if the pond fully froze last year. But if it does then yeah the fish will freeze too. I remember I didn't take all of them out last year because I couldn't find every single one and they were fine the next spring. Does that mean my pond doesn't actually fully freeze?

Rebuilding the pond is possible. Going to be a lot of work. It was just a hole with a wood frame and a pond tarp installed.

I've attached photos of my pond.

 

[DutchMuch]

That size of a pond: this is my answer to you problem, https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d86b6237-3ee4-422b-9887-09cb17af82a8 (concerning freezing over)

 

[MitchM]

lol who said that? https://www.grainger.com/product/TEMPCO-Precision-Tank-Heater-2VYH4
here is a floating one https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=d86b6237-3ee4-422b-9887-09cb17af82a8
Stick to what you know, I love this saying, @Lisak1 thanks!


So you learned your to lazy to lift a spud bar and you stopped whining about that and a knife, so you moved onto a heater? what is this highschool to you? grow up. Your argument is rediculas if you cannot back it up. im still waiting to see where water freezes in 30 seconds in your area. You say countless unknowledgeable things and except them to be close to facts, Back them up or don't say it at all.

Are you having a bad day or something?

.