Hi all,
I haven’t posted in a VERY long time as everything has been stable with my pond until the past week or so. Long story short, there is at least one leak happening somewhere. I had topped off the pond around 4pm yesterday after thinking some of it had evaporated during the cold weather last week, and the water had dropped 3-4” by 10am today. A very tiny known leak near the pump area may have gotten worse, but there also may be a liner leak or a waterfall issue as the higher ground is very wet too.
While I’m diagnosing all of this… I have the pump and waterfall shut off temporarily. I have an aerator running in the water by the fish. Is aeration enough for the fish for at least a day or two? I have never left the waterfall off for more than a few hours. It’s warm outside right now (Chicago area, 53 degrees), but we are supposed to have a cold blast mid-week—will the aerator and a de-icer suffice? I know I may have to pull the pump and blow out the plumbing so there’s no standing water in the pipes that might freeze.
(Approx 750 gallon pond. Aerator is the white thing in the water—I have it placed about halfway between the surface and the bottom.)
I haven’t posted in a VERY long time as everything has been stable with my pond until the past week or so. Long story short, there is at least one leak happening somewhere. I had topped off the pond around 4pm yesterday after thinking some of it had evaporated during the cold weather last week, and the water had dropped 3-4” by 10am today. A very tiny known leak near the pump area may have gotten worse, but there also may be a liner leak or a waterfall issue as the higher ground is very wet too.
While I’m diagnosing all of this… I have the pump and waterfall shut off temporarily. I have an aerator running in the water by the fish. Is aeration enough for the fish for at least a day or two? I have never left the waterfall off for more than a few hours. It’s warm outside right now (Chicago area, 53 degrees), but we are supposed to have a cold blast mid-week—will the aerator and a de-icer suffice? I know I may have to pull the pump and blow out the plumbing so there’s no standing water in the pipes that might freeze.
(Approx 750 gallon pond. Aerator is the white thing in the water—I have it placed about halfway between the surface and the bottom.)
He was honestly stumped. We’ve settled on the idea that there is a leak somewhere in the middle/bottom of the liner near the waterfall based on the wet spots on the ground. We are going to replace that section of liner next week as long as we get some above-freezing air temperatures.
I absolutely don’t want to leave the pond like this long-term—this is a temporary emergency measure. Hubs and his family are racing back from traveling so he can be home tomorrow to help with any ice cover during this cold snap that’s setting in. Horrible timing for this temperature drop, so I’m just hoping for the best. I have an aerator running, I have a de-icer in right by the skimmer box like I usually do, so I’m doing what I can for an hole for air exchange. I have backups of both on hand in case either fail. I’m going to check it often tonight.