Lessons learned from this winter's extreme cold

[Mmathis]

Well, I don't have a lot to contribute, 'cause we rarely get that cold -- but then, my pond has only been through 2 winters, so......

AIRSTONES: I kept my airstones going this winter (didn't have them last winter), but instead of leaving them on the bottom, I used pieces of pool-noodles and zip-tied them so they floated just an inch or so below the water. It kept the surface water active.

I also kept my pump going for most of the time.

THERMOMETER: I also keep a temperature probe submerged at the deepest part of the pond so I can keep track of the temp down there. Probably not necessary, but it makes me feel better

NETTING OR COVERING: We have lots of trees, and I didn't get a net up in time, so just never worried about it. Despite my best efforts at scooping, there were still TONS & TONS of leaves, limbs, sticks, and acorns down there when I cleaned a few weeks ago -- horrible mess, but no bad odors! I'd used Microbe-lift for Fall/Winter, which may have helped.

 

[Sunshine]

Oh, another lesson learned. When babysitting a dog that is not familiar with your pond, watch him when you leave him out. I was babysitting my daughter's dog this past winter, I don't know if he thought he could walk on the ice or what, but when I went to let him back in, he was swimming in that cold water. My 2 dogs were just looking at him shaking their heads. It was when it was below 0*. I stood at the door and watched him when he went out after that.

 

[Lisak1]

Oh, another lesson learned. When babysitting a dog that is not familiar with your pond, watch him when you leave him out. I was babysitting my daughter's dog this past winter, I don't know if he thought he could walk on the ice or what, but when I went to let him back in, he was swimming in that cold water. My 2 dogs were just looking at him shaking their heads. It was when it was below 0*. I stood at the door and watched him when he went out after that.

We learned that lesson last year when our 12 year old malamute fell through the ice. Luckily he managed to get out on his own. This year we put up a fence to keep the dogs from getting near the pond - we weren't going to chance that one again!

 

[MitchM]

We learned that lesson last year when our 12 year old malamute fell through the ice. Luckily he managed to get out on his own. This year we put up a fence to keep the dogs from getting near the pond - we weren't going to chance that one again!

That's my concern as well. Our ponds can be a real safety hazard depending on how thick the ice is.

.

 

[addy1]

My tiny lil girl never goes out without us. I did build the pond so if anything fell in it could get out.

 

[Lisak1]

My tiny lil girl never goes out without us. I did build the pond so if anything fell in it could get out.

Our pond is easy to get out of... when it's not iced over. He fell through the ice near the middle. Thankfully the rest of the ice was still thick enough that he could pull himself up on it and get out. But the next day he was wanting to walk on it again!

This year we had snow cover before the pond ice was thick enough to support any weight, so we were happy we had the fence up to keep the pups safe without worry.

 

[addy1]

I kept the netting up all winter, a critter would have had to work through it to get into the water. I also had the water opening at the shallow end. May not save a critter, but so far none have fallen in and gotten trapped.

 

[Sunshine]

My pond is very easy to get out of. I have a huge slab of slate right in the middle. But, I think when animals fall in, they panic. Our Rott fell in twice when we got him. You could see the fear in his eyes. But, I was out there when he fell in. Sounds like I'm a horrible pond keeper .... lol.

 

[addy1]

Nah dogs just seem to like to go to the water. My little one is too small to ever go out by herself.

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, I don't have any horror stores. I kept two pumps running all winter over my waterfall even down to temps of -15 and the fish came out of the winter good. About two or three times I plugged in my de-icer for 24 hours to make a small hole otherwise it was covered by ice for 5 continuous months except for the waterfall area that had a few small openings from the running water.

 

[Dave 54]

Addy, I don't have any horror stores. I kept two pumps running all winter over my waterfall even down to temps of -15 and the fish came out of the winter good. About two or three times I plugged in my de-icer for 24 hours to make a small hole otherwise it was covered by ice for 5 continuous months except for the waterfall area that had a few small openings from the running water.

It's good to see more people are keeping their pumps running throughout the winter months that are non koi keepers cometKeith had the same winter temperature as we had at our coldest here in Plymouth UK .
Now all we need is for some folk to try Policarbonate roofing over the pond, temperatures never got less han 7.5c under our covers throughout the winter with a highest temperature of 9.8c with our normal water change routine throughout they came out in imaculate condition and with more importantly no string algae.

Dave

 

[addy1]

Addy, I don't have any horror stores. I kept two pumps running all winter over my waterfall even down to temps of -15 and the fish came out of the winter good. About two or three times I plugged in my de-icer for 24 hours to make a small hole otherwise it was covered by ice for 5 continuous months except for the waterfall area that had a few small openings from the running water.

So this is what is confusing to me, you leave your pumps running, it is darn cold, would that not also super cool the water just like an aerator would? You too are stirring up the water removing the "warm" layers of water at the bottom of the pond. He just ran an aerator, away from the deep end, hole open all winter and lost all his fish. Well he has 7 fish left.

 

[Lisak1]

I worried about that, too, as this was our first go at running the pump all winter - wouldn't the moving water cool the warmer water at the bottom? Next year I'm going to measure water temperatures to get a semi-scientific answer to that question. My anecdotal answer is that it appears that is not the case, as our fish are all looking good - minus one who swam over the falls and got stuck in the shallows and froze to death.

 

[addy1]

There is no way I can run mine, external pump, huge surface area of shallow water in the bog that could cause horrendous issues in the winter freezing up and causing overflows.
I have my bog running(as of last week), temps did a record dive, for this time of year, 16 this am. Right now bottom and top of the water is 1 C or 33.8 F There is a light ice coating on the ponds water at the edges, most of the pond is ice free because of the running water.

 

[Sunshine]

My pond is kind of divided. The original pond, which is 2 feet deep and the addition which is 3 feet deep. There is a wall that divides them. There is about 9 inches of water above the wall so they can go back and forth. This year I left the bio filter run on the 2 foot side and shut the bog off on the 3 foot side. It was a brutal winter this year. I did notice all the fish stayed on the 3 foot side where it was froze over with no running water. When the hole in the ice from the bio filter kept getting smaller, I did buy a pond de-icer. I put it on the running filter side. Used it only when needed. The pump is set up on a crate about 10 inches off the pond floor. All the fish survived. So, going by my fish, it does seem they preferred still water. I just wished I would of took the water temp just to see what the difference was from both sides.