My pond runs all winter, zone 2/3

callingcolleen1

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I have been kicked off a well to do Koi site cause apparently I may have lied about how successful I have been wintering my koi for the last 24 years, going on 25 now! This summer I will be back on the Garden Tour cause they asked me to be in it AGAIN! I have shown my ponds twice before on our local Garden Tour and a lot of people in Medicine Hat know me very well. Many knew me when I used to grow lots of pond plants at SunTec Greenhouse (they closed a few years ago) and they all want to see my ponds again and see my two biggest oldest koi. Many marvel at my success and after this episode with a certain Koi site, they sent me messages saying they would look into me cause it is hard for them to believe that I have been so successful wintering my ponds for so many years now.,

I feel the need to call on all my oldest and dearest friends from Medicine Hat, who know me and my ponds so very well over the many years. You can follow this on my Facebook...
https://www.facebook.com/callcollee...ffset=0&total_comments=7&notif_t=feed_comment
 

callingcolleen1

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Well at least I have lots if friends here and nobody EVER treated bad here! My friends in Medicine Hat are all waking up and responding to my link. They know me so well so forgive them if they say "those American's" ! I am just thankful to have them back me up. Lots of them have known me for well over 30 years and some since childhood.
 
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Gotta love these sudden Winter storms. Sunday it was 74F and I spent the day finishing cleaning up the yard and pond for Winter. On Monday we went from 64F at 9am down to 30F by 1pm. Last night it got down to -9F and we set records for both the lowest overall temperature of the day, and the lowest high temp for the day. Brrrrrr!!! Of course there's a pretty decent layer of ice on the pond, and the fish are probably all wondering what just happened. I threw a heater on this morning, and we're supposed to be back up to 36F tomorrow, so I'm expecting a big meltdown.

This year I've decided to put more effort into keeping the ice cut back from the waterfall to prevent ice dams like I had last year. Hopefully keep more of the water in the pond! Considering the weather this year, I'm guessing it will be a cold Winter with a lot of moisture, which makes me think I should pull the filter bags out of one of my barrels and drop in the big heater -- just in case.
 

j.w

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I am wondering about his winter also as it sure is starting out cold even way back here. Hope it doesn't get too cold here cuz people back here aren't prepared for this stuff.
 
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Meh... I grew up in Iowa where we had *real* Winters. This stuff we get in Colorado is practically tropical by comparison. Makes it real easy for me to get away with a lot of things on my pond that otherwise wouldn't work.
 

callingcolleen1

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It is so darn cold today, I think it is colder today than all week, or at least it sure feels like it. Right Now it is about 10 Fahrenheit, but supposed to go down to minus 13 Fahrenheit, (about minus 25 Celsius) Fish are all still alive and well but I cannot say the same about me, having a hard time getting out of bed cause that little cute Rio is snuggling me on the pillow to stay warm and snuggling that too cute little Rio makes me sleepy!

I am working on uploading another video and should be ready in a couple hours, will post is when ready...
 

callingcolleen1

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My thoughts for today!
Freezing cold, even the house feels drafty and do not press your back up against the wall tonight, might get a darn good chill! I took another look at my big pond babies tonight with flashlight after checking out the greenhouse. All is well and ponds are still flowing as they always do, from pond to pond. That is my first and foremost concern, to keep the pumps running even if it is minus 45 and colder!
I should note that my pond heater is on a total different circuit. I would never want them both on the same circuit, just in case, cause the 1500 watt heater draws much electric power and if the circuit would trip, then at least the pumps are still flowing, and that would keep the ice at bay till I wake up, should I fall asleep on the coldest of nights and should a circuit trip. Should the power go out, I have generators to keep pond going, and special heaters for house as well. Thankfully the power does not go out very often in the winter and when it did, the longest was about 5 hours and everything was fine once the power did come back on that time.
 

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