Zone 8, close to 7. Atlanta, GAHTH said:
Never will be able to drain pond...is this a problem?
- Thread starter randythawkins
- Start date
It sounds like you are planning to run both your bottom drain and skimmer off of one pump, if so I recommend you don't. Or at least you plumb it so you can change it so you can add a separate pump later, I did the same thing and ended up adding a separate pump for the skimmer to get proper flow without restricting the bottom drain flow too much. You need to have good flow in your bottom drain or else you'll get debris settling in the pipe and clogging it.
Recommended gravity flow on a 4" bottom drain is 2500-3500gph minimum, 3" is 1500-2500gph.
Recommended gravity flow on a 4" bottom drain is 2500-3500gph minimum, 3" is 1500-2500gph.
My pond volume is about 1800 gal. and I planned on a 3" BD line. I figured if I had a 2000 gph pump I could tie the skimmer into the single BD line, with a ball valve to regulate skimmer flow, before heading to the settlement chamber.Mucky_Waters said:
That right there tells me you have nothing to worry about. A day or two of below freezing will not hurt anything, you'd be lucky to get ice forming on the edges of your pond. You could probably even consider keeping some hardy tropical fish in there.randythawkins said:
Much better to just let your pond run all winter, waterfall and all.
Ponds around here, on the other hand, freeze solid for about 3 month of the year. This last winter was the first year I had fish in a new pond I built, and I wanted to try leaving it with no pumps or anything and monitored the bottom temps all winter. Sure enough, the water did stay a couple degrees warmer down there, but that didn't help anything. In the spring the water was murky and I had a few fish die over the winter. In my previous pond I use to leave a pump and filter running all winter, I'm sure the bottom of the pond cooled down more, but I never lost a fish, so I have become a firm believer in running aux pumps and filters even in the cold of winter.
Really!?!??! That's cool!!! I mean warm...you know what I mean. Tropicals? Like what? I kinda waned a pleco with the Koi. I have a pleco in my 55gal tank inside and he is about 10" long. His name is Jake and I have had him for about 4 years now. I have read of people keeping plecos in their ponds but will bring them inside during the winters.Mucky_Waters said:
HTH
Howard
Your local pond club is The Atlanta Koi Club, They will be having their pond tour on June 22nd. Attend the tour and maybe join the club. They know the local local conditons and if they are like the club I belonged to are a great place to obtain plants by purchase trade or free.
My pond volume is pretty close to yours, it's irregularly shaped, but I calculated it to be about 2000 gal. I was running a 3,500 gph pump and a 3" drain, with a 1" line from the skimmer. I had the 1" skimmer line plumbed in initially to gravity feed to the settlement tank, that didn't work at all, so I tied it in directly to the return line to the pump. In order to get it to work at all I had to restrict the flow from the bottom drain line after my filter tanks to the point where I had to almost shut the valve completely and I was sure I was getting cavitating in the pump. I couldn't have that so I ended up adding a separate 1,200 gph pump for the skimmer and now the I get the full 3,500 gph flow on the bottom drain line. All is good.randythawkins said:
I really recommend you use two separate pumps from the get go.
HTH
Howard
In the winter you need to degas the water. Often an air pump and airstone are enough, again it depends on the size of your pond. Dissolved gasses equalized themselves in the water so you don't need to circulate water through the entire pond. But you do need enough water movement to remove the gas.
In Colorado the water iced over and stayed that way till spring. Here it depends on the winter. The last two years the ice has been intermittent. Keeping the fish cold all winter is better then the roller coaster temps we had.
In Colorado the water iced over and stayed that way till spring. Here it depends on the winter. The last two years the ice has been intermittent. Keeping the fish cold all winter is better then the roller coaster temps we had.
Do you have some sort of drawing showing your setup? Right now I have only an older drawing from last year and more recent rough sketches which have newer changes on them. Nothing I could provide at the moment but I would be interested in seeing what you have going if you don't mind.Mucky_Waters said:
I am aware of the degassing effort. I don't expect many or harsh freeze overs for the pond and figured I would use a floating heater. I considered running a small air bubble stream but pulled back on that idea with the reason being that I did not want to circulate the warmer water to the top.HTH said:
From everyone's feedback on this post there is a good chance I would be running my filter system all winter with possibly shutting down the falls from time to time. I will have TPRs and could direct one of those so that its output disturbs the water surface enough to prevent freezing.
The safest thing of course would be to bring him in for the winter, but I've read of people keeping them in their ponds through the winter in mild climates. Thing is there are different breeds of plecos, and some are probably more cold tolerant than others. In any case, Jake would probably be happier inside for the coldest months.randythawkins said:
I no longer have any diagrams of my pond and/or filter set up. like you, I made a very basic one initially to see how things would fit in my pump room, but after that I didn't need it, and it has been misplaced long ago. I have been thinking about making a sort of pond tour video of my pond filter room, but have been putting it off until I had the time to clean it and make it more presentable. It has become a storage place for many unused odd and end and is somewhat cluttered and distracting. Also if I was to do a video like that I wanted to combine it with video of my regular filter cleaning chores to get the whole picture. Between work, and regular spring chores around home, the video idea has been hovering near the bottom of the To Do list, waiting for the right day.
Meanwhile, I do have a few videos online of the pond itself.
This is what the pond looked like last winter.
RandyH,
Don't even worry about spending the money to run any type of heater. Don't even bother with the expense of getting a heater to prepare for the "worst" as you will not need it. Like I said, my Mom's neighbor kept his pond running all winter here in Nebraska (zone 5a) and used NO heater at all, just the action of the recirculating pump. His pond isn't very elaborate and it isn't very deep either! Only about 16 inches. He kept it below 18" because of some city ordinance and that is all.
As long as you have the flow of water, your pond will not freeze shut in the climate where you are located. If the weather gets that cold for you, we are ALL in bad trouble - DOOMED - and I wouldn't be worried about keeping your pond open and the fish alive. We will be more worried about keeping ouselves alive and maybe eating the fish! I am totally serious about that. I think you are getting too excited about this issue when it is not an issue at all for you. Relax man, relax.
Gordy
Don't even worry about spending the money to run any type of heater. Don't even bother with the expense of getting a heater to prepare for the "worst" as you will not need it. Like I said, my Mom's neighbor kept his pond running all winter here in Nebraska (zone 5a) and used NO heater at all, just the action of the recirculating pump. His pond isn't very elaborate and it isn't very deep either! Only about 16 inches. He kept it below 18" because of some city ordinance and that is all.
As long as you have the flow of water, your pond will not freeze shut in the climate where you are located. If the weather gets that cold for you, we are ALL in bad trouble - DOOMED - and I wouldn't be worried about keeping your pond open and the fish alive. We will be more worried about keeping ouselves alive and maybe eating the fish! I am totally serious about that. I think you are getting too excited about this issue when it is not an issue at all for you. Relax man, relax.
Gordy
Pond? What pond? I see only a snow bank.Mucky_Waters said:This is what the pond looked like last winter.
I image the fish down there with their fins crossed in from of themselves and their teeth chattering.I'll check out the video. Thanks.
Thanks for confirming some things. I wasn't considering a heater...figured just shutting down the system would be appropriate but, as I am learning, I can keep it all running so I do feel better about my guesses and assumptions. Knowing it is not an issue that I have to consider makes me feel better. Thanks.Catfishnut said:RandyH,
Don't even worry about spending the money to run any type of heater. Don't even bother with the expense of getting a heater to prepare for the "worst" as you will not need it. Like I said, my Mom's neighbor kept his pond running all winter here in Nebraska (zone 5a) and used NO heater at all, just the action of the recirculating pump. His pond isn't very elaborate and it isn't very deep either! Only about 16 inches. He kept it below 18" because of some city ordinance and that is all.
As long as you have the flow of water, your pond will not freeze shut in the climate where you are located. If the weather gets that cold for you, we are ALL in bad trouble - DOOMED - and I wouldn't be worried about keeping your pond open and the fish alive. We will be more worried about keeping ouselves alive and maybe eating the fish! I am totally serious about that. I think you are getting too excited about this issue when it is not an issue at all for you. Relax man, relax.
Gordy
Nice pond. I love all the plants you have in there. It looks kinda formal with a natural appeal.Mucky_Waters said:
Here is my old drawing which I just made some quick modifications to.
