Wow, every time I come back to this site, there are more good insights and ideas waiting. You all are terrific! I have a spitter with a small (350gph) dedicated pump on the bottom. Would that suffice as a pond breather? I will also prepare some kind of non-electric backup in case the power goes out while there is also freezing activity. Basically, I'll keep doing a lot of trial and error for winter aeration and see what works, but have options on hand for when the "error" outcome arises, as it usually has done for me with this pond.
I will consider shutting my pond off at feeding time, too. My hope is that by the time the fish emerge from winter and are ready to eat again, they will have forgotten that they are afraid of me. My expectations, however, are otherwise. EricV, my pump is definitely strong, but I have about a 15 foot stream leading to the pond, and given the slope of my yard, probably a 5 foot drop from waterfall to pond surface. I'm also a fan of flow in the waterfall/stream part. My 4800 GPH pump feels right, except for feeding time. I hope to post pictures later today, and definitely by tomorrow. In the meantime, I have some new questions.
1) The fish hide out in the rock pile for most of the day, near as I can tell (except the orfes). I have worried about their waste being trapped down there. Is this fear warrated, and is there anything I can or should do if so?
2) What is the latest that a new fish can be added to a pond? I felt like I was cutting it close to some sort of seasonal deadline when I added fish in late October. Since fish are dormant, woudld it be basically a death sentence to add one during the winter? (I don't have plans, just wondering. But if it's fine, then I might actually get plans...)
3) The stream leading into the pond has a nice bed of pond stones. I have treated the stream as a filter of sorts. Whenever I go into the stream for whatever reason (usually to fix the waterfalls, which are still not really close to being right), all sorts of sediment and general grossness swirls up from under the rocks. This worries me, since it then washes down to the pond. I have thought that maybe I should clean out the stream--and bear in mind it has only been running since early September (it was never "broken"), so it clearly collects gunk quickly--but I'm not sure if this is either advisable or necessary. How should I handle the stream?
4) For some plant baskets, I used dirt with gravel. Somehow, they tipped over; that somehow was usually me. The consequences were not what I would have liked. For other baskets, I used that expensive plant media stuff. I also use that for planting things in the stream and waterfall. It seems to be immune to my efforts at self-sabotage, so I think I will stick with it everywhere, despite the cost. Do I have to change it out each year? Should I treat it like rocks or potting soil, in other words: rocks just are, but potting soil needs to be changed out periodically. Would adding fertilizer tablets allow me to keep the same planting media if it were otherwise to require changing?
5) Regardng water changes, does evaporation and waterfall loss work for "changing out" water? I have spent so much time dealing with replacing water that the idea of taking water out never would have occurred to me. But I have read in many contexts (here, for example) of the benefits of water changes. Can I just wait for the inevitable water drop and then replace that water, or do I also need to directly intervene? I have a set-up that will lead to consistent water drops, especially in warm weather, apart from leaks and things gone wrong, so I know that I will need to add water regularly anyway.
I'll stop there. Thank you all again.for your guidance and encouragement. And Gavin, in the rare moment when I am by my pond but neither working on nor worrying about it, I have experienced what you describe. One of the tremendous and unexpected benefits of the water feature is that working on it is itself very enjoyable. If it ever were to feel like a chore, I will be in trouble because there is so much to do. But whenever I'm out there fixing something or building or tinkering, I'm doing it either in or around a waterfall, which sounds and feels right under any and all circumstances in my view. It's like being paid for having a career that you would otherwise have pursued as a leisure activity. I am definitely looking forward to having everything up to speed. I've never seen some of my plants in bloom--the landscaping plants were in quasi-dormancy by the time I was ready to think about the area around the pond (but they were available at greatly reduced process, which helped)--I've never even had most of the pond plants I want or need, and my fish hide from me. Still, I love being by my pond, even in the dark. It's been a very wonderful and powerful addition to my life. I really can't wait until the Spring to see all of the above actually alive (hopefully) and in bloom.
