New pond, new baby goldfish!

taherrmann4

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I have the pondmaster and it comes with a plastic manifold that has about 8 or 10 splitters off of it where you can attach your airstones to..
 

HARO

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Country; it seems to me that you are confusing an air pump with a water pump. They are two very differrent pieces of equipment! John
 
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Hi Country, The air pump only pumps air versus the water pump only pumps water. When you set up your air pump you want to set it up in a container that will prevent ice and snow from jamming it up. Some people put it in a tin with a lid and punch holes in it for the air to move through and run the tubes out of the tin to their pond. My garage is right next to my pond so I put my air pump in the garage so it stays nice and toasty all winter. Re running your pumps in the winter you want to avoid disturbing the very bottom layer of water in your pond which is around 38 degrees so you want your water pumps and airstones to be raised a little. I keep my airstones about 8-10 inches below the surface.The added benefit of keeping the water moving is more important than a few degrees in temperature your pond may lose in the winter.
 
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CometKeith, OK, thanks for all the clarifications! I had no idea to put the airstones closer to the surface, rather than at the bottom.
Haro, you're right! LOL I was confusing air with water pumps. So, now I understand, I need an air pump, it stays above water, cover it for winter, make sure I can attach several things to it and get myself some airstones! Sometimes I need things clarified to me several times to "get it"! :) Thanks for your patience everyone!!!
I already have my main pond water pump up on a block, but will raise it to 2 blocks high as I don't want the worry of something breaking, and all my water draining out. Plus, I will put the main pump on the 41" area, rather than the deepest 48" area. I know it's not much leeway, but if it will keep at least a foot of water, if something goes wrong, it may save the fish. :) Once again, I've learned new things from this forum, and I appreciate it!
 

j.w

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Wondering about if I should turn off my waterfall in the winter and just set the pump on a plant shelf to run w/o the hose attached? Don't want to chill my fish. My waterfall does not fall fiercely into the water tho so maybe it will be ok. What do ya think?
 

addy1

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Once we get below 45 (pond water) we will be turning off the pond pump, all bio will be dead by then so no need to run it. Don't want to take a chance on losing the pump from freezing (external) The stream pump, will depend on the temps. The stream will freeze up faster, being shallower etc.
I will be leaving two air stones running placed on the bog wall shelf to try and keep a hole open in the ice, now that we have fish.
 
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I have no idea how deep my pond will freeze this winter, so the lilies will get sent to the bottom instead of taking a chance and leaving them on the shelves. Shelves are about 16-18" deep, but since my pond is somewhat above ground level (about 8") and I don't want to lose them all if it freezes into their pots.
That's a great idea, Addy, to put the air stones on the shelves, though. I'll be looking for an AIR pump (LOL) to run a couple stones, and put that pump into a box of some sort to guard from the weather. The main pump will be disconnected from waterfall and fountain, and just left running (it's in the pond) but in the 41" area on top of a 6" thick stone to keep more water moving and help the floating heater. So, I should be good with water flow and air flow with this new plan. :)
My solid black baby that is about 3" long is definitely bronze colored now, and most of the larger babies (3-4" are swimming part-time with the koi and goldies. In fact, some of the larger babies were snuggling with what I know to be my 2 female goldfish. LOL This morning I spotted a tiny black baby, and yesterday saw the tiny (1/2-3/4") white with spots baby. There are definitely 2 spawnings of babies in the pond. I'm just thrilled that I'm only seeing about 8 from the first spawning and a few from the second. I sure didn't want 50 new goldfish by next summer. I guess there could be a slew of them hiding that I have not seen yet, but hopeful I'm seeing the majority of them. :) What fun!!!
 
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T'Man, I'm wondering about the same thing, but this first winter I will have a floating tank heater to keep at least an opening in the ice. Hoping for no ice storms to shut off my electricity but probably by this winter will have a generator purchased just in case. :)
Addy, I see the pump you have is a 40 lph flow rating. What size pump do you have T'Man? I've looked on E-bay and the Pondmasters are more expensive, but I'll all about buying cheaper if it's a good pump, but spending more if it will last longer. I went against the grain and got the Sunterra pumps initially (skimmer and waterfall) and although one did quit, after cleaning it off (main pump) it has not failed since. Skimmer stops when gets clogged, so I've been more diligent about cleaning it off when I clean the filter and empty the basket lately.
So, with the air pump, the Pondmaster looks to be far better encased and maybe will handle the elements (if under some sort of cover as well) in my area for winter. Addy, do you have yours in a covered area? How many items to you run on yours, Addy? I see the Pondmaster 40 has a 12 splitter, so does that mean it can run up to 12 things? Holy cow!! Not sure I would need it to run more than a couple of air stones, but maybe up to 3, two on the shelves on the north end, and maybe one more air stone on the south end by the waterfall. Who knows, maybe I will find out the air stones will be enough water movement to keep the ice from forming. Lots of things to figure out this first winter. :)
 

taherrmann4

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Country I have the pondmaster with the 12 splitters and the first time I did not use the splitter as I just purchased a bigger airstone and my air pump went bad after 2 years, this might have been the cause. This last air pump I have used the splitter and just used 4 air stones in the pond. For two of the outlets I just left open did not connect a piece of tubing or anything air just escapes them. For the other 6 I took a piece of tubing and connected it to one splitter and then took the other end and put it on one of the other splitters, so it is like a loop. This essentially closes off two of the outlets on the splitter. By the way the splitter part sits in the bottom of the pond. Hope that makes sense.

For a cover b/c I have an external pump, I have my air pump inside my pump house which is only a few feet away from my pond. My pump house has a 10x16 vent to allow more air circulation in the summer to keep my pump cooler so in the winter I take styrofoam and block this off to keep cold air from blowing in. There is still plenty of circulation for the pump.
 

j.w

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I have water bubblers going all winter but I don't get as cold as you guys..........I'm zone 7 and they keep holes open in the ice and so does the little tiny aquarium air hose. My pump is a Pondmaster 2400 in- water pump and I think I'm leaning towards leaving it on and putting it on the plant shelf at 18" or not.............just not sure yet.
 

taherrmann4

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I might look into trying a bubbler as I am in zone 6. Wonder if any of our other ponders in the colder climates have tried this?
 

addy1

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Addy, do you have yours in a covered area? How many items to you run on yours, Addy? I see the Pondmaster 40 has a 12 splitter, so does that mean it can run up to 12 things? Holy cow!! Not sure I would need it to run more than a couple of air stones, but maybe up to 3, two on the shelves on the north end, and maybe one more air stone on the south end by the waterfall. Who knows, maybe I will find out the air stones will be enough water movement to keep the ice from forming. Lots of things to figure out this first winter. :)
I have mine under a walmart oil pan, sort of covered, It is currently running three air stones, two in the large pond, one in the lotus tub.
 
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Country, I have a 3 watt air pump with a double nozzle so I can use two airstones off of it. I used that all winter last year and it kept a hole open except for a few days when we had 2 feet of snow. I used a pot of boiling water to open up a hole when i finally braved the snow a few days later and just set the whole pot on the snow/ice until it melted and the hole opened up again. I don't use a heater or deicer at all.
 
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Well, CometKeith, since you're north of me, and if that worked for you last year, I may just get an air pump and run a couple of air stones, plus I've already decided to run my main pump somewhere in the middle, just shooting water towards the surface, no pipe attached to it. I'm thinking that won't harm that pump, having water free flowing, but will it maybe cause it to crash, since nothing slowing the water down?
Also, and I think I've asked this question in another thread, can anyone tell me if there is a way to tell the difference between goldfish babies (3-4") and koi? I'm about 95% sure my first spawning is goldfish, the colors seem to assure that, but not sure about the 2nd one, although those babies are less than 1" still. Not growing as fast as the first set, but maybe because water is cooler this time around. I've seen second set for at least 2 weeks, maybe 3 now. Pretty sure those are also goldfish but just wondering for next year, when/if the koi spawn (I've never seen them yet, but that means nothing) how will I know about the babies? Thanks!!!
 

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