pond in frederick, md

[addy1]

Do you have a fair bit of ice in your pond these days? Maybe not cause I don't think your ground freezes too hard, you still get nice temperatures during the day. Then your cold nights are shorter and your days are longer, your sun rose at 7:14am this morning, does not rise here till 7:52am and my sun sets 11 minutes earlier than yours today, at 5:22pm. So you get 49 more minutes of sun today then me here in Medicine Hat. All these little differences add up and that's why you can't just look at temperature lows. Then too our nights may not be colder these last few days, but the frost is still deep in the ground and slowly coming out. Hopefully the deep cold is gone for good here, but somehow I think old MaN winter has another shot of cold weather still coming....

Before the 3.6 inches of rain we had, the small ponds had from 4-7 inches of ice covering them. The big pond was open where the aerator was with around 5 inches of ice. After the rain (which wiped out our electrical feed still not fixed..........lol) the big pond totally melted, the small ones still had floating ice caps. All of the ponds are ice covered again. The big pond, not too deep the small ponds thick ice again. We are warming up so not too worried about the ice on the big pond, it will be melting by the end of this week. The ground is frozen like a rock right now. Don't know how deep it is frozen, not wanting to pull the kubota out to see how far down I need to go to find unfrozen dirt. I tried with a shovel.........yeah right.

 

[callingcolleen1]

CE, Just because the ice is over the edge of the pond, does not always mean water leaked out, the ice can be from natural ice expansion, and splashing of water over the edge will build up ice and only appear to have flowed that way. You should know for sure if there is a leak if you see the ice has a very long trail, not just over the edge of pond, or a large "nearby small pool" of frozen ice, unless your warm daytime temps melted it. Ice can be can be deceiving, things are not always as the appear. I have found that the ice can grow over the edge of my ponds, or expand a thick ice shell over and out of the waterway, but it is mostly just from the initial big "freeze up". I do have "clean water drops" that splash very little and my "waterway drops"pour water "cleanly" with very little splashing. I never ran a shallow stream of water or large waterfall during the winter, so I can't say for sure what your stream and waterfall may be doing. Hopefully you can work out all the winter "kinks" out and get thing flowing nice for spring!

 

[CountryEscape]

Colleen, the reason I knew the water overflowed from the koi bog, was that there was frozen ice over the edge of that wall, plus a small pool of ice next to the bog on the outside. The block wall there had solid ice frozen to it where it seeped over the edge. I was very strange how that worked. Still not sure, as the ice looked like it "heaved" up on that back side, allowing the water to spill over the edge. There was the small pool of water, so not much leaked out before the ice froze solid and it could no longer get out of there! I tried the stream and bog tonight. Not sure about the bog, it may have been fine, but didn't hear the stream working, so I suspect there are large chunks of ice in the line that lays above the ground on the outer edge of the stream. If the electricity had not gone out, I think both of those items would still be running, not sure. But, will give it a few more days, since temps are staying in high 40's all week, only high 20's at night. Will keep you posted.
Next year, I will leave the waterfall shut down, and deal with cleaning it out totally before the weather gets too cold, when I can do a really good job. Maybe even keep some of the bacteria from the Skippy in a separate container with an aerator in the basement, to keep it "alive". Would that be a good idea, or worth messing with? Probably the koi bog would have been fine running, too, had the electricity not shut down. BUT, the main biological system in that pond is probably the Skippy. I'm trying to figure out how to keep that pond from going "murky" this year after getting everything up and running. It was not green, just brown and murky looking. Never smelled, though. Never did figure it out.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Well good luck CE, wish I could be of more help, just not familiar with the skippy and never had one before. My ponds are much different setup than what most people have. I try to keep it simple, with easy access to pumps and filters all winter, just in case. Winter can be brutal and I have had my share of winter problems in the past, but think I have it sorted out now. Next year you will know more what to expect and you can work on solutions in the summer and better prepare for the next winter. Eventually you will get it all sorted out too and find what works best for your situation.

PS... I would place parts of the skippys "guts" right in the pond for the winter if you can, that would preserve some of the good bacteria for next year,

 

[addy1]

Everything I have read, CE, states bacteria dies under xx temperature. Some may still live in the real low temps, but most dies. Even with it running over winter, most likely, the bacteria is winter dead. If you put some into your basement, warm enough, with air flow you would keep some of it alive.

I am sure all the bacteria is dead in the bog, thing is frozen, but the pond is clear within a day to two days of turning everything back on and stays clear.

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks, Addy, I don't think I'll go through the hassle of bringing anything into the basement for winter from the Skippy. I have the Pond Perfect stuff that I dose the pond with in the early spring, help the bacteria start growing sooner, so will just be sure to do that when the water temps gets above that "killing bacteria" temperature.
Colleen, you have helped me tons, so don't feel bad for not helping with this one issue now!!! I am seriously thinking of adding a very large bog to the back side of my koi pond. Just will have to figure out how to attach the two liners together so I won't have to worry about seepage or leaks from it. Then, I will change the waterfall and simply have a line going to the top to let the water run down it during the warmer months, for the effect, but not have a Skippy any longer. I think after creating the goldfish pond last summer and that extra large bog, I am sold on the bogs effect on the pond. And, since I have tons of plants that need to be relocated (out of my bogs mostly, since too many in there), I know I'll have plenty to get a new bog up and going quickly. I can always add a filtration system to the back side of the waterfall in the future as well! I also think I should have buried the waterfall filter, rather than build a wall around it, so that will happen as well, if I decide to leave it there. That way it won't freeze so quickly, just be sure to leave the clean-out line. Lots of possible changes, we'll see what actually gets changed and completed this summer.

 

[addy1]

I have a ton of work to do to get the shubunkin tank up and running. Piping, rock work, dirt, waterfall on and on. Just waiting for the ground to defrost so I can start digging. Also need to go and buy another pallet of rock for the water fall into the big pond. Never ends! lol

Well it would end if I quit installing side ponds around the big pond................

 

[callingcolleen1]

I know the so called "experts" claim the bacteria dies at a certain temperature, but if NASA scientist sees signs of bacteria living on frozen lakes on Jupiter's moons, I am sure that the bacteria can live in the water flowing all winter in my pond too! Never trust the "experts", cause I read studies that claim the "experts" have about a 50% chance of being right! Ha ha ha, its really true! Trust me, I'm an Expert! (Read that book and it was very good)

 

[callingcolleen1]

CE, the bacteria also lives in your pond everywhere, and it will "re-colonize" the skippy filter once you get it up and running.

 

[CountryEscape]

Got the stream and koi bog running, but the big pump on the goldfish pond decided not to start back up, so will pull it out this weekend and check that one out. It's the same pump I have in the koi pond running the waterfall, and when it came up against resistence (ice, clogged pump, etc.) it would just shut down, so I'm hoping there has not been any damage to the pump. It's possible the line is still froze, and was unable to push any water, but I didn't hear anything when I plugged it in. No pre-filter on that one so not sure what could have clogged it up. In fact, I removed the pre-filter on the 1600 gph pump I have running for the "water bubbler" on the koi pond, and it has been running great ever since. Algae was getting clogged on the spongey filter, and now it's running fine. When the water is simply coming in and going right back out, no need for a filter anyhow!

 

[addy1]

lol for sure, right now mine is ice covered, but 50 coming again. Glad you got the others running.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes the spring sun can be warm and spring algae can grow fast this time of the year as the pond plants are domant and nothing else competing for pond nutrients this time of year. During the spring, depending on the temperatures, I find I have to clean my filters lots to keep the algae down too.

Addy, you have "Pond-itis". People with this affliction often can be seen franticly digging holes and piling rocks in their yards. It is said these people can go "Mad" if someone moves their rocks or pond stuff. It is also been reported that this disease is very catchy and soon others visiting the area can come down with similar symptoms. Unfortunately there is no known cure, and these people just keep digging and moving rocks from one side of the yard to the other, their whole life! He he he

 

[addy1]

lmao Colleen! At least it keeps me in shape!

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yes me too, otherwise I would "couch it" and eat myself to death! Ha ha.

 

[addy1]

Butt gets to tired of sitting lol.