Pond in the foothills

[tbendl]

HAHAHAHAHAHA omg, that just made me spit water out of my nose. Explosive laughter?? I will definitely have to remember that.

 

[DrCase]

Dr J Must have tried a lot of excuses to come up with that diagnosis call

 

[addy1]

as long as the boss is not there too! My luck I would run into my boss...............

This excuse is perfect for a day off or 2-3 days off!

 

[j.w]

Dr j, lol, didn't like going to school or work all her life and I did not, I swear cause that April 29, 1965 earthquake in Seattle while I was late to school riding on the city bus

 

[MitchM]

I think for next year I will be putting in a low wattage water pump that will be constantly circulating the water so that I can take advantage of the heat from the earth.
The temperature readings from both pond thermometers are a low 1.7C/ 35F.
I see no benefit of still water in my 5 foot deep pond.
I think the pond will benefit more overall from a shorter ice cover time.
I'll still use the pond breathers, I prefer them them over floating heater elements. I think the pond breathers provide much more gas exchange and use a lot less electricity.

Now I need to find a pump that is reliable enough to run up to 6 months without needing any service from me.
I think I will use the filters that Colleen is using so it doesn't get clogged up with the backswimmer insects that are active in near freezing temperatures.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a pump?

It needs to be strong enough to slowly circulate water in my 31 foot pond but not so strong that it traps debris in its' intake.
It will need to run for 6 months steady without any intervention from me.
Once the pond is iced over in October, I can't get to the pump at all until March or April.

 

[CountryEscape]

Good luck, Mitch. I think there are lots of great pumps out there, and I can say I have no problem with my two underwater pumps that are 4200 gph, the goldfish pond pump has been running for nearly a year without any intervention from me. The koi pond has more issues with algae and getting clogged, I clean it twice a year. They are Laguna Max Flo. Easy to take apart and clean when the need arises, too. I have no pre filter either. I do, however, have them up on a milk crate, zip tied to the crate, to keep them off the bottom of the pond, and away from the sides. With your depth, I'd say just keep them off the bottom and you should be good to go!

 

[MitchM]

Thanks CE.
I was thinking of a Laguna pump, I just haven't decided how much flow I want during the winter.
I tried a pump without a filter the first year but every time I pulled it up to check on it the intake was plugged with backswimmers.
Maybe I'll daisy-chain a couple of those filters that Colleen uses.

 

[j.w]

I just bought the Laguna Max Flo 4280 but haven't hooked it up to the falls yet. Just tried it out using tubing and it comes out pretty fast. @CountryEscape is yours hooked to the falls or what? If to the falls is the flow just fine or is it a real blast on the surface?

@MitchM I don't think daisy chaining along the tubing will work unless you are just talking about attaching a couple together like I and Colleen did. They will screw together is what I'm getting at but they can't be placed along the tubing apart from each other that I know of anyways. The end piece has a solid flat surface w/no hole.

 

[CountryEscape]

My koi 4200 gph pump usually runs the fountain and the waterfall filter. The flow is perfect on the waterfall, not too fast, not too slow. I have a valve I can adjust the amount of water to the fountain, and the rest goes to the waterfall. Right now, it's running just the bog, and the water is flowing over the edges fine, but not too fast there either. In the goldfish pond, the 4200 runs only the bog. I have a 1600 that is flowing to the stream, and it's running nicely, not too fast, but fast enough to keep the water from freezing. Other skimmer 1600 pump is in the koi pond underwater at an angle to shoot towards the surface, just to keep water moving. I just adjusted the depth to make it move the surface pretty good, but not go above water. Been working perfectly to keep nice wide opening in the ice, which is back as of this morning. Boo ... going to have some single digit nights coming up several times in the next week, so probably will need heaters running, but not yet.

 

[sissy]

Yeh but the best thing about laguna is the energy savings and the fact that they have a cage around them really helps keep a lot stuff out of the pump that will plug it .If you look at my video the 2900 gph feed those two spitters in the little upper pond and fills the filter .The 2400 gph feeds the the spitters under the bridge and the other filter .I need to get another 1 1/2 inch sump pump hose.Also the pump cage is easy to open ,you just turn the little yellow screws a half turn and they pop up and you can open the cage

 

[j.w]

I might want to take that cage off the Laguna so I can connect tubing to the input and connect the prefilter dealies I have to it.

 

[MitchM]

...@MitchM I don't think daisy chaining along the tubing will work unless you are just talking about attaching a couple together like I and Colleen did. They will screw together is what I'm getting at but they can't be placed along the tubing apart from each other that I know of anyways. The end piece has a solid flat surface w/no hole.

I don't use hoses jw, so I'll have to figure something out.
Once spring comes along there will probably be a good selection of pumps at the stores so I can have a look at them.

 

[MitchM]

Yeh but the best thing about laguna is the energy savings and the fact that they have a cage around them really helps keep a lot stuff out of the pump that will plug it .If you look at my video the 2900 gph feed those two spitters in the little upper pond and fills the filter .The 2400 gph feeds the the spitters under the bridge and the other filter .I need to get another 1 1/2 inch sump pump hose.Also the pump cage is easy to open ,you just turn the little yellow screws a half turn and they pop up and you can open the cage

I'm all about energy savings.
I just need something that won't disturb the fish too much but will circulate the water enough so it grabs the heat from the earth and minimizes the ice cover.
Right now the water temperature is hovering around 35 so there's no benefit to having still water during winter.

.

 

[addy1]

My pond is still sitting at 40, we are having a series of darn cold will be interesting to see if the temperature drops more.

 

[CountryEscape]

Wonder why your pond has stayed the same all winter, Addy? Is this the way it does every winter? Seems if it was still 40, there could not possibly be 8" of ice on it. Or, maybe you are like Sissy, and pond is built over a septic field. I wish I had a bottom thermometer for my pond ... still have never gotten one. Not even going to ask what others use, as I never seem to find the extra money to splurge on that. Ho hum ....
Mitch, it seems Colleen has the moving water thing figured out, although she uses heaters to help keep the water temp warmer. I have use heaters only I think 3 days so far this winter. Have had complete ice coverage, except for where the water is moving, although my ice coverage was never more than probably 4" thick. Wayyyy different than what you have to deal with. I just hooked up my 1600 gph pump to a milk crate, then dropped the milk crate in with a rope tied to it, to get the pressure to go toward the surface, at the right depth, and tied off the rope. Not on the bottom, but a ways from the top. Have about a 1.5' hole at the coldest temps we have had so far. Tonight it will be tested once again. Have all pumps running, water will be running under the ice in the stream and bog overflows. Best part about Laguna pumps, if they get clogged, they shut down. I've had my big 4200 shut down several times, always in the summer. Pulled it, removed cage, cleaned it, and voila, it worked fine again.