pond pump on for next winter?

[micaaronfl76]

hello all,

i noticed i now have a big algae bloom in the last couple of weeks in my pond, along with string algae. i just turned my pond on a few days ago earlier then expected. i figured to get it going as we had a somewhat mild winter here in philly and to start trying to get the algae under control.

fish seems fine and even with the netting a bunch of leaves still got in.

over the winter i noticed that the pond only a quarter way froze once. next year i was thinking about not turning the pump off and leaving it run, so this algae bloom doesnt happen again. Plus it might help grab some leaves at least. Right now my pond is murky as hell, i will attach a pic.

As i have the pump and also a separate UV light how will they hold up in the winter? is there anyway to guard against the uv light cracking if i keep it on in the winter?

We have had some mild winters here lately but then every once in awhile we will get a pretty good freeze. i also have a stream to guard against an ice dam but i figured that i will have to watch and possibly turn off the outside breakers if it gets real cold.

my pond is built into the corner of my backyard and is surrounded by white siding with the afternoon sun, so i think thats another reason it doesnt freeze over as much.

Any thoughts? and any advice on the pic.

 

[Phil]

I also live in the Philadelphia area and built my pond last spring. I kept my skimmer and waterfall running all winter. The pond and falls froze completely over twice for a total of maybe ten days. We have a small upper pond that the filter box empties into with about an 8" falls, and then about a 5' stream to about a 1' fall into the lower, main pond. I had no problems with the pump in the skimmer box or with losing water to ice dams and although frozen over you could see and hear the water running under the ice. The water in the skimmer box never froze. I too have the string algae but my water is crystal clear and yesterday for the first time since before the first of the year I saw some of my adult fish. I was a little concerned about leaving the pump on all winter but I had no problems.

 

[micaaronfl76]

ahh ur in willow grove, i live in jamison. where do u get your pond plants?

do u have a uv light? thats another concern with the freezing

 

[callingcolleen1]

I live in Canada and my pumps run all year, and have for the last 22 years now. Never had a hose freeze that runs good, the only time a hose froze was when this cheap filter got clogged and slowed the flow down to much. Now I have good filters before the pump that can run all winter without clogging up.

I get some string algae in the spring cause the big pond sedges and other plants are not yet growing, but soon they will be sprouting and then the algae will be all gone cause the pond sedges starve out the algae.

I have never needed a UV light and my plants are mostly all very hardy and stay in pond all year round. This is what the ponds looks like now, and then there is a picture of what they will look like in May.

 

[Phil]

I got most of my store bought plants from Center Point Pond and a few from Holly Days Nursery, but there's also a place down in Glenside that I've heard has a great selection but I haven't been there. Honestly the best luck I've had with plants have been some native rushes I collected from Sayers Lake in Centre County and Oneida Lake up in New York. Since my pond is still in its first year I don't know how they'll come back from winter, but of all the rooted plants I put in last year they spread the most.

I don't have a UV filter. I got my liner/pump/skimmer from Center Point and after about three months I had the usual pea green water and I went back to buy a UV light. He said he would sell me one but that I didn't really need it and prescribed patience. A few weeks later the water was clear and we haven't had any issues with green water since. My pond is in full sun, though, and we have had lots of string algae that I'd like to get rid of. I'm hoping that once my plants come back, like Colleen's, the string algae will die off.

 

[micaaronfl76]

did u try for the string algae tetra algae clear- it will get rid of the string algae in 24 hours. there is also tobys treasure barn in horsham, they also have a nice selection.

 

[micaaronfl76]

colleen, btw i assume those sedges are perrenials? i may try them in the spring, can they tolerate little to no sunlight? also how deep can the base go into the pond?

do they go by another name, as i have never seen them at the pond places i go to.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have several large sedges, one is the Sweet Flag (Acorus calamus) the large hardy type that grows in my pond to over four feet tall. This plant smells sweet when the long sword like leaves are crushed. There is also the variegated the daft types as well to choose from. This is plant is not to be confused with the Yellow flag, which is an Iris.

The Yellow flag Iris (Iris pseudacorus), is my favorite, and it produces many lovely yellow blooms from the end of May into June. The Yellow flag that is in my pond, is very very large, grows to over six feet tall for me, is not planted in any soil, and naturally floats in three feet of water. You need a large clump before you get a stable floating iris that the fish can swim under.

I also have a native bull rush, some needle spike rush, also native, and some woolgrass bull rush an cotton grass.

These hardy perrenial plants a can also grow well in shade, but you may not get as many blooms.

 

[j.w]

Colleen are your rocks around your pond embedded in mounded soil or is that concrete? They looks so stable in there whatever it is!

 

[Dave 54]

Though our pond is much larger than yours we never switch the pump or U/V-C off we cover our pond each winter with polycarbonate sheets and have insulated everything we can think of.
The filters are cleaned prior to winter and we make sure the pond is clear of leaves which because of our net it always is lol
In late spring we again clean our filters seeding them with Microbe_Lift PL filter pad innoculentt Gel then we are set for the summer.

rgrds

Dave

 

[callingcolleen1]

My collection of three large connecting ponds, which have a combined water volume of close to 4000 Gallons, the rocks are glued into place in the outside with this stuff called Great Stuff Big Gap Filler. This stuff is indeed great! It is the same stuff you can buy for your waterfall to glue it together, but a fraction of the price. It found it at the hardware store, the color sandy when dried, whereas the color of the waterfall stuff is black. The sandy color works better with my rocks, and I stuffed dried moss to the glue I between the groves, to help give it a natural feel. The rocks, wood, and moss is all glued into place using this expanding form glue.

Use an old pair of clothes and gloves cause it is really sticky and expands behind the rocks, to the raised pond frame. My three connecting ponds are all slightly above ground, and the top pond the surface is about a foot above ground. The built up frame is made of landscaping ties, which are totally hidden cause of the glued rocks and moss. If any if of the sticky foam gets into the water, it will not hurt the fish as it does not stick to water, but instantly turns into a floating foam ball that can just be scooped out.

To do the edges all around all three connecting slighly raised ponds, cost about 50 dollars, the rocks I got for free. I keep a large can handy to touch up when required. The rocks mostly are very secure, but they can be removed if I need to and glued easy back into place. Unlike cement, it dries very quick, within minutes!

The can is under pressure, so their is a warning on the can for pressure and flameable, but it is deigned to fill gaps in your house. Worked really well for me, and I just love it. I have used both the "official" pond waterfall stuff and it is the exact same, except for color and it is only a fraction of the price!

 

[j.w]

Colleen it looks very nice and natural. Did you do that from the beginning of your pond build or did you come up w/ the idea after you had your pond all set up a different way and then have to change it? I would not prolly ever be in the mood to do my whole bunch of rocks all over again w/ this idea but maybe if we move and do another pond I might consider doing that. Thanks for sharing. Sounds like "Great Stuff"

 

[callingcolleen1]

I decided to glue the rocks into place a couple years ago, used to have the rocks carefully placed and stacked, but got sick of the rocks moving or shifing when kids came and kneeled by pond the rocks would get knocked about. You can use this stuff just to glue problem areas or whatever needs it.

 

[micaaronfl76]

colleen what is the big plant in pic 1607?

 

[micaaronfl76]

btw yellow flag is that a perrenial?