Rookie questions...

[shw104]

Hi everyone…

I had a small garden pond installed this spring. The pond is roughly 450 gallons, is roughly 20” deep at its deepest has a skimmer and a pump at one end and a water fall at the other. I have 4 small gold fish and one small koi in the pond and some nymphaeacease (lily pad) as plants. Everything is doing very well… The fish are doing well (haven’t lost any), plants are growing, water is clear, etc… it’s been a lot of fun.

Now that fall and then winter is around the corner. I need to figure out how to best winterize my pond. I live outside of Baltimore which is climate zone 7A. It gets pretty cold at times and we’ve been getting a lot of snow the last few years.

I’ve read that I should slow down and stop feeding the fish once the water temperate falls below 50F or so? Is this true? Do I start again once the water warms up above 50F?

What about my plants… the water lily is set in a pot at the bottom of the pond. Will they eventually die back? I’m assuming I should cut back the foliage when this occurs or after the first frost? Will this plant grow back?

I’m thinking I should shut off the water fall before the temperature drops below freezing. Otherwise. I’ll end up with a block of ice and no water in the pond. Once it’s off….Should I keep it off until spring or turn it back up when/if the water warms during any warm spells? I’m thinking water circulation would be good.

How do I keep the pond from freezing solid.. I don’t think it will freeze down to 20” but it will freeze over. What is the best way to do this? What are my options?

Thank you for the advice…
Scott

 

[sissy]

welcome and you will need spring and fall food to help you out with the feeding .We have been discussing this for awhile now and it seems that the pond breather heater is turning out to be the best option .

 

[Dave 54]

Welcome from Plymouth in the UK Rookie from a pair of old timer's of 27 years koi keeping .
Fish do indeed stop feeding when they get to 10c but before then you should be putting a little weight on them to help them last the winter months.
You can do this by feeding them wheatgerm and garlic fish pellets , if you cant get the garlic seachems do a garlic extract ask for it at your local fish store then add a little in a bowl to the pellet allow it to soak then feed them everyday with it until as we say the temperature hits 10c, on its way down wards then you stop until late spring, .!!!WARNING DO NOT BE TEMPETED TO FEED BEFORE!!!! you could end up killing your fish otherwise
From then until late spring when the temperature is above 10c for a two week period and is steady then you start again. Feeding them nothing but wheatgerm and garlic (the garlic helps against parasites and also has a magical gift in that it stimulates a fishes appitite in other words fish go nuts for it like cats do with catnip continue with this food until the start of summer then switch to a summer food.
I'm a little worried by the depth of your pond some places will see that depth totally frozen however I dont know how cold your winters get to so I cant say "yes or no" for the fish remaining outside thats your call ???
Turn the water fall off before things start to freeze , you can buy heaters that will keep a small hole in the ice thats if the cold doesnt get the better of it .
I think however us coming from the UK not the US that one of our American members should take over from here and give you some advice as we arent in reality the best people to ask.
Our own pond is 4.5 ft deep and weve insulated the pond the pipes and our filter housing and we cover our own pond and filter housing with policarbonate roofing sheets which protect ur koi throughout the winter months at a low of 7.5c and a high of about 9c depenndant on either rain or snow .

Dave

 

[dieselplower]

Yes stop feeding when the water temperature is low 50's. You will find the fish won't really want to eat then anyway. As you said, I would turn off the waterfall. It is important to keep a hole open in the ice so that gas in the pond can vent off into the air, and oxygen can get into the pond. I point a 300 gallon per hour up to create a ripple at the surface. So far 2 nasty Michigan winters and no problem. I see lots of people who use aerators and heaters say their pump or heater died and so do their fish. Just keep an eye on the hole. If it freezes over, do not bang on the ice to crack it. It can be harmful to the fish. Instead, pour hot water on it or set a boiling pot of water on it to reopen the hole.

 

[marsha]

Hi everyone…

I had a small garden pond installed this spring. The pond is roughly 450 gallons, is roughly 20” deep at its deepest has a skimmer and a pump at one end and a water fall at the other. I have 4 small gold fish and one small koi in the pond and some nymphaeacease (lily pad) as plants. Everything is doing very well… The fish are doing well (haven’t lost any), plants are growing, water is clear, etc… it’s been a lot of fun.

Now that fall and then winter is around the corner. I need to figure out how to best winterize my pond. I live outside of Baltimore which is climate zone 7A. It gets pretty cold at times and we’ve been getting a lot of snow the last few years.

I’ve read that I should slow down and stop feeding the fish once the water temperate falls below 50F or so? Is this true? Do I start again once the water warms up above 50F?

What about my plants… the water lily is set in a pot at the bottom of the pond. Will they eventually die back? I’m assuming I should cut back the foliage when this occurs or after the first frost? Will this plant grow back?

I’m thinking I should shut off the water fall before the temperature drops below freezing. Otherwise. I’ll end up with a block of ice and no water in the pond. Once it’s off….Should I keep it off until spring or turn it back up when/if the water warms during any warm spells? I’m thinking water circulation would be good.

How do I keep the pond from freezing solid.. I don’t think it will freeze down to 20” but it will freeze over. What is the best way to do this? What are my options?

Thank you for the advice…
Scott

I live just north of you in northern Delaware and have had my pond for 3 winters now, my pond is about 350 gallons and 25 inches deep and has only had a thin layer of ice on the top. I use a Laguna aerator I purched from amazon and let it hang about 6 inches in the water, the bubbles keep a good size hole in the surface and doesn't disturbed the fish or warmer water at the bottom. . I also have a floating heater but have not used it yet because the aerator has done such a good job so far. I like having the heater for back up. I also made a frame out of 1x3 that I lay over the pond and then lay a solar pool cover over that when it snows. It keeps the snow out and is up out of the water so the gases wont get trapped.The rocks around the pond support the frame. Its cheap and easy to do and it works great.