Skippy question

[brandonsdad02]

For those of you that live where it gets below freezing. What do you do with your skippy filter for the winter? I'm getting a stock tank tomorrow and will be bringing my koi inside for the winter. It got down to 17 last night and half of my pond had ice on it. I wasn't thinking about winter when I built my pond this spring and didn't make it deep enough so it will freeze solid. Do others have or had this problem and what did you do about your filter. I'm worried that if I don't drain it my flush valve pipe will freeze and crack. Then ill have to fix that in the spring. I'm already planning on digging the pond deeper next spring along with changing a few other things.

 

[koiguy1969]

drain it... clean it up... cover it...and forget it til spring. clean and store the media til spring... leave your flush valve open so any water / snow that does get in the filter can drain. you can use the media, or some of it to help start the bacteria in your indoor filtration. as i do. what kind of setup will you be housing them in? i keep an 800 gal wintering pond in my basement.

 

[brandonsdad02]

I'm hoping for a 100 gal stock tank but it has to fit thru my basement door and that is 32". Might have to get a metal long tank instead. Just has to get me thru this winter. Next year will bring some big changes.

 

[fishin4cars]

I'll give this one to Koiguy1969, probably one of the most knowledged on this forum for your situation. How big is your outside pond and how many fish? It's really late in the season to be staring this kind of project IMO. How deep is the pond? Any chance you can rig up something to keep the pond from freezing solid until you get set-up?

 

[koiguy1969]

TSC tractor supply company has a 110 gal stocktank for $60.00... maybe a 5 gal bucket filter with a 150 or so gph pump would be sufficient. i would add a $5.00 aquarium air pump as well. the tank is tuff stuff brand. feed lightly!

 

[sissy]

Shame you could not have gotten a kiddy pool or you could get a preformed pond.But ideal would be a stocktank as they are really sturdy .I got one of there big water tanks that was damaged real cheap .I just asked the manager if he had one with damage and it was just the top cap and there was no lid .I knew I wanted to cut the top off any way .How about a rain barrel type thing also like they use for the filters deep and easy to handle and get through a door and then you could use it for your filter after .

 

[DrCase]

Even down here i slope every pipe down hill so if and when i need to drain my system for cold weather,All i need to do is remove a few rubber caps ,to save my pipes

 

[brandonsdad02]

Well, tonight was the big move. Got my stock tank today and got to work as soon as I got home filling it with pond water. Had to fill up buckets and do it the hard way. Since the water was so tan from the leaves, I filled it only half way. Once the fish get warmed up and wake up a bit I'll add some fresh water. Going to buy a filter from the pet store this weekend.

This fall and winter was a fail for me with the pond. I should have put netting over the pond and made it deeper when I dug the pond this past spring. I thought that as long as I kept the water moving, it wouldn't freeze. Boy was I wrong. The past 2 night it got down to the low teens for lows. There was ice over a inch and a half thick on parts of the pond. Will be making some big changes in the spring as soon as the frost is out of the ground.

Learned a lot this year being the first for everything with the pond. It doesn't look like we lost any fish so that's a good thing.

 

[sissy]

Thats why we always say go deeper and go as big as you want now because to do it later just gives you more work .I think when you build your pond you should think about footings for decks and how deep they have to be ,if footing is supposed to be 4 ft I would go that far and a little farther .You always have to think of run off also from your property and what could end up in your pond .I thought about the worse possible downpour we could get here .You never know with the weather we have been getting in the last couple of years .Last year the snow was as high as my pond and I never thought that would happen .I had to shovel the snow from the one side of my pond that was close to the sidewalk that went down to my basement .

 

[brandonsdad02]

Going with a 20 x 25 pond liner and going to make a skimmer box. Going to add a longer and deeper stream. Adding more shelves for plants and a pump pit with pea gravel all around it. Due to the way our yard slopes I'm going to build up the sides too.

 

[sissy]

great that you are going to build your sides up as you use the never know what could happen factor .I guess your fish are going to love that stream .My fish love my small stream off the waterfall I think they just like all the motion of it .They get up there and play in it and splash around so make sure the sides are high enough that they can not jump out .I had one shubbie this past spring that jumped out .