The saddest pond day

[Lisak1]

When we get ready to work on this I'm going to post pictures so you guys can chime in - you all have the best suggestions!

@herzausstahl - We do have a second pump, but because of the way our pond is plumbed, I don't know how we would use an emergency pump, especially on a frozen pond. That would mean dropping a pump into the pond - impossible in a polar vortex - and having exposed hoses. I did pump out the underground water back up into the bog when I thought this would be a fast fix, so at least the bog is full of water which should keep my plants alive. But that required a sump pump and a garden hose which would work fine in less challenging weather conditions. But no way would that have been enough water movement to keep the waterfall flowing. And an exposed hose would have frozen in -40 degrees I would imagine.

 

[herzausstahl]

When we get ready to work on this I'm going to post pictures so you guys can chime in - you all have the best suggestions!

@herzausstahl - We do have a second pump, but because of the way our pond is plumbed, I don't know how we would use an emergency pump, especially on a frozen pond. That would mean dropping a pump into the pond - impossible in a polar vortex - and having exposed hoses. I did pump out the underground water back up into the bog when I thought this would be a fast fix, so at least the bog is full of water which should keep my plants alive. But that required a sump pump and a garden hose which would work fine in less challenging weather conditions. But no way would that have been enough water movement to keep the waterfall flowing. And an exposed hose would have frozen in -40 degrees I would imagine.

Only way then would be to have it sitting on the bottom ahead of time with a 1-2 ft pvc attached to the end to direct the flow of water. Have the cord outside the pond ready to connect then. So nothing you could’ve done this year. Yeah that polar vortex was fun. Not every day kids off school for cold.

 

[SEKCOBRA]

Wow. Just saw this. That really blows.

 

[Lisak1]

My heart still sinks every time I look out the window. When the pond was still snow covered, it wasn't such a constant reminder. Now that it's all melted, it's a hard thing to look at. And I know there's still one more big dead fish in there somewhere that I still have to find. Not looking forward to that.

I need a little spring time, a little green around the pond, a working waterfall and I'll be fine!

 

[Tula]

I feel bad for you and can completely understand your feelings. Spring is just around the corner and we'll all be busy tending to plants and ponds....you're sure to feel better then Hang on , just a little longer.

 

[GBBUDD]

Lisa,
Sorry for the very late response to you losing part of the family. i know how much the pond means to you. I have had little to no internet the last 6 months as i am on assignment . I to lost a couple fish two little guys and one we called the Krackin. considering it was our first year i wasn't totally surprised but you have been down this road a few times now. I don't know why in the last few years we now have light duty pvc glue and lo vic and heavy duty pvc primers and glue so on and so on. I was a gc for years and it had me n circles for a few minutes when i went looking for some pvc cement. i get the felling it's more a marketing ploy to get us to buy more glue even though we already have some

 

[Lisak1]

Thanks @GBBUDD . We had lost a few fish before, but this one hit hard. I'm a pretty practical person when it comes to animals and nature, but when you feel responsible for the care of something and it dies, it's rough. I wish we had called for professional help back in January when it first happened. But when you've built it yourself, you get used to being able to fix it yourself. I felt lucky at the time that we had a few warm days and I was off work for winter break to take care of it. Just couldn't get it done in time.

We now have a goldfish pond with one big koi (don't know if you saw the update, but we discovered in early spring that our one big black koi had actually survived somehow) and for now I'm OK with that. The goldfish weren't bothered one bit by the hard winter - I think that had more to do with the size of the koi than anything. They were so large that their oxygen needs were so much greater. When our pond is shut down, we lose the volume of water that's in the bog (about 600 gallons) and the rain exchange (another 1000). That's a big loss reduction in total gallons. It may even be that they were coming to the top looking for air and froze to death. We won't ever really know.

And the whole PVC glue thing has me so baffled. Time after time we've been told that it will NEVER come apart once the glue is set and yet it's happened twice to us in two different spots. I'm hoping this time we got it right and it will hold.

 

[Mmathis]

I've never heard of Frenco - googling now!

Thanks @snoozer and @addy1 !

I use Fernco couplers and they work great!

 

[poconojoe]

I use Fernco couplers and they work great!

I use Fernco rubber couplings too.
I will admit that a union fitting would be much better. I'm a little leary that a Fernco will pop off with the pump pressure. Maybe I'll add two more hose clamps to each one.
If I keep the configuration I have, next year I will change to unions. I'm still procrastinating on changing over to a bog, which won't need any quick disconnecting parts.

 

[SherrysPond]

I am so, so sorry...... I know how I would feel if that happened to me.