Time to start up the pond?

[rdk]

I live in New England and have a small 4 by 7 foot pond with gold fish only. I would like to wait until the third week in March to run the filter and waterfall. I have a winter air pump now running with heater. Can I wait or should I start everything now because the air temp is now mostly in the 40s. Thank you RDK

 

[mrsclem]

Crazy weather this year. Our ponds have only frozen over for 2 days so never turned off filters. I would say start it up and just be ready to close it back down if the temps drop.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

When it comes to ponds, toss the calendar. Ponds should be started up when you are fairly confident that there will be no further chance of ice-over. Rely on water temps, not dates.

 

[addy1]

When it comes to ponds, toss the calendar. Ponds should be started up when you are fairly confident that there will be no further chance of ice-over. Rely on water temps, not dates.

Wish that were true, right now the water is 49f, but last year it was that in March and by April frozen over again. With my external pump I have to wait until I am sure we won't have horrendous freezes again.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Wish that were true, right now the water is 49f, but last year it was that in March and by April frozen over again. With my external pump I have to wait until I am sure we won't have horrendous freezes again.

Isn't that what I said?
"Ponds should be started up when you are fairly confident that there will be no further chance of ice-over."

 

[addy1]

Isn't that what I said?
"Ponds should be started up when you are fairly confident that there will be no further chance of ice-over."

yep! I was referring to the water temps..........should have clarified sorry

 

[budgenator]

I was so tempted this weekend, Saturday the air temps were warmer than Phoenix; we hit 67, but the pond is still half covered with ice. I'll fight the urge for a couple more weeks at least.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

yep! I was referring to the water temps..........should have clarified sorry

Ultimately water temps should be the deciding factor. It is better to start up a pond only to shut it down again than to delay too long in starting it up. Nature resumes water flow as soon as ice disappears. Granted reducing maintenance time enters into the decision, but this is for the benefit of the pondkeeper, not the pond. Fish will begin producing more Ammonia as water temps rise. Delaying the restart of supplemental biofiltration can only risk the health of the fish.

 

[Timothy]

One note here on accelerating opening a pond.....let the ice melt naturally, don't try to hasten it by breaking it up into smaller pieces. The fish are already stressed from the winter and chopping at the remaining ice could kill them because of shock waves through the water.

 

[adavisus]

If you peek at the pond around dawn, when the weather is on the rise, water is likely to be at its lowest ebb of dissolved oxygen, if you see fish coming up to the surface to gasp, they are vulnerable to opportunistic predators

That might be a useful indicator.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

If you peek at the pond around dawn, when the weather is on the rise, water is likely to be at its lowest ebb of dissolved oxygen, if you see fish coming up to the surface to gasp, they are vulnerable to opportunistic predators

That might be a useful indicator.

It is also an indicator that your pond is greatly overstocked!

 

[adavisus]

low pressure air systems, hefty perty glades of submerged aquatics, can drive even just a population of aquatic snails into shallow water along with your favourite itty bitty fish

 

[addy1]

Ultimately water temps should be the deciding factor. It is better to start up a pond only to shut it down again than to delay too long in starting it up. Nature resumes water flow as soon as ice disappears.

I did a mini start. I put a ? Gph pump submersible (can't recall the size) letting it send water over the surface of the bog. So there is some filtration going on. Some of those plants are growing again.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I did a mini start. I put a ? Gph pump submersible (can't recall the size) letting it send water over the surface of the bog. So there is some filtration going on. Some of those plants are growing again.

Good idea. This will help to support the regrowth of any nitrifying bacteria that may have been lost over the shut-down period.

 

[EricV]

I did a mini-restart too. I have a small pump in my skimmer (not enough to "skim") pumping into my waterfall filter. The full media is not in the filter yet. I'm going to try fixing my leak this Friday and if that goes OK, I'll do the full restart. I had no problems keeping things running with plenty of ice in mid-December, so I don't expect issues. Yesterday the pond temp was up to 50. Will probably be 55 or more by Friday. The fish are enjoying small snacks of cool-water food.