Turning off one of two waterfalls for the winter

[Fishfinder]

I hurt my back before I could really get into the pond and work with some sealant to stop the leak with a high degree of certainty. I think the leak has stopped since I rearranged the rocks before I hurt my back.

Anyway, can I turn off the suspected leaking waterfall and still get proper aeration with the other pump? There are two waterfalls. I think the suspected leaking pump is stronger than the other waterfall pump, but I am not sure. Judging by water flow, it seems to be. Since I did not build the pond, I don't know what kind of pump it is. I can't pull it up for a look as it would disconnect and it's cold here now.

We do have a heater to keep a hole in the ice in the winter. I just don't want to do something stupid to not provide enough air and kill the fish. I'd never hear the end of it.

How about adding water in the winter if I need to? Besides using a dechlorinator, what should I do?

The pond is 4-5 feet deep 7 feet wide and 12 feet long. The fish look fine and there is plenty of water for them right now. I am a terrible worrier. Should I get a piece of liner and put it between the spill box and under the rocks?

I have a million questions about products and methods. I am trying to determine which books first buy to order from the recommended reading list.

 

[addy1]

I turn off everything in the winter, the waterfalls (4), the pump, the bog filter. This winter just running the pond breather.

Imho you can turn off your waterfall, the fish will be fine. Keep a hole in the ice.

Add enough water to keep the pond from dropping to low ow just leave it be.

 

[Big Lou]

Sorry about your back.

 

[sissy]

Sorry you hurt your back and like addy said no big deal since you have a pond heater .If you are really worried you could get a small pump and tie it to a pipe you lay across your pond .I do that with mine .I have a 450 gph pump that i keep in my pond 1 foot from the top of the water with the pond heater right above it .This way the water does not get to cold

 

[j.w]

Hope your back heals up soon

 

[Fishfinder]

Thanks, everybody. This injury is going to be a long term boo boo. Terrific.

How about this product to treat water I might need to add?

 

[studiovette]

Can't believe my pond is still open. Some ice forming this morning but I have not closed it yet as its gonna be back in the low 50's by the weekend in NJ .

 

[Dave 54]

You really must turn both off and add an airstone so that its about 10" off the bottom otherwise you stand the risk of super chilling the pond and your fish going down with costia which if untreated can be fatel to your younvger fish they can live in temperatures ranging from 2c right the way up to 29c .
If caught early you can irradicate it
So as you can see you really need to turn off the both of them , we are about the only people who do regular winter water changes on this forum.
Now to do this you need a dechlorinator filter and need to trickle the water into your pond through this .
By trickling the water slowly back in again the ambient temperature of the ponds water removes any cold going into the pond and if done correctly your only going to use .2 of a degree C.
This is what I mean by a dechlorination filter :-

http://www.vyair.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=68

I feel sure that if you look for one in the US they should sell them

Dave

 

[sissy]

I have gone back and forth with my pond only because i have to keep the quilt batting in the crates in the filter tanks because of the tree cutting here and now they are down on Axton rd cutting down 380 acres .They started monday .

 

[RobAmy]

Here is a post with a picture of my pond which is still fully running as of now but will shut it down soon. I have 2 air stones running all winter. You can see the 2 round holes. The others are from the pumps with the stream. Make sure you drain your lines depending how your setup with plumbing so they do not freeze solid and maybe break. You may not need to at all just throwing it out there. I also keep my airstones off the very bottom like Dave already suggested

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/ice-covered-now.16178/

 

[Lisak1]

You really must turn both off

OK Dave, I'm going to disagree with you here. We keep our waterfall running all winter and our fish thrive, even in last year's polar vortex which had us here in the midwestern US well below zero for long stretches last winter. And I know many, many ponders in our area who run their ponds all winter long without harm to their fish. Now depending on a pond's particular set up, this may or may not be advisable - but my bigger concern would be how the pump and lines are situated to guarantee they will not freeze. @addy1 for example, has external pumps which I would guess would be a different issue due to the freezing concern, unless you could provide adequate insulation for the pump and lines. My own pump is submersible and has no chance of freezing - unless we get a new Ice Age and then I'll have bigger problems than my pond pump!

Just wanted to throw that out there for consideration so FF doesn't feel the need to rush out in the cold and do some major pond work. If keeping your waterfalls running all winter has worked for you in the past, then I don't think you'll have any concern with only one pump running. We did turn off our waterfall the first year and ran one air stone with a pond heater over it and the fish were fine. The amount of aeration was small but it did keep an open hole in the ice. We decided to keep the pond running because we lost all of our marginals that year - the way our pond is designed when we shut it down the water level drops about 8-10 inches, exposing all the roots of the plants. None of them survived. So we crossed our fingers the next year and kept the pump running and we've never had an issue.

 

[dieselplower]

My two cents... In Winter fish need much less oxygen then in warm water. Cold water also holds more dissolved oxygen. So, you can get by with much less aeration. As noted, it is important to keep a hole open in the ice most of the time. As far as one or two waterfalls, or even zero... I would absolutely turn off at least one. There are a couple things I don't like about a water fall in the Winter. One is that it exposes the water to freezing cold air, removing all the heat your heater is providing. Two is that if the water begins to freeze it can send the water out of the pond, possibly draining it, or destroying your pump. If you are confident it won't freeze up and empty the pond, I'd say it will be fine to run but it will make your water temp colder. Probably by a very small amount. Hope your back is feeling better.

 

[sissy]

I had my waterfall freeze up last year and water was going over the side and out of the pond .I was lucky because I caught it fast and shut down the pump .I am guessing the snow also helped it along with the ice .It has a low water switch on the pump any ways but the you never know if it will work or not scared me .My last name is murphy and if is going to go wrong it will .I run my pump under the pond heater also .I have an extra smaller harbor freight pump in there also .I shut my big pumps down 2 times and that was because of dirt that had collected in the filters from all the tree cutting here .Then cleaned them and went and got quilt batting and started them up again .

 

[Dave 54]

I checked under the policarbonate roofing sheets today the fish are lively and the water temperature was at 10c which for this time of year has to be a record , there is alott to be said about covering a pond you could use ping pong balls as some koi keepers I know use mind you you would need alott or try to build a frame around and over the pond using eithetr plastic sheeting of pokicarbonate it all goes to help
The UK koi guru Peter Waddington recomends using an inline heater but that woud take alott of electric as yu would need a 2-3kw heater to heat your pond .
May I suggest you start thinking what you could do to cover the pond now so that next winter you will have fluid water rather than frozen another thought would be to invest in a poly tunnel its arched for strength and you can have air locks either end so you cangain access to the pond .
I hope this helps


Dave

 

[Dave 54]

OK Dave, I'm going to disagree with you here. We keep our waterfall running all winter and our fish thrive, even in last year's polar vortex which had us here in the midwestern US well below zero for long stretches last winter. And I know many, many ponders in our area who run their ponds all winter long without harm to their fish. Now depending on a pond's particular set up, this may or may not be advisable - but my bigger concern would be how the pump and lines are situated to guarantee they will not freeze. @addy1 for example, has external pumps which I would guess would be a different issue due to the freezing concern, unless you could provide adequate insulation for the pump and lines. My own pump is submersible and has no chance of freezing - unless we get a new Ice Age and then I'll have bigger problems than my pond pump!

Just wanted to throw that out there for consideration so FF doesn't feel the need to rush out in the cold and do some major pond work. If keeping your waterfalls running all winter has worked for you in the past, then I don't think you'll have any concern with only one pump running. We did turn off our waterfall the first year and ran one air stone with a pond heater over it and the fish were fine. The amount of aeration was small but it did keep an open hole in the ice. We decided to keep the pond running because we lost all of our marginals that year - the way our pond is designed when we shut it down the water level drops about 8-10 inches, exposing all the roots of the plants. None of them survived. So we crossed our fingers the next year and kept the pump running and we've never had an issue.

We are ahead of you there insulation was put in during our build the pond has 22mm polystreene sheeting wrapped round it , with silversided bubble wrap and loft insulation covered by decking ,
The pipe work is lagged and covered in decking and the filter housing is insulated with 22mm polystreene sheeting coveredby decking and a polycarbonate lid , the net result we dont turn anything off anf the koi are snug at temperatures between 7-10c if it does go lower we can switch on an oil heated 800 watt radiator which then warms the air in the filter housing thus warming up the water as it passes through the four filters.
But by running the water falls as dp said your in danger of chillng the ponds water which may lead to costia


Dave