Winter Pond Temps

[j.w]

We are done w/winter here. It was 60f today,lol!

 

[addy1]

Pond is still 41F.

 

[j.w]

Heard a frog but couldn't find him but did find our resident bunny who came out to enjoy the warmth also.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Now I have a resident bunny too living out front!! He sticks his tongue out at my puppies as they bark like mad from behind fence!!
Looks like No winter here this month!! Spring appears to be on the way!! Ice and snow almost all gone now!

 

[milocat2012]

Is anybody has a take about running your pump and filter in the winter? This winter for the first time i've decided to run the pond thru the winter. I'm hoping that it would help the filter that has't been shut off and disconnected to have much faster restarting and maturing time in the spring. I read some articles that suggest if your filter is running all winter and keep the oxygen supply to beneficial bacteria, in spite the warm weather beneficial bacteria is not active in the cold, but they are not dead either, but just sort of hibernating and with the warm up temperatures it would take a filter that has been running all winter to mature much faster then the filter that has been disconnected. I'm not sure if it's true but this theory make sense to me. I guess i'll wait and find out in the spring it it would help me to eliminate problems with ammonia in the spring. We made quite a bit of preparation in the fall for running the pump in the winter: built the insulated inclosure for external pump and filter: it seem that the motor from the pump keeps it warmer inside this inclosure. also back in the summer we installed the shut off valve to all the waterfalls and added an extra pipe with home made venturi to add more oxygen. Then later in december the waterfalls were shut off and the venturi pipe was replaced with just regular wide return pipe. I have 2 intakes in the summer but the second one was shut off for the winter so the water would just circulate thru one intake and one return pipe. All running pipes were double insulated with heated pipe wire and regular pipe insulation. Also have an air pump and 3 deicers (300, 500, and 1500 watts) plus the pond breather. Deicers i actually only plug in when temperature drops below 20F (-7C) So far we had some very cold temperatures: some nights we had the temps drop to 9 degrees F (-13 C) and my pond was not frozen at all not even a little. Looks like running water helps to prevent freezing as it's first winter that my pond did not freeze. In the past when it wasn't running it still would freeze: the deices and air stones just kept holes open. Probably the inclosure and pipe insulation also keeps water warmer. The temperature of the water on the top is always between 38 and 44 F. I don't have a bottom thermometer. on warmer days when temperature rises i can see some of my koi starts to swim and nibble on the algae in the walls. So now hoping that the rest of the winter will go without incidents. On the pictures i included on the left is seeing the ply wood inclosure with insulation inside. also last 2 pictures is of the summer venturi pipe we made. It actually produces a lot of pressure and has tons of fine bubbles that pumps the oxygen to the bottom. I think it give a lot more dissolve oxygen then 4 of my waterfalls or even air pump.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Your information about bacteria is correct. As temperatures drop, their reproduction is reduced, but they still function. Only at temperatures of freezing ()C, 32F) and below will they die.

 

[Dave 54]

as Meyer and yourself have said baceria will slow down their reproduction barely functioning , and if the temerature keeps on dropping they will die.
I note you said you had three deicers on your pond , may I suggest another way of keeping the water clear of ice , I'm sure you can get them your side of the pond.
My suggestion is to buy a heater that your pipework connects up to see link :-

http://www.absolute-koi.com/cat10.html

You'll note they come in differing wattages starting at 1KW , you'd be burning less in the way of electric that way rather than running 300, 500, and 1500 watt deicers and it may well work out cheaper for you too., read their write up and then make your mind up if you'll swop to one
In the spring I give our filters a good clean then add Microbe_lift PL filter pad innoculent gel to the filters to give them a bit of a kick start, I've been doing this for years now and have had no problems because of it as it quickly replenishers the bacteria in your filter. in my case filters.
Like you we covered our filters but in our case we built a box insulated with 22mm polystyrene sheets glued to the sides which are made out of decking so it makes for good insulaton weve topped it off with a sliding lid of Polycarbonate roofing sheets cut to size and fitted to a frame attached to the top.
With Polycarbonate roofing sheets covering the pond our water temperature never gets any lower than 7c and during warm spells it goes up to 9C.
We dont use a heater like this but have a 800watt oil heated rasiator sat in one corner of the box structure which we can turn on if needs be , it heat the air in the filter housing which cant go out because of the insulation and roofing sheets so the warm air then warms the water in the filters, not by too much just a degree or two more than the temperatures we reach normally in winter 7-9c .
Being oil heated once the oil heats up the heater cuts the electric until it starts to drop down to a set point when it comes on again.


Dave

 

[callingcolleen1]

Your information about bacteria is correct. As temperatures drop, their reproduction is reduced, but they still function. Only at temperatures of freezing ()C, 32F) and below will they die.

I think running your pond all winter is good for bacteria. I run my ponds all winter for last 24 years and never get pee green water and people wonder how come my water is crystal clear. I think the bacteria stay warm cause bacteria produces warmth to a certain degree..

 

[sissy]

When a pond is well established it runs better .My pond was always great before i had to rebuild again .Every new pond needs a couple of years to start working correctly .

 

[callingcolleen1]

You had to start all over Sissy, things should be better this year...

I plan to build additional top pond and that will flow with the already existing three connecting ponds that are all balanced and therefore foresee no problem....

 

[callingcolleen1]

Eventually the ponds will go around the house and I will have drawbridge to enter front door! Ha ha ha!

 

[Dave 54]

Eventually the ponds will go around the house and I will have drawbridge to enter front door! Ha ha ha!

Castle Colleen , when you next take a holiday come to plymouth we have the remains of them for you to copy on all our forts

Dave

 

[milocat2012]

Hi Dave. Thanks for the info. I actually knew about inline pond heaters and checked into them a few years ago. From what i learned while back, it was lot more complicated to deal with and also not a price affective, especially from our climate here. Not sure how long or cold your winters get in UK, but here, we can experience some very cold/ harsh temperatures, but it usually doesn't stay that way very long. We can have the temperature go down here as low as 5 or even 0 F (-15-18 C) but usually it doesn't last too long, a few days sometimes, and then it could jump back up to 40 and even sometime 55F (+4-15C) So the temperatures are jumping a lot. I looked into the company you send to me, but of course we really can't get anything from UK due to different electricity: as Europe using 220V, and we're on 110V. So i looked at what's in current US market now, and it doesn't seem to make a lot of cense because those inline heaters not really cheap to buy plus they're not energy efficient as well. http://www.pondparts.com/Aqualogic-Inline-Pond-Heaters-Pond-Heaters-and-Deicers-sc-1031.html if i go with easiest smallest heater option, 1.5 or 2 kw the ones that i could plug in into 110V electrical outlet without hardwiring it, i'm not even sure if it would be enough for heating my pond, as i read recommendations that it goes 1 watt per gallon therefore the 1.5kw model uses 1500W and 2kw is 2000W (which is around where all my deicers are) so in my understanding it would be good for 1500-2000 gallon pond. Mine is around 3200 gallons, so i wouldn't know if it would work for me or not. To go for any bigger model that requires hardwired installation is too much trouble, plus definitely not a cost efficient at all. Plus those heaters need to be constantly plugged in, and like i mentioned before i plug in the deicers only then air temperature goes down below -4C. That means that i don't use the energy consistently. generally i monitor the pond temp, and then i see that it starts dropping to 40 (4C) i plug them in not to let it go below. So it keeps the water temperatures in the +4+7C range. This is first winter i'm running my pond and for the first winter i have it completely free of any ice. Fish seems to be doing ok with this temperatures. i probably can even get away with only one 1500W deicer, but i have the other 2 that i bought previously so i choose to plug them in as well. I guess after winter is over i'll see how it goes and decide if it'll be needing to change anything or keep it the same next winter. I also stacked up with beneficial bacteria microbe lift PL for spring time, and i keep adding cold water beneficial bacteria thru out the winter. We only have about 3 weeks of cold left: generally in march it will start warm up again, may still be chilly but not too likely to go much below freezing anymore.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Yo

Hi Dave. Thanks for the info. I actually knew about inline pond heaters and checked into them a few years ago. From what i learned while back, it was lot more complicated to deal with and also not a price affective, especially from our climate here. Not sure how long or cold your winters get in UK, but here, we can experience some very cold/ harsh temperatures, but it usually doesn't stay that way very long. We can have the temperature go down here as low as 5 or even 0 F (-15-18 C) but usually it doesn't last too long, a few days sometimes, and then it could jump back up to 40 and even sometime 55F (+4-15C) So the temperatures are jumping a lot. I looked into the company you send to me, but of course we really can't get anything from UK due to different electricity: as Europe using 220V, and we're on 110V. So i looked at what's in current US market now, and it doesn't seem to make a lot of cense because those inline heaters not really cheap to buy plus they're not energy efficient as well. http://www.pondparts.com/Aqualogic-Inline-Pond-Heaters-Pond-Heaters-and-Deicers-sc-1031.html if i go with easiest smallest heater option, 1.5 or 2 kw the ones that i could plug in into 110V electrical outlet without hardwiring it, i'm not even sure if it would be enough for heating my pond, as i read recommendations that it goes 1 watt per gallon therefore the 1.5kw model uses 1500W and 2kw is 2000W (which is around where all my deicers are) so in my understanding it would be good for 1500-2000 gallon pond. Mine is around 3200 gallons, so i wouldn't know if it would work for me or not. To go for any bigger model that requires hardwired installation is too much trouble, plus definitely not a cost efficient at all. Plus those heaters need to be constantly plugged in, and like i mentioned before i plug in the deicers only then air temperature goes down below -4C. That means that i don't use the energy consistently. generally i monitor the pond temp, and then i see that it starts dropping to 40 (4C) i plug them in not to let it go below. So it keeps the water temperatures in the +4+7C range. This is first winter i'm running my pond and for the first winter i have it completely free of any ice. Fish seems to be doing ok with this temperatures. i probably can even get away with only one 1500W deicer, but i have the other 2 that i bought previously so i choose to plug them in as well. I guess after winter is over i'll see how it goes and decide if it'll be needing to change anything or keep it the same next winter. I also stacked up with beneficial bacteria microbe lift PL for spring time, and i keep adding cold water beneficial bacteria thru out the winter. We only have about 3 weeks of cold left: generally in march it will start warm up again, may still be chilly but not too likely to go much below freezing anymore.

You only will need the one 1500 watt heater if you keep pump running in front of heater, that will work better. I have only 1 heater for 3500 imperial gallons and that is all I have ever used for last 24 years, and I get temperatures down to minis 45 below. The goal is just to keep the pond from freezing solid and to provide a good air hole in ice. I would never shut down pumps...

 

[Dave 54]

Yo

You only will need the one 1500 watt heater if you keep pump running in front of heater, that will work better. I have only 1 heater for 3500 imperial gallons and that is all I have ever used for last 24 years, and I get temperatures down to minis 45 below. The goal is just to keep the pond from freezing solid and to provide a good air hole in ice. I would never shut down pumps...

Isnt yours a cattle heater though Colleen ?

Dave