Winter set up.

[Berniemtl]

Quebec, Canada here, and i am getting my pond ready for its first long cold winter. Its about 1200 gallons, 3,5 feet deep. 7-8 comets, 2 koi and about a gazillion tiny goldfish.

Have taken some advice from here and built and ingloo type shelter. I have also added a 5 cfm bubbler which in located in the house with an insulated pipe running to the pond. Hoping that between worm air from the bubbler, and some retention of sun heat the fish will fair well.

Will be plugging in a remote thermometer to measure water temp, and air temp to see how it does.

Anything missing?

 

[addy1]

Welcome, neat idea to pump warm air from the house! Like the idea of remote thermometer too!

good ideas

 

[koiguy1969]

theres a possibility of a problem with pumping air from inside your house....the warmer moist air from your house will want to cool and condense, then freeze in the airline as it travels outside the house. (the farther it has to travel the more at risk) when this builds up and freezes it will cut off the air flow and render the setup udeless until the frozen line is thawed and the moisture removed

 

[addy1]

theres a possibility of a problem with pumping air from inside your house....the warmer moist air from your house will want to cool and condense in the airline whern this builds up and freezes it will cut off the air flow and render the setup udeless until the frozen line is thawed and the moisture removed

Well humm you are probably right, us desert gals don't remember stuff like that.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

Are you going to put clear plastic over the dome for a greenhouse effect?

 

[lifeworthliving]

Sounds almost like solar heat. But I am from a warm area to.

 

[Berniemtl]

Yes, i will be adding plastic. Right now it has netting to collect the fall leaves.

The line goes about 20 ft, and is covered with pipe insulation. Hopefully that will avoid too much cooling of the air. Perhaps i will look at adding a secondary insulation (leaves?).

Wonder if i could figuere out a way to dry the air prior to sending it outside?

Bern

 

[DrCase]

You can stick the small air line inside a pvc pipe and put the insulation around it for more protection.. The leaves will help too

 

[koisRus]

Looks good!! Is the pvc anchored to the ground? How are you going to attach the clear plastic? As far as the air pump, I have heard that placed outside protected from rain is better.

 

[carolinaguy]

its easy to also float 2 inch thick styrofoam insulation on the surface. that will add to the insulation barrier and also help prevent ice buildup on the surface. it gets so cold up there that your frost line is probably as deep as your pond, so anything will help. you can also place an incandescent bulb on an extension cord to hang in the dome to help raise the temperature. good luck.

 

[shane_sda]

Bonjour d'Alberta par l'ami de Québécois. I have 8 goldfish that I winter each year in my basement. I have two large plastic storage containers. Each 30x18x11 inches. The bottom of each is covered with a good layer of 1-2 inch rock. I use an aquarium pump split off with a bubbler for each. I have a florescent plant grow light over both on a timer giving 6 hours of light per day. I feed them a handful of koi pellets every other day. They eat any algea that develops. As the level drops due to evaporation I refill with a bucket of tap water that I let sit for at least a day. Best to have a couple of larger rocks in the tank to pour over otherwise you stir up the crap sitting below the gravel. I have done this for 6 winters without losing a fish. This year I'm in trouble as I can't find the 5 new koi in order to pull them out (see my post, it you have any ideas I would like to know).

 

[rdk]

Why not put in a good surface de-icer and an air pump? Can you run these things to your pond. My fish seemed to love being under the ice and snow last winter in their nice big pond and all came out of winter fine. RDK

 

[shane_sda]

What is a good brand of heater. Any recommendations

 

[99SRXMAN]

Cattle trough $19.00 fleet farm.....:surfing::surfing:

 

[addy1]

Nice ice fishing hole there!