Didn't i say I have no fish and no plants?
"Rodney Pont" wrote in message
.dfn.de...
On Fri, 08 Aug 2003 15:53:46 GMT, norraandchris wrote:

This might be a silly question for you seasoned pro's out there, but I
just
started learning about ponds and pond maintainance, and put one in my
yard
this summer. I've had conflicting advise on draining or not draining in
winter. I live in Omaha Nebraska, generally the winters aren't too cold,
but
ocassionally can be sub-zero. My pond at the deepest point is 4 feet. I
have
no fish yet, no plants yet. Just a pretty pond and a fountain, with a
plastic liner purchased at The Home Depot........thanks.....

I'm in the UK but your description sounds similar to the weather here.
We don't drain the pond and even leave the waterfall and stream
running. We may get a half an inch of ice on for two or three days and
the cat goes ice skating :-)

I'd suggest putting plants in first and then fish. I don't like using a
planting medium personally since I want the plants to take their
nutrients from the water so I like them either in gravel in a planter
or just tied to a big stone. You shouldn't feed the fish in the winter
when the water temperature is below 10 degrees celcius. With a four
foot deep pond it's going to be impossible for the pond to freeze to
any depth if you only have a few days at a time below zero (assuming we
are talking celcius).

Going back to freezing, if the sides of the pond slant outwards
slightly to allow the ice to rise as it expands the pond could freeze
solid without damage. You should try to have some method of keeping a
hole open so that the fish can get their oxygen and get rid of the
carbon dioxide. If the outlet from the filter is at or above the
surface this will be enough. If it's below the surface you can put a
venturi in and the bubbles will keep it open. Failing that bubbles from
an air pump will do the same job.

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngps07 (at) infohit (dot) fsnet (dot) co (dot) uk