I was just thinking about one or two things & was wondering what happens to
the oxygen levels in the pond over the winter if all the
filtration/circulation is switched off. I know the fish go very quiet & hang
out down the bottom but surely the water down there gets pretty oxygen
depleted? As I understand it water is actually at its most dense at about 4
degrees C (39F) so in the height of winter its quite likely that the pond is
actually warmer at the bottom than the top. If this is so then its obviously
not a good idea to circulate the water out the bottom of the pond in mid
winter (assuming filters use a bottom drain etc) which means the filters
really do need to be turned off....

What's the general concensus - how do the fish survive in an oxygen depleted
environment?

I.

Cold water holds more oxygen than warm water. The fish are not using much
oxygen, in their winter stupor. If you do not freeze, I believe the pond
should be kept running, filters and everything. If you do have heavy
freezes, where the pond is going to freeze over and stay frozen for some
period of time, some means of keeping a hole in the ice is needed to allow
the toxic gasses to escape and oxygen to get into the water. The most
common methods are the use of an air stone, which keeps the water moving
near the surface, and moving water is much harder to get to freeze. The
other is the use of a pump to again disturb the surface of the pond. The
air stone and the pump should be mounted fairly close to the surface.

As for disturbing the bottom water, I don't think our ponds are really deep
enough to get a real thermal layer that could be stirred up, but the heat of
the earth, always around 50 degrees a few feet below the frost line, sends
heat up and through the liner, making the bottom water warmer, though some
of the heat moves upward and escapes. The fish hang close to the liner,
where the heat is coming from.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Iain Miller" wrote in message
...
I was just thinking about one or two things & was wondering what happens
to
the oxygen levels in the pond over the winter if all the
filtration/circulation is switched off. I know the fish go very quiet &
hang
out down the bottom but surely the water down there gets pretty oxygen
depleted? As I understand it water is actually at its most dense at about
4
degrees C (39F) so in the height of winter its quite likely that the pond
is
actually warmer at the bottom than the top. If this is so then its
obviously
not a good idea to circulate the water out the bottom of the pond in mid
winter (assuming filters use a bottom drain etc) which means the filters
really do need to be turned off....

What's the general concensus - how do the fish survive in an oxygen
depleted
environment?

I.

btw - interesting article in this month's issue of Smithsonian about those
lakes in Africa in which the layers don't mix. Result is a periodic poisonous
release of gas that is lethal to residents and livestock.


k30a
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html

In article , "Iain Miller"
writes:

If this is so then its obviously
not a good idea to circulate the water out the bottom of the pond in mid
winter (assuming filters use a bottom drain etc) which means the filters
really do need to be turned off....

if the water temps drops below 50 and stays there, I would turn off any pump to
your bio filter. If you have a mechanical filter, raise the pump up to a high
level of the pond so that the discharge is right at the surface of the water.
This keeps a hole open for gas exchanges and doesn't disturb the bottom water.

Karen
Zone 5
Ashland, OH
http://hometown.aol.com/kmam1/MyPond/MyPond.html
My Art Studio at
http://members.aol.com/kmmstudios/K....M.Studios.html
for email remove the extra extention

yeah, I put a plastic tent over my pond in the frozen tundra zone 5. but I put my
pump into a bucket filter and hang that inside. it both filter crud outta the water
and oxygenates well enough and keeps the surface of the water ice free all winter.
best is it will work even if we have a power outage for a while and the pond does
freeze over. Ingrid

"Iain Miller" wrote:

I was just thinking about one or two things & was wondering what happens to
the oxygen levels in the pond over the winter if all the
filtration/circulation is switched off. I know the fish go very quiet & hang
out down the bottom but surely the water down there gets pretty oxygen
depleted? As I understand it water is actually at its most dense at about 4
degrees C (39F) so in the height of winter its quite likely that the pond is
actually warmer at the bottom than the top. If this is so then its obviously
not a good idea to circulate the water out the bottom of the pond in mid
winter (assuming filters use a bottom drain etc) which means the filters
really do need to be turned off....

What's the general concensus - how do the fish survive in an oxygen depleted
environment?

I.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

do You (or anyone else) have pics of winter covered ponds??

I am trying to 'suggest' to my hubby to do this, but he feels it would
collapse (or rip) under the weight of snow.



wrote in message
...
yeah, I put a plastic tent over my pond in the frozen tundra zone 5. but
I put my
pump into a bucket filter and hang that inside. it both filter crud outta
the water
and oxygenates well enough and keeps the surface of the water ice free all
winter.
best is it will work even if we have a power outage for a while and the
pond does
freeze over. Ingrid

"

here you go. http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/p...ntr/winter.htm
Ingrid

"*muffin*" wrote:

do You (or anyone else) have pics of winter covered ponds??

I am trying to 'suggest' to my hubby to do this, but he feels it would
collapse (or rip) under the weight of snow.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I have a picture of the frame for my cover on
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondpage3.html. The picture was taken
in the spring, after the plastic covering was removed, but before I removed
the frame.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"*muffin*" wrote in message
...
do You (or anyone else) have pics of winter covered ponds??

I am trying to 'suggest' to my hubby to do this, but he feels it would
collapse (or rip) under the weight of snow.



wrote in message
...
yeah, I put a plastic tent over my pond in the frozen tundra zone 5.
but
I put my
pump into a bucket filter and hang that inside. it both filter crud
outta
the water
and oxygenates well enough and keeps the surface of the water ice free
all
winter.
best is it will work even if we have a power outage for a while and the
pond does
freeze over. Ingrid

"

I have a picture of the frame for my cover on
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondpage3.html. The picture was taken
in the spring, after the plastic covering was removed, but before I removed
the frame.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"*muffin*" wrote in message
...
do You (or anyone else) have pics of winter covered ponds??

I am trying to 'suggest' to my hubby to do this, but he feels it would
collapse (or rip) under the weight of snow.



wrote in message
...
yeah, I put a plastic tent over my pond in the frozen tundra zone 5.
but
I put my
pump into a bucket filter and hang that inside. it both filter crud
outta
the water
and oxygenates well enough and keeps the surface of the water ice free
all
winter.
best is it will work even if we have a power outage for a while and the
pond does
freeze over. Ingrid

"

I have a picture of the frame for my cover on
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondpage3.html. The picture was taken
in the spring, after the plastic covering was removed, but before I removed
the frame.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"*muffin*" wrote in message
...
do You (or anyone else) have pics of winter covered ponds??

I am trying to 'suggest' to my hubby to do this, but he feels it would
collapse (or rip) under the weight of snow.



wrote in message
...
yeah, I put a plastic tent over my pond in the frozen tundra zone 5.
but
I put my
pump into a bucket filter and hang that inside. it both filter crud
outta
the water
and oxygenates well enough and keeps the surface of the water ice free
all
winter.
best is it will work even if we have a power outage for a while and the
pond does
freeze over. Ingrid

"

Ingrid, that's pretty cool. Do toads ever find their way in there?


On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 23:54:46 GMT, wrote:

here you go. http://users.megapathdsl.net/~solo/p...ntr/winter.htm
Ingrid

"*muffin*" wrote:

do You (or anyone else) have pics of winter covered ponds??

I am trying to 'suggest' to my hubby to do this, but he feels it would
collapse (or rip) under the weight of snow.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

NO! they arent wanted, and couldnt get thru the netting anyway. I havent even seen
dragonflies try to get thru the netting. Ingrid

jammer wrote:

Ingrid, that's pretty cool. Do toads ever find their way in there?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Ok, then i do not want one. Thank you



On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 14:47:28 GMT, wrote:

NO! they arent wanted, and couldnt get thru the netting anyway. I havent even seen
dragonflies try to get thru the netting. Ingrid

jammer wrote:

Ingrid, that's pretty cool. Do toads ever find their way in there?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

I don't believe toads winter under water anyway. ~ jan

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 22:07:20 -0500, jammer wrote:

Ok, then i do not want one. Thank you



On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 14:47:28 GMT, wrote:

NO! they arent wanted, and couldnt get thru the netting anyway. I havent even seen
dragonflies try to get thru the netting. Ingrid

jammer wrote:

Ingrid, that's pretty cool. Do toads ever find their way in there?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

No, of course they don't! I meant for spawning during the spring.


On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 15:37:56 GMT, ~ jan JJsPond.us
wrote:

I don't believe toads winter under water anyway. ~ jan

On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 22:07:20 -0500, jammer wrote:

Ok, then i do not want one. Thank you



On Sun, 31 Aug 2003 14:47:28 GMT, wrote:

NO! they arent wanted, and couldnt get thru the netting anyway. I havent even seen
dragonflies try to get thru the netting. Ingrid

jammer wrote:

Ingrid, that's pretty cool. Do toads ever find their way in there?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website