While we're asking for inputs on wintering, what about this?

Should I turn OFF my waterfall at some point?

3000gal pond with 8 comets and 1 koi. Deepest point is approx 2feet. I'm a
zone 6a or 6b (???)....

Input?

--
~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

john burton
Bach 50B3
Bass Trombone, Charleston NeoPhonic Orchestra
South Charleston, West Virginia

John Burton wrote:
While we're asking for inputs on wintering, what about this?

Should I turn OFF my waterfall at some point?

3000gal pond with 8 comets and 1 koi. Deepest point is approx 2feet. I'm a
zone 6a or 6b (???)....

Input?


I suggest you turn off the waterfall. If ice develops the
water can be diverted out of the pond and you could loose a
substantial amount of water before you'd realize anything
had happened.
Use a air pump with airstone hung 3-4" below the water
surface to maintain an opening in the ice. This will allow
any gases to escape.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Yes. When your pond's temp falls into the 40s it's time to stop the
waterfall. It just cools the water faster and keeps it cool. Whereas with
slow circulation or an air stone the ground with keep your pond warmer.
Cover it and it will often remain ice free. ~ jan

On Mon, 29 Sep 2003 08:41:52 -0400, "John Burton" wrote:

While we're asking for inputs on wintering, what about this?

Should I turn OFF my waterfall at some point?

3000gal pond with 8 comets and 1 koi. Deepest point is approx 2feet. I'm a
zone 6a or 6b (???)....

Input?

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

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

for what it might be worth:

I'm in billerica MA, about 25 miles from NH border...always been fine for
leaving my koi outside with a small waterfall return from the shallow end,
along with an airstone.... never brought my koi inside (6 years).... this last
winter soooooo bad, for sooo long that everything froze, right to the bottom
(24 inches) except in one small 36 inch pocket, but this was way too small for
6 12 inch koi and no upper outlet for gas exchange. I bought a pond
heater.... and thawed my way thru with buckets of hot water trickled onto the
ice.. placed the pond heater in, and it kept an open hole and only cost about
$25 a month during temps of 10-20 deg farenheight every koi made it... very
pleased... much happier leaving the koi outside if possible...yeah, they grow
more slowly, but the joy of seeing them moving for the first time out there
during the first thaw is better than the first flowers coming up...

T.

Scrapster1 wrote:

Hi, I live in Ontario, Canada and it can get cold here in the winter, -20.
I have a small pond around 200 gal, 24 inches deep. I have some goldfish and
plants (hardy lily, pickeral rush, hyacinth, water iris). At what
temperature should I begin to bring the fish in. As for the plants, which
will survive outdoors and which should I bring indoors. As for the pond
itself, how would I prepare it? Thanks.

for what it might be worth:

I'm in billerica MA, about 25 miles from NH border...always been fine for
leaving my koi outside with a small waterfall return from the shallow end,
along with an airstone.... never brought my koi inside (6 years).... this last
winter soooooo bad, for sooo long that everything froze, right to the bottom
(24 inches) except in one small 36 inch pocket, but this was way too small for
6 12 inch koi and no upper outlet for gas exchange. I bought a pond
heater.... and thawed my way thru with buckets of hot water trickled onto the
ice.. placed the pond heater in, and it kept an open hole and only cost about
$25 a month during temps of 10-20 deg farenheight every koi made it... very
pleased... much happier leaving the koi outside if possible...yeah, they grow
more slowly, but the joy of seeing them moving for the first time out there
during the first thaw is better than the first flowers coming up...

T.

Scrapster1 wrote:

Hi, I live in Ontario, Canada and it can get cold here in the winter, -20.
I have a small pond around 200 gal, 24 inches deep. I have some goldfish and
plants (hardy lily, pickeral rush, hyacinth, water iris). At what
temperature should I begin to bring the fish in. As for the plants, which
will survive outdoors and which should I bring indoors. As for the pond
itself, how would I prepare it? Thanks.

did you live there when the house burned that was rebuilt by the tv show
"this old house"? it was owned by dick trethewey, i think, whose brother tom
is one of the guys on 'this old house'. i enjoyed seeing the area.
mad
--
The problem with political jokes is that they get elected.

From: Tom Shea
Organization: Comcast Online
Reply-To:
Newsgroups: alt.garden.pond.chat,rec.ponds
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 2003 23:38:49 GMT
Subject: Wintering my small pond(first year)

I'm in billerica MA, about 25 miles from NH border..



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Sorry I never caught your question sooner - I am in SW Ont (35 mi from
Windsor/ Detroit) - 24" deep is ok in my area for leaving fish in pond -
mine is 17" in shallow end and 26" in deep end, although a bit larger ~ 1000
US gals - my water iris sits on a shallow shelf - 6" of water and freezes
solid every year - no problem, always comes back (10 yrs) my hardy lilies
stay in the shallow end and don't freeze - I never get more than 6" - 7" of
ice - the water hyancinths (floating type - is there any other?) I have
always disposed of - never heard you could leave them in the pond as is
mentioned farther down in this thread, but worth a try - don't know anything
about pickerel rush
If you leave your fish outdoors, be sure to run an airstone, or heater (I
prefer the airstone as it is much easier on hydro)
Gale :~)
"Scrapster1" wrote in message
.. .
Hi, I live in Ontario, Canada and it can get cold here in the winter, -20.
I have a small pond around 200 gal, 24 inches deep. I have some goldfish
and
plants (hardy lily, pickeral rush, hyacinth, water iris). At what
temperature should I begin to bring the fish in. As for the plants, which
will survive outdoors and which should I bring indoors. As for the pond
itself, how would I prepare it? Thanks.

Can you talk about heater / airstone alternatives? I live in New England,
have a 4 foot deep pond and have always battled ice. I'm tempted to get one
or more of the floating heaters but would like to benefit from the group's
experience. Thanks.

Brian Tarbox

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Sorry I never caught your question sooner - I am in SW Ont (35 mi from
Windsor/ Detroit) - 24" deep is ok in my area for leaving fish in pond -
mine is 17" in shallow end and 26" in deep end, although a bit larger ~
1000
US gals - my water iris sits on a shallow shelf - 6" of water and freezes
solid every year - no problem, always comes back (10 yrs) my hardy lilies
stay in the shallow end and don't freeze - I never get more than 6" - 7"
of
ice - the water hyancinths (floating type - is there any other?) I have
always disposed of - never heard you could leave them in the pond as is
mentioned farther down in this thread, but worth a try - don't know
anything
about pickerel rush
If you leave your fish outdoors, be sure to run an airstone, or heater
(I
prefer the airstone as it is much easier on hydro)
Gale :~)
"Scrapster1" wrote in message
.. .
Hi, I live in Ontario, Canada and it can get cold here in the
winter, -20.
I have a small pond around 200 gal, 24 inches deep. I have some goldfish
and
plants (hardy lily, pickeral rush, hyacinth, water iris). At what
temperature should I begin to bring the fish in. As for the plants,
which
will survive outdoors and which should I bring indoors. As for the pond
itself, how would I prepare it? Thanks.

use both heater and airstone. of the two, the aeration is more important. if
possible, construct some kind of tent over the pond with plastic and there wont be
any ice if you just run a pump out of a bucket filter that is in the pond and
disturbs the water. I also have a big airstone running. Ingrid

"bjt" wrote:

Can you talk about heater / airstone alternatives? I live in New England,
have a 4 foot deep pond and have always battled ice. I'm tempted to get one
or more of the floating heaters but would like to benefit from the group's
experience. Thanks.

Brian Tarbox


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Airstones can be used until the weather is really bad and then one can toss
in the heater. A cheaply made air stone can be had using drip system parts.
Tubing, connectors and leaky tubing are similar in size to aquarium hoses,
and even better suited to being outside. Also the leaking tubing is rubber
and won't vibrate a hole into your liner like an air stone could. Thus, if
using an airstone, keep it away from the sides or bottom of a liner pond.

Another alternative is just agitation the surface, I use a slow flow that
skims the surface and exits thru my skimmer to the filter. I reduce my
summer flow of 1500 gph to 300 gph in winter. ~ jan

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:36:32 -0500, "bjt" wrote:

Can you talk about heater / airstone alternatives? I live in New England,
have a 4 foot deep pond and have always battled ice. I'm tempted to get one
or more of the floating heaters but would like to benefit from the group's
experience. Thanks.

Brian Tarbox

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Sorry I never caught your question sooner - I am in SW Ont (35 mi from
Windsor/ Detroit) - 24" deep is ok in my area for leaving fish in pond -
mine is 17" in shallow end and 26" in deep end, although a bit larger ~
1000
US gals - my water iris sits on a shallow shelf - 6" of water and freezes
solid every year - no problem, always comes back (10 yrs) my hardy lilies
stay in the shallow end and don't freeze - I never get more than 6" - 7"
of
ice - the water hyancinths (floating type - is there any other?) I have
always disposed of - never heard you could leave them in the pond as is
mentioned farther down in this thread, but worth a try - don't know
anything
about pickerel rush
If you leave your fish outdoors, be sure to run an airstone, or heater
(I
prefer the airstone as it is much easier on hydro)
Gale :~)
"Scrapster1" wrote in message
.. .
Hi, I live in Ontario, Canada and it can get cold here in the
winter, -20.
I have a small pond around 200 gal, 24 inches deep. I have some goldfish
and
plants (hardy lily, pickeral rush, hyacinth, water iris). At what
temperature should I begin to bring the fish in. As for the plants,
which
will survive outdoors and which should I bring indoors. As for the pond
itself, how would I prepare it? Thanks.






See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

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