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#1
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Hovering around 50 degrees. I turn the fountain/filter
on when it gets above 60 degrees, but in a few days turn it off again. That's the goldfish pond. The other two (minnow only) ponds are on their own and do fine. Gail Gail, if I was in your situation I'd have my filter on all the time, you'll have no troubles at all with spring start up if you do that. "Supposedly" our bacteria doesn't die in cold temps, some theorize, but creates a film over itself and waits till conditions are more desirable. Even though my water is down to almost freezing I still keep one bio-chamber going with slow flow all winter. It really made a difference last spring. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#2
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In article ,
~ jan JJsPond.us writes: Gail, if I was in your situation I'd have my filter on all the time, *wave to Jan* My pond's in Fort Worth, about five hours north of Gail's. Had a nice thorough freeze around Christmas (towards the bottom, http://artships.com/pond.php). Pump is still... Pumping, skippy is still keeping the water clear. Fish still swim, albeit with a bit more deliberation at times. Landscaping's a mess since everything that had been green isn't, and The Crew has torn-up the grass playing "Chase". Hey, Gail - Still got all those birds on your back porch? John -- An entire village where nobody's prepared to admit to being root, and everyone has to be addressed by number because both forward and reverse DNS is broken. -- The Prisoner, described by Tanuki |
#3
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"Artships" wrote in message
... In article , ~ jan JJsPond.us writes: Gail, if I was in your situation I'd have my filter on all the time, *wave to Jan* Whoa, how did I miss Jan's post? In reply, I suppose I was concerned that with above-ground ponds, as the water temp cools, the fish head as far south as they can which isn't very far but better than nothing. Keeping the filter on doesn't do anything for the biobugs (which are nonexistent at lower temps, right?), it "mixes" the water hence making the lower levels cooler, and also I have to worry about the surface freezing over doing weird things to my little fountain. Anyhoo, the fish seem to be doing ok with the filter on except when I expect temps to approach freezing overnight. I could be wrong... My pond's in Fort Worth, about five hours north of Gail's. Or three hours south, since once you leave Ft Worth during winter you just hit the brakes and slide. Had a nice thorough freeze around Christmas (towards the bottom, http://artships.com/pond.php). Pump is still... Pumping, skippy is still keeping the water clear. Fish still swim, albeit with a bit more deliberation at times. Landscaping's a mess since everything that had been green isn't, and The Crew has torn-up the grass playing "Chase". Hey, Gail - Still got all those birds on your back porch? The Barn Swallows leave me regularly late summer. But they'll be back! Except there's a lot less nesting room since we built a room on the patio for two kittens. (Long story, FeLV+, etc.) So now I'm planning on building shelters just off the patio, under the overhangs. I experimented with one last year, and a couple did build a nest, although it fell down (overhang not deep/long enough maybe). Thanks for asking! John Gail |
#4
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On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:00:04 GMT, "Gail Futoran"
wrote: Keeping the filter on doesn't do anything for the biobugs (which are nonexistent at lower temps, right?), That's what koi people use to think, so they cleaned their filters and put them in storage mode and effectively killed any bacteria, or they stopped the filters and effectively drowned/killed the bacteria. If you keep a slow flow going the bacteria "supposedly" will go into a dormant state and wait for better conditions. Granted some will die, but much will live. Spring start-up is a breeze in comparison to start-up from scratch each spring. it "mixes" the water hence making the lower levels cooler, and also I have to worry about the surface freezing over doing weird things to my little fountain. I've got a stock tank running with a becket box filter and bell fountain agitating the surface. I turn the stock tank heater on periodically to keep the ice away from the fountain. This year this tank has a bunch of koi fry in it, an I'm currently not worried. We've hit a low of 15*F so far this year and suppose to be colder tonight. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#5
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Jan - would you please define further the terms "stock tank", "becket box
filter and bell fountain egitating the surface" ---- also "I turn the stock tank heater on periodically". What size pump are you using? I know instinctively what these things are but not enough to replicate your set-up. Sounds neat not to have to start over from scratch each spring. Thanks much. Nedra Lotus Garden: http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118 Backyard Pond: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836 "~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message ... On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:00:04 GMT, "Gail Futoran" wrote: Keeping the filter on doesn't do anything for the biobugs (which are nonexistent at lower temps, right?), That's what koi people use to think, so they cleaned their filters and put them in storage mode and effectively killed any bacteria, or they stopped the filters and effectively drowned/killed the bacteria. If you keep a slow flow going the bacteria "supposedly" will go into a dormant state and wait for better conditions. Granted some will die, but much will live. Spring start-up is a breeze in comparison to start-up from scratch each spring. it "mixes" the water hence making the lower levels cooler, and also I have to worry about the surface freezing over doing weird things to my little fountain. I've got a stock tank running with a becket box filter and bell fountain agitating the surface. I turn the stock tank heater on periodically to keep the ice away from the fountain. This year this tank has a bunch of koi fry in it, an I'm currently not worried. We've hit a low of 15*F so far this year and suppose to be colder tonight. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#6
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Jan - would you please define further the terms "stock tank"
Stock tank, n. Rubber or metal tank for holding water for stock (cows, horses, etc.). ;o) Mine is the Rubbermaid 70 gallon, sitting above ground on my patio. "becket box filter and bell fountain egitating the surface" http://www.aqua-mart.com/search.pl (and if that doesn't get you there, copy & paste BBF350A20 into their search box). The pump is a 350 gph, but you can go larger. I'm using a regular stock tank heater, the red ones, 1000 watt. That's why I don't just leave it on.... they're too flakey. Are you thinking of growing out some babies? ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#7
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Jan - would you please define further the terms "stock tank", "becket box
filter and bell fountain egitating the surface" ---- also "I turn the stock tank heater on periodically". What size pump are you using? I know instinctively what these things are but not enough to replicate your set-up. Sounds neat not to have to start over from scratch each spring. Thanks much. Nedra Lotus Garden: http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118 Backyard Pond: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836 "~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message ... On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:00:04 GMT, "Gail Futoran" wrote: Keeping the filter on doesn't do anything for the biobugs (which are nonexistent at lower temps, right?), That's what koi people use to think, so they cleaned their filters and put them in storage mode and effectively killed any bacteria, or they stopped the filters and effectively drowned/killed the bacteria. If you keep a slow flow going the bacteria "supposedly" will go into a dormant state and wait for better conditions. Granted some will die, but much will live. Spring start-up is a breeze in comparison to start-up from scratch each spring. it "mixes" the water hence making the lower levels cooler, and also I have to worry about the surface freezing over doing weird things to my little fountain. I've got a stock tank running with a becket box filter and bell fountain agitating the surface. I turn the stock tank heater on periodically to keep the ice away from the fountain. This year this tank has a bunch of koi fry in it, an I'm currently not worried. We've hit a low of 15*F so far this year and suppose to be colder tonight. ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#8
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Even the little "stream" and "waterfall" are iced over but, if I stand
real close, I can hear the water flowing inside the ice “tube”... Several inches of ice over the main pond, no easily to locate hole (just inside the ice "pipe" the waterfall drops through) so I haven't seen the fish of late. It's about -27 Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit) tonight in New Brunswick. With the breeze, the Chill Factor is about -45 C. (-53 F.), so I don't think I'll bust a hole through. The fish hardly came up to feed before the cold snap and it's been pretty well a week of this stuff... Lots of bird track (pheasants, I think), and small animal tracks all around. Also been visited by this feral cat that is doing it's best to drive me nuts.... The pond is 7 feet deep, so I don't anticipate any grave problems unless maybe if the pump gives up the ghost... The fish are brook trout, so should be able to take the cold (at least I hope so). This is our first winter with the pond up and stocked, so only time will tell.... The floating plants are long gone, but the arrowhead and iris should be OK and the water lilies are fairly deep... Funny, the little solar powered accent lights we left out there where on just after dark. I didn't think the batteries would pick up enough juice in this cold... Wonderful little experiment at the very least... We'll see what makes it to the spring after it all thaws... :O) Clurrie Artships wrote: In article , ~ jan JJsPond.us writes: Gail, if I was in your situation I'd have my filter on all the time, *wave to Jan* My pond's in Fort Worth, about five hours north of Gail's. Had a nice thorough freeze around Christmas (towards the bottom, http://artships.com/pond.php). Pump is still... Pumping, skippy is still keeping the water clear. Fish still swim, albeit with a bit more deliberation at times. Landscaping's a mess since everything that had been green isn't, and The Crew has torn-up the grass playing "Chase". Hey, Gail - Still got all those birds on your back porch? John |
#9
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Even the little "stream" and "waterfall" are iced over but, if I stand
real close, I can hear the water flowing inside the ice “tube”... Several inches of ice over the main pond, no easily to locate hole (just inside the ice "pipe" the waterfall drops through) so I haven't seen the fish of late. It's about -27 Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit) tonight in New Brunswick. With the breeze, the Chill Factor is about -45 C. (-53 F.), Clurrie Brrrr! Super Brrrr! We're seeing signs of spring here in S.Central Washington (State). Black birds trilling out by the birdfeeders and an e-mail report that kathy was cleaning out the cupboards, and had put her snowmen away. I'm not quite convince to do that! ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#10
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~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:
Brrrr! Super Brrrr! We're seeing signs of spring here in S.Central Washington (State). Black birds trilling out by the birdfeeders and an Stop it! Stop it! I've got my fingers in my ears, and I'm not listening! La, la, la, la, la... -- derek |
#11
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On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 11:25:05 -0400, Derek Broughton
wrote: Stop it! Stop it! I've got my fingers in my ears, and I'm not listening! La, la, la, la, la... Slapping hand to mouth, (or slapping hands away from keyboard), "Sorry" ~ jan ;o) ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#12
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Even the little "stream" and "waterfall" are iced over but, if I stand
real close, I can hear the water flowing inside the ice “tube”... Several inches of ice over the main pond, no easily to locate hole (just inside the ice "pipe" the waterfall drops through) so I haven't seen the fish of late. It's about -27 Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit) tonight in New Brunswick. With the breeze, the Chill Factor is about -45 C. (-53 F.), Clurrie Brrrr! Super Brrrr! We're seeing signs of spring here in S.Central Washington (State). Black birds trilling out by the birdfeeders and an e-mail report that kathy was cleaning out the cupboards, and had put her snowmen away. I'm not quite convince to do that! ~ jan ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~ |
#13
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In article ,
~ jan JJsPond.us writes: Gail, if I was in your situation I'd have my filter on all the time, *wave to Jan* My pond's in Fort Worth, about five hours north of Gail's. Had a nice thorough freeze around Christmas (towards the bottom, http://artships.com/pond.php). Pump is still... Pumping, skippy is still keeping the water clear. Fish still swim, albeit with a bit more deliberation at times. Landscaping's a mess since everything that had been green isn't, and The Crew has torn-up the grass playing "Chase". Hey, Gail - Still got all those birds on your back porch? John -- An entire village where nobody's prepared to admit to being root, and everyone has to be addressed by number because both forward and reverse DNS is broken. -- The Prisoner, described by Tanuki |
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