Fish ponds in winter -- what needs to be done
tpolony
10 years ago
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lmjk1221
10 years agotpolony
10 years agoRelated Discussions
??'s - Retro bottom drain, pond liner, & moving fish to new pond
Comments (3)I also remember you mammabird. I usually don't use the forum much in the winter but come back on in the spring just to catch up on what's new etc. I have a retrofit bd as well mine is some modifications on the Tetra through the liner drain (which froze) but I used the cap from it for my drain. I am replacing that this year with the Aqua Art Drain as it sits flatter than mine. Not sure if I understand your "hump" but you usually put the bd in the deepest part of the pond. Avid koi-keepers like to do TPR's--but that also means cutting a hole in the liner. With your pond dimensions you might want two bottom drains one for each deep section. That would mean two bulk heads (I did pipe boot connections) through the liner on the side of the pond wall nearest your settling chamber. My drain has a 4" line reduced to 3" just before it enters the sc followed by a 3" knife valve (there much cheaper!). I take my drain out for winter because of my climate. Water inside pipes in my climate not a good idea. My settling chamber is a liner chamber (kinda like a pond beside the pond)350 gals-my pond is 2500 gals. They say sc should hold at least 10% of your pond volume. I really like this system as use sc for water changes. I have 3-4 ft square matala mats in my chamber which is also my mechanical filitration. Good luck with your new pond and move. Patti...See MoreNatural ponds with fish vrs man made pond with fish freezing over
Comments (6)It's all about oxygen levels and fish loads. Fish do sometimes die in some pretty large lakes, and often will survive just fine in small backyard ponds that are covered in ice all winter. As long as they have enough oxygen to breath they can often survive without a hole in the ice. Lots of people make the mistake of thinking these holes we try to keep in our ponds are just about letting "toxic gasses out", and that's really a misnomer. It' all about gas exchange, bad gasses (CO2, H2S, etc...) out, and oxygen (O2) in. If you have a small pond and a very light fish load, maybe one or two fish, then you, or rather, the fish might get away without a hole in the ice, because they might have enough dissolved oxygen in the water that they'll be able to survive any freezing period. The more you increase your fish load, the less chance they have of surviving as the oxygen demands will go up and there just wont be enough oxygen to go around. Here is a link that explains winter fish kill better than I can....See MoreQuestions about a new fish pond and the winter part of it
Comments (5)Congratulations on your new pond. I looked up your average temperatures during the winter and it is below freezing many of those days. It looks like you will need to bring your fish inside in the fall. 10" is very shallow and will freeze solid and crack if you don't empty it. This would also kill all your fish and plants. 19 fish in 240 gallons will be a high fish load on your pond once they grow some. This website will give you some info on that. http://www.naturalsolutionsetc.com/garden-pond-calculations.htm...See MoreNeed Advice for Wintering Fish
Comments (11)imjk, Thanks for the comments. Your suggestions about leaving the fish in to see what happens and that it can't be any more cruel than serving them up as food make sense. Re: "I might be concerned that the concrete would crack ... ." Actually, the people who installed the pond (the top of which, by the way, is level with the ground) recommended leaving water in so that as it freezes, the pressure is equalized between the frozen water and the surrounding frozen ground. We've had the pond many years, and that method has worked well. I was going to wait until spring to update this thread, but I'll mention now that a friend who lives nearby has had good luck using a small, floating electric heater and covering her pond with a tarp to hold in the heat. That has worked for her in the past, and she offered to winter my fish (about two dozen small ones) for me. So that's where they are. Her pond is about the same size as mine; maybe a bit deeper, but not much. So, I'll report back in the spring about the results of this little experiment. One of my fish was so clever and fast (the wily wascal) that I couldn't catch him. So he (or she) is still in the pond. We'll see in the spring if he has survived. Bill...See Moresleeplessinftwayne
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