first freeze on the ponds

[Gail Futoran]

Those of you in northern climes have no
doubt already experienced this. We had our
first hard freeze last night. Ice on the two
above-ground ponds (stock tanks) was fairly
thick but I was able to carefully pull off most
of it and will cover the ponds tonight to
minimize freezing. Temps will warm up
tomorrow again. This is the usual pattern for
Southcentral Texas.

I had unplugged the filter yesterday, which
is probably a Good Thing. :)

The in-ground pond, again as usual, remained
iceless.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

[~ jan jjspond]

>Those of you in northern climes have no
>doubt already experienced this. We had our
>first hard freeze last night. Ice on the two
>above-ground ponds (stock tanks) was fairly
>thick but I was able to carefully pull off most
>of it and will cover the ponds tonight to
>minimize freezing. Temps will warm up
>tomorrow again. This is the usual pattern for
>Southcentral Texas. >Gail
>near San Antonio TX Zone 8

We've been under freezing for several days now, teens at night, 20's during
the day, unusual for us this early in the winter season. I've had to run
the stock tank heater part of every day. Last night I left it plugged in,
and even though today isn't suppose to go over 30* I've unplugged it to
give it, and my power bill, a rest. The water is in slow motion, so it
won't freeze completely anytime soon. I use the heater to keep the skimmer
fairly ice free. Looks like I'll be plugging it in again around dinner time
for the night.

Lost a moor in the one of the indoor tanks, not sure why. Looked healthy
except for the part that was sucked up against the filter intake. <s> ~ jan

----------------
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

[Gail Futoran]

"~ jan jjspond" > wrote in message
...
> We've been under freezing for several days now, teens at night, 20's
> during
> the day, unusual for us this early in the winter season. I've had to run
> the stock tank heater part of every day. Last night I left it plugged in,
> and even though today isn't suppose to go over 30* I've unplugged it to
> give it, and my power bill, a rest. The water is in slow motion, so it
> won't freeze completely anytime soon. I use the heater to keep the skimmer
> fairly ice free. Looks like I'll be plugging it in again around dinner
> time
> for the night.
>
> Lost a moor in the one of the indoor tanks, not sure why. Looked healthy
> except for the part that was sucked up against the filter intake. <s> ~
> jan
>
> ----------------
> 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

We seldom get many nights (or days) below
freezing, so I haven't invested in stocktank
heaters. I'm always available to physically
remove the ice. I also float half a styrofoam
crate on top of the goldfish stocktank and I
think that serves to keep one patch of water open.

I plugged my filter back in today. I was
late adding the PondZyme+ for end of
season so will probably add more today.

I leave the plants alone, and they seem to
do ok.

Gail
near San Antonio TX Zone 8

[Roy]

I had two lily blooms last week........probably the last of this year
though...this is the latest blooms we have ever had.


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