Winterizing

[clevfunguy]

I live in Northeast Ohio and just purchased a houe this summer with a
small pond. It's about 120 gallons, and was a mess when I first saw it.
It had nothing done to if for 2 years and was full of sludge and no
real "life". I nursed it back to health and it is stocked with a couple
of goldfish, two small Koi, lots of water lettuce, small floating
plants, some "grass", and I plant that I think is a Canna.

My aquatic experince is limited to mostly sal****er / reef tanks, and
no experience in ponds, especailly in winter in Ohio!

I'm preparing the pond for winter. The filters have been cleaned
(external basic wet to dry setup). I plan taking the UV sterilizer off
for the season. The leaves / acorns all almost gone and the pond is
netted. I purchased a floating heater to maintian an area for CO2 / O2
exchange and plan on running the filter during the winter (output will
be channeld back into the pond via tubing).

Questions:
Is it OK to run the filter during the freeze?
Should I "cut back" the plants (right now they are very high and the
netting is just covering them)?
Should I revome the floating plants, or will they survive and regrow in
the spring?

Anything else i should be thinking about?

I plan on doing a major upscaling of the pond in the sping, but I
really don't want to lose anything that I have int here now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Köi-Lö]

"clevfunguy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I live in Northeast Ohio and just purchased a houe this summer with a
> small pond. It's about 120 gallons, and was a mess when I first saw it.
> It had nothing done to if for 2 years and was full of sludge and no
> real "life". I nursed it back to health and it is stocked with a couple
> of goldfish, two small Koi, lots of water lettuce, small floating
> plants, some "grass", and I plant that I think is a Canna.

I hope you are aware that koi grow up to 3' long (that's THREE FEET LONG)
and need quite a large pond to live in. Each koi will require 300 to 400
gallons of good filtered water by the time it's a few years old, maybe
sooner. You may want to return them or trade them for goldfish which only
get one foot long. Healthy fish grow quickly.

> My aquatic experince is limited to mostly sal****er / reef tanks, and
> no experience in ponds, especailly in winter in Ohio!
>
> I'm preparing the pond for winter. The filters have been cleaned
> (external basic wet to dry setup). I plan taking the UV sterilizer off
> for the season. The leaves / acorns all almost gone and the pond is
> netted. I purchased a floating heater to maintian an area for CO2 / O2
> exchange and plan on running the filter during the winter (output will
> be channeld back into the pond via tubing).

I hope it's running very slowly so as not to disrupt the stratification of
the water. There are slews of websites giving some good advice on
ovewintering ponds.

> Questions:
> Is it OK to run the filter during the freeze?

I would shut the filters off when the water reaches 50F. All I leave
running are airstones or small water pumps near the surface. When the fish
stop eating and the bacteria are dormant from the cold - why run the filter?

> Should I "cut back" the plants (right now they are very high and the
> netting is just covering them)?
> Should I revome the floating plants, or will they survive and regrow in
> the spring?

Both water hyacinth and water lettuce will not survive the winter. Remove
and compost them. Trim tops off after the first good frost.

> Anything else i should be thinking about?
>
> I plan on doing a major upscaling of the pond in the sping, but I
> really don't want to lose anything that I have int here now.

Your pond is much too small for koi. :-(

> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks
--

KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }<((((*> ~~~ }<{{{{(ö> ~~~~ }<((((({*>




>

[~ janj]

On 10 Oct 2006 18:12:44 -0700, "clevfunguy" > wrote:

>Questions:
>Is it OK to run the filter during the freeze?

Since you're also running a stock heater, running filter okay... and a very
good idea as it will help filter start-up in spring happen faster. The only
concern is if the fish have no quiet area to rest if flow is too fast
causing a current they have to swim against all winter.

>Should I "cut back" the plants (right now they are very high and the
>netting is just covering them)?

Cut them above the highest water line after frost knocks them down. If
canna is not hardy it should be brought into a dark cool spot inside after
frost.

>Should I revome the floating plants, or will they survive and regrow in
>the spring?

Remove, they'll die and rot in the pond. ~ jan

--------------
See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

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

[[email protected]]

Well I just have an upside down floating bucket with a 40watt light
bulb to keep a hole open for ice. I tried to run a pump with an
external filter. It didn't last long after the water started to
freeze. Good luck.

Keith

clevfunguy wrote:
> I live in Northeast Ohio and just purchased a houe this summer with a
> small pond. It's about 120 gallons, and was a mess when I first saw it.
> It had nothing done to if for 2 years and was full of sludge and no
> real "life". I nursed it back to health and it is stocked with a couple
> of goldfish, two small Koi, lots of water lettuce, small floating
> plants, some "grass", and I plant that I think is a Canna.
>
> My aquatic experince is limited to mostly sal****er / reef tanks, and
> no experience in ponds, especailly in winter in Ohio!
>
> I'm preparing the pond for winter. The filters have been cleaned
> (external basic wet to dry setup). I plan taking the UV sterilizer off
> for the season. The leaves / acorns all almost gone and the pond is
> netted. I purchased a floating heater to maintian an area for CO2 / O2
> exchange and plan on running the filter during the winter (output will
> be channeld back into the pond via tubing).
>
> Questions:
> Is it OK to run the filter during the freeze?
> Should I "cut back" the plants (right now they are very high and the
> netting is just covering them)?
> Should I revome the floating plants, or will they survive and regrow in
> the spring?
>
> Anything else i should be thinking about?
>
> I plan on doing a major upscaling of the pond in the sping, but I
> really don't want to lose anything that I have int here now.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks