Getting ready for my fisrt winter with a pond

On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 23:49:05 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

===Those three things are the only things good about the shore. Generally too
===many people, too many junk shops, too much traffic are the things wrong with
===the shore.


That alone is why we always wait until after labor day to hit the
gulf. All the vacationers are at home, souviener shops boarded up and
the beaches are virtually empty......Weather is usually a lot more
comfortable as well, and there is just something about the Gulf of
Mexico in the fall and winter time thats drastically different than
summer......fishing is also great during fall and early winter. Motel
rooms get cut in half or better as well.

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
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I'll second that Roy. Sanibel in February/March is perfect. Wonder what
this year
will find in terms of shelling? We're hoping the sand can be scooped up and
out.

Nedra

"Roy" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 03 Sep 2004 23:49:05 GMT, "RichToyBox"
wrote:

===Those three things are the only things good about the shore.
Generally too
===many people, too many junk shops, too much traffic are the things
wrong with
===the shore.


That alone is why we always wait until after labor day to hit the
gulf. All the vacationers are at home, souviener shops boarded up and
the beaches are virtually empty......Weather is usually a lot more
comfortable as well, and there is just something about the Gulf of
Mexico in the fall and winter time thats drastically different than
summer......fishing is also great during fall and early winter. Motel
rooms get cut in half or better as well.

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

ok, so now that we all have had fun with my request for info about SNOW, do
I need to do anything to overwinter (such as zone 9 has) or just feed the
fish less?

--
Totus Tuus
Claudia (take out no spam to reply)

On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 04:19:18 GMT, "Claudia"
wrote:

===ok, so now that we all have had fun with my request for info about SNOW, do
===I need to do anything to overwinter (such as zone 9 has) or just feed the
===fish less?

I suppose from what I have read and have been told us fortunate enough
to live in zone 9 are pretty well out of range of most cold weather
related problems. I tetter on the border of zones 8 and 9, but overall
my weather is closer to zone 9 than the 8, as freezing or snow is
rare, and on those days it gets cold its only until about 9 am until
the sun gets up a bit then its back to shorts and T shirts ;-)


I would feed according to the water temps, and if your pond hits the
minimum temp for feeding , then I would stop. I feed my catfish year
round, as my pond has never gotten frozen or cold enough for them to
go into their state of slowed activity......Wheat germ based foods are
supposedly good for cooler weather, and I have seen foods that state
they are an all season food and can be fed in cold weather. I would
susupect that really depends on if your fish are active or not. I
guess not feeding would be th safest, but I will continue to feed as
long as they are active with a food made for all seasons as well as
wheat germ pellets.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
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In zone 9 you may have such a short winter that the pond never cools to
below 50 degrees. If that is the case, feed all year. If the fish aren't
hungray, don't feed. They tend to be smarter than we are. If your
temperatures drop to below 50, it should be for a very short time, probably
the end of January, first of February. In my area, Zone 7, the ponds stay
warm enough to feed until about Christmas, and are back up and ready by late
April.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/index.html

"Claudia" wrote in message
news:azR_c.7639$fF2.1280@trnddc03...
ok, so now that we all have had fun with my request for info about SNOW,
do
I need to do anything to overwinter (such as zone 9 has) or just feed the
fish less?

--
Totus Tuus
Claudia (take out no spam to reply)

Then there is always the school of thought, that in winter a little fasting
is good for koi, especially female koi that didn't spawn so they reabsorb
their eggs. I know the goldfish I bring in this year I plan to put on a
fasting month, as I had problems when spring came, they got too big, didn't
have the males or the room to spawn in a 20 gallon aquarium. Lost 2 before
I could get them outside. ~ jan


On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 23:54:52 GMT, "RichToyBox" wrote:

In zone 9 you may have such a short winter that the pond never cools to
below 50 degrees. If that is the case, feed all year. If the fish aren't
hungray, don't feed. They tend to be smarter than we are. If your
temperatures drop to below 50, it should be for a very short time, probably
the end of January, first of February. In my area, Zone 7, the ponds stay
warm enough to feed until about Christmas, and are back up and ready by late
April.

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

I would say, feed less as the temp drops and be sure to check for ammonia as the
biobugs may not be as efficient. if there is a veggie filter, there may be no
problem. Ingrid

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:
Then there is always the school of thought, that in winter a little fasting
is good for koi, especially female koi that didn't spawn so they reabsorb
their eggs. I know the goldfish I bring in this year I plan to put on a
fasting month, as I had problems when spring came, they got too big, didn't
have the males or the room to spawn in a 20 gallon aquarium. Lost 2 before
I could get them outside. ~ jan


On Mon, 06 Sep 2004 23:54:52 GMT, "RichToyBox" wrote:
In zone 9 you may have such a short winter that the pond never cools to
below 50 degrees. If that is the case, feed all year. If the fish aren't
hungray, don't feed. They tend to be smarter than we are. If your
temperatures drop to below 50, it should be for a very short time, probably
the end of January, first of February. In my area, Zone 7, the ponds stay
warm enough to feed until about Christmas, and are back up and ready by late
April.


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

1. To run the waterfall or to not run the waterfall...
Pros: ensures a hole is available for stuff to get out if pond freezes...
actually, waterflow should reduce chances of pond freezing
Looks pretty
Water tempature should be higher than if not run (true?)
Cons: Still paying electrical cost
Waterfall may freeze at parts, causing water to go outside of pond
--Is this really true? As a decent flow rate how does it freeze?

2. When to stop feeding...
-- Reports range from 55 to 45 degrees
--- at what depth do we concern ourselves with..(1' temp != 3' temp)



My first winter was last winter. I shut off my waterfall because I
did not want the splash to freeze taking water from out of my pond
leaving an ice sculpture mess. Also what happens if you loose power
for a half day and your lines freeze up? You can't just turn the
power back on in your pump. Sounds more like a mess.

Next I bought a livestock stock tank heater:

http://www.mytscstore.com/detail.asp...oductID=25 73

and put it in the pond when it started to freeze. At times I had two
to three feet of snow over the pond and could not even see where the
heater was. It worked. These are not only sold for livestock - I
have seen them in Petsmart and other petstores for use in ponds. PS:
they suck as much power as your pump too.

About feeding. I did not feed my goldfish at all my first year
because I did not see the small things in my large pond. Still, they
made it fine through the winter. This year I have been feeding them
and will stop with the first freeze. They will be fine for the
winter.

I must be doing something right because they are alot bigger and I now
have baby goldfish swimming around.

Rick

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Hi Nasa,

Water forms layers when it is cold. The bottom of the pond can be several
degrees warmer than the top. Someone here once measured the temps with a
thermometer.

I plan to do this very experiment this winter. I am currently evaluating
three solutions.

1. A piece of PVC with aquarium syle stick on thermometers placed at regular
intervals. I would place this in the pond and then retrieve and take
readings as neccessary.

2. Buy a single water proof probe. Attach it to a stick, and take
measurements by placing it into the pond at different depths.

3. A better idea that RichToybox will suggest.

BV.

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
Roy wrote ut have a hard time thinking you would have a
thermocline in a pond of only 2 feet or 3 feet of depth, unless it may
be an inground type pond. I have to think an above ground pond would
be pretty darn close to the same temp most of the way down to the
bottom.

Don't know what the OP's pond is, above or below, mine is below ground.
But at
sometime someone tested the temp in their pond and there was a couple
degrees
difference. I'm too fond of my fireplace, my books and my warm labradors
to
experiment with this. Anyone out there want to experiment this winter??

Already in the plan.

BV.