New Topic - What is the current status of your pond?

As you can readily see - I'm just not 100% right now :-)
Thanks for your info, Jan. Nedra

Is anyone in this newsgroup? Ever? ;o) ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Thanks for your information, Tom. I really appreciate knowing how others
solve
the leave-the-pump-running problem. I have a Tetra (something) in pond
filter with the 1200 gph pump inside it. The tubing runs up to the
pressurized filter then out to a foot long spray bar.
I think I'll try your technique ~
Nedra

"Tom L. La Bron" wrote in message
...
Nedra,

Last year and this year I have left my pump going through the winter with
my
1,500 gallons of above ground ponds. Living here in Northern Central
Oklahoma I get ice on the ponds and around the discharge of the to the
last
pond but every thing is fine for the fish. On my discharges to each pond
is
a 4 inch PVC and hanging on the elbow is a 6 inch lily pot that slows the
water flow into the pond and also helps distribute the water over the
surface of the pond rather than having the cascade dumping the water
directly to the bottom of the pond.

I started using this technique on the cascade about 5 years ago when I
place
Philly Veil pea sized fish in my ponds so they would be battered by the
2,000 gph flow into the pond. I then noticed that it seemed that the fish
kept in the pond to help eat the excess food that fry didn't eat seemed to
enjoy the the lack of flow, and were not as skidished. I ended up using
this technique on all the pond discharges. This year I did have a problem
though because my oldest Rubbermaid of 9 years started leaking and later
one
of the discharges where I used a different technique for sealing the
joints
started leaking and twice I lost water significantly in the pond.

I have left my filter in tact for this last two winters except I have
taken
the filter pads out and left only the bioballs in the fitler. Except for
my
bout with string algae last year my filter seemed to take off quicker than
it has any year before at the beginning of the spring. I will see if it
does the same this spring, hopefully without the string algae episode.

I know one thing the pond sure has stayed cleaner this last two years when
the pump was left running and even though I had string algae the water was
always crystal clear.

I have bought my replacement filter for the big particales for the Spring
already and it looks like the fine filter I have is still good. I have
decided to change the administration of my Oyster Shell Chicken Grit and
made bags of toule to put it in and will place several of these in the
baskets under t water flow of the cascade so they will always be affected
by
good water flow, because this last summer I had a problem with the water
in
the filter knocking it out of the tray it was in and it ended up clogging
the holes drilled my dischage port from the filter. It took me two
overflows of my filter this last year to discover what was making the
filter
overflow. So I came up with this idea to solve the problem that also
maintained the KH in my ponds.

HTH

Tom L.L.
---------------------------------------------------
"Nedra" wrote in message
nk.net...
No babies to worry about .... I was thinking of trying to set up a dealy
with one of the
bags from the pressurized filter to get a jump start on spring. The
filter
is covered with snow and it has been cold here -
20 degrees or less. Everything is probably dead now anyway. But then
again, I may
go ahead and set something up in the patio pond. I have two of them -
unused
this year.
I think I could buy a small Beckett pump and I have a little
spunge filter that fits on it. Also somewhere around here is 75 degree
heater that I could
drop in.... As you can readily see - I'm just not 100% right now :-)
Thanks for your info, Jan.

Nedra
"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...
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!~

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

What is the current status of your pond?

The screens have 4" of snow on them, but with my wireless thermometer I can
see that the water is liquid, I can also "hear" the water moving... but
that requires going "outside".... like brrrrr!

I haven't even gone up and looked at the lily pond, maybe I'll do that
today. I'm hoping the fact I floated milk jugs on it that they are holding
the shade cloth off the surface of the water. ~ 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
I walk on my pond. There is about 6 inches of ice covering most of the
pond. We are expecting 50+ degree weather this week, so there should be
a lot of thawing! YEA!!!!!!

Benign Vanilla wrote:

"~ jan JJsPond.us" wrote in message
...

What is the current status of your pond?

The screens have 4" of snow on them, but with my wireless thermometer I

can

see that the water is liquid, I can also "hear" the water moving... but
that requires going "outside".... like brrrrr!

I haven't even gone up and looked at the lily pond, maybe I'll do that
today. I'm hoping the fact I floated milk jugs on it that they are holding
the shade cloth off the surface of the water. ~ jan

snip

Pond? What pond? Oh Sh!t...I forgot about the pond...


ROTFLOL!!!!!

southernbc wrote:

Hello all,

My pond is now freezing over inside my hoop house but the bubbler and
winter filter system are working Great. The ice in frozen areas looks
about 3" thick. It is currently -20 celsius this morning outside You
can see pictures at my website (nothing for sale)
http://www.boundary-ca.net/pond/index.html

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

What is the current status of your pond?

The screens have 4" of snow on them, but with my wireless thermometer
I can
see that the water is liquid, I can also "hear" the water moving... but
that requires going "outside".... like brrrrr!

I haven't even gone up and looked at the lily pond, maybe I'll do that
today. I'm hoping the fact I floated milk jugs on it that they are
holding
the shade cloth off the surface of the water. ~ 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


Do you still have your pump/fileter running?

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 09:51:15 -0700, news groups wrote:

southernbc wrote:

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:
The screens have 4" of snow on them, but with my wireless thermometer
I can see that the water is liquid, I can also "hear" the water moving... but
that requires going "outside".... like brrrrr!

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

Do you still have your pump/fileter running?

Not sure if this was directed at me or not.... but, if so, yes, I do. I
have slow flow (1500 gph down to 300 gph in winter) going thru the
pre-filter and one bio-chamber. Is the filter working? Not in the
bio-logical sense, but on the theory that the bacteria are dormant and are
waiting for spring. As are we all. ;o) ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

I still have a very small (40 gph) pump running in a 3 gallon rubbermaid
tub surface mounted with a slit open side and the pump shooting straight
down out the bottom with quilt batting over it. About 2 inches from the
surface I have a 250 watt outdoor spotlight aimed right at the water. In
additon to that I have two bubblers in the shallow area of the pond (18"
deep) The filter seems to be working quite well even in the cold with
the lamp, I see various living, active, insect larvae on a regular basis
and the water is very clear.
There are pictures taken in January on my website if you want to see
them. http://www.boundary-ca.net/pond/index.html


Have a Great Day!
Don - southernbc

news groups wrote:
southernbc wrote:

Hello all,

My pond is now freezing over inside my hoop house but the bubbler and
winter filter system are working Great. The ice in frozen areas looks
about 3" thick. It is currently -20 celsius this morning outside You
can see pictures at my website (nothing for sale)
http://www.boundary-ca.net/pond/index.html

~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

What is the current status of your pond?

The screens have 4" of snow on them, but with my wireless thermometer
I can
see that the water is liquid, I can also "hear" the water moving... but
that requires going "outside".... like brrrrr!

I haven't even gone up and looked at the lily pond, maybe I'll do that
today. I'm hoping the fact I floated milk jugs on it that they are
holding
the shade cloth off the surface of the water. ~ 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



Do you still have your pump/fileter running?

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

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!~

~ 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