Winterizing - Again

I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.

On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.


Why bother with the styrofoam and plywood? If your pump sends
bubbles to the surface so that an opening is in the ice all winter you
will be fine.

I run a line from my compressor in the garage to a PVC tee-shaped
contraption that spans the pond with a leg dangling into the water. A
cap at the end with small holes drilled into it makes a nice bubbler.

I am also in zone 5b in NH.

JMHO

John

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight. As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...
Anyone else?

Bill Stock wrote:

I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.

John Bachman wrote:
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:


I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.

You seem to be trying to warm the fish a bit, which isn't needed. Their
problem in freezing weather is dying from excessive gas which can't be
released through ice. If there is a hole in the ice, they will be fine
semi-hibernating away from the heat you provide. The hole can be
maintained with a small round rather flat heater, made for that purpose,
which only turns on below 32 degrees or by leaving the waterfall on. It
doesn't heat the water beyond a small circumference. That's just fine.
I assume you have goldfish, koi, or other coldwater, not tropical, fish.

Ruth Kazez

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 05:37:50 -0600, W Dale
wrote:

===I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight. As
===long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...
===Anyone else?
===
===Bill Stock wrote:
===
===I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
===are maxing out my tanks.
===
===So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
===of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
===tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
===of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.
===
===Opinions please.
===
===BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.
===
===
===
===
===

It does not take long to do in submerged plants fromlack of sunlight.
I lost a few nice containerized plants during Ivan when I made a tent
to cover over the wifes 1/2 barrel. Since time was a major
consideration, the barrel half was covered a day before Ivan hit, but
the pump / filter remained inoperation until the ower went out, and it
may have been covered yet 10 or so more hours after Ivan left until we
got around to uncovering it, but in the meantime we used generator
power so it had filtration during this time....and my plants still got
awfully yellow pretty darn fast.......The cat tails, arrowheads and
ribbon grass all kicked the bucket in that short time frame.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

W Dale wrote:

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight. As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...

They get perilously little sunlight in an ice- and snow-covered Ontario
pond, whether it's covered or not, so I'd say no.

Generally, tropical plants need sunlight year-round. Some will pull through
as house plants, some can't even get enough light that way in most houses.
Temperate plants usually expect a dormant period, and whether they get
little or no light makes no difference to them once they've shed their
leaves. Lilies put out tiny little indicator leaves that trigger growth
when the amount of sunlight picks up.
--
derek

I am zone 5 sorta b too. for me the problem is the length of time my fish are
"down".. that is, the water temp drops below 50oF and their immunity is down and they
dont eat. with just the air stone and a pump running the temp was below 50 for 6
months of the year, from Oct 15th or so to April 15th or so. Too long, too harsh.
after the pond froze over the second year when the electricity went out I decided to
put a lean to over the pond.
last year I also put in a 500 watt aquarium heater and the temp stayed above 50o for
all but one month.
http://www.mu.edu/~buxtoni/mypond/winters/winter.htm
the fish looked a lot better this spring. I was very careful feeding them, only a
little bit, and not every day and checking ammonia all the time.
I sure would like a web cam in there to watch my fish, I just dont know where to
start. Ingrid

"Bill Stock" wrote:
I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.





~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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http://puregold.aquaria.net/
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endorsements or recommendations I make.

Derek Broughton wrote:

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight. As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...

They get perilously little sunlight in an ice- and snow-covered Ontario
pond, whether it's covered or not, so I'd say no.

But an ice covered pond is cold. This pond is going to be covered and
insulated and heated. If you have heat, you need light. Heat promotes
activity. Living things need a balance. Any heat should only be
applied when the water temp is threatening to freeze over the top of the
pond. Otherwise it should be off.

An air pump would do this job much easier than a heater and a water pump.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

S. M. Henning wrote:

Derek Broughton wrote:

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight. As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...

They get perilously little sunlight in an ice- and snow-covered Ontario
pond, whether it's covered or not, so I'd say no.

But an ice covered pond is cold. This pond is going to be covered and
insulated and heated. If you have heat, you need light. Heat promotes
activity.

You're right - I didn't read closely enough.

An air pump would do this job much easier than a heater and a water pump.

You're even more right :-) It's easier _and cheaper_. Heaters are
expensive to operate. Most of us would never even notice the cost of the
electricity needed to run a bubbler.
--
derek

Another sign of winter coming - the iris seed pods
on the island opened and dropped their red seeds into the pond. I've had a few
volunteer iris grow this way on the sod sides of the pond.
And the lizard's tail leaves are changing color.

Off we went to niece number three wedding
in Idaho past weekend (three down and one to go, next summer, for their mom and
dad).
Then drove north to visit grandma, lots of fall color out.
Saw an old wood stove standing alone in a field with its oven door open and a
sign that read:
OPEN RANGE





kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html