Koi/Goldfish pond winterization

   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization #11  
In WV, I used to use an aquarium air pump & air stone to keep a small spot free on our small goldfish pond. It did pretty well.

Nick
 
   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization #12  
Hence my questioning.

The waterfall is on one end of the pond lengthwise if you look at the pictures. And the pump right next to it sucking water from 2' deep.

You thing that is really messing with the thermal layers below the shelf the pump is sitting on? Down at 5.5' deep? And 50-60' across the pond?

The issue is the 3600GPH or 60GPM pump. That’s a lot of water to churn- it’s my opinion that that much water will disturb the thermal layering. Add some food grade dye or have a few thermometers in the water to verify this. But that’s my concern.
When I️ used to build these things we would have the pump in its own little pit with a float switch (like on a sewer ejector pump). That way you aren’t going to pump massive amounts of water out if the water fall/feature leaks and it should create less water movement.
If that won’t work I’d give your water trough heater idea a try. I’ve never personally done it but I see no reason it wouldn’t work. Again, I’d verify with a thermometer though.
 
   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization
  • Thread Starter
#13  
Sounds like I need to find an accurate way to measure bottom water temp in comparison with the surface layers.

Maybe a meat thermometer on a stick. And pull it out fast to get a reading before it reacts ?
 
   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization
  • Thread Starter
#14  
I cannot get an accurate read from bottom temp.

The meat thermometer on a stick, by the time I pull it up through the water column and see what it says, I am afraid its not an accurate reading.

And I have a multimeter that takes a k-type thermocouple, but its all over the place. for starters, its not calibrated right and I dont think there is a way to adjust that. According to the meat thermometer it says the air temp is 36 and surface water temp 38.

The thermocouple shows air temp at 38, surface water at 28, and bottom water at 26:confused2:

So that idea is out the window.

I did clean the inlet screen of the pump to assure full flow, and checked it by timing how long it takes to fill 5 gallon buckets.

With the elevation I am only flowing 2400gph. Which means it would take 6 hours to circulate the entire volume of water. pump is drawing from 30" deep, and bottom is 66" deep.

Unless things change, or I start getting ice dams in the waterfall that drain the pond, I think I am gonna chance it. Worst case scenerio is I have to buy another $10 worth of fish next year.

Hate the though of having to pull the pump and chancing the hoses freezing, because how I routed them and hid them for the waterfall it would be a PITA to remove the hoses as well as the power cord for the pump. In theory they should all drain back to the pond....and in theory where the hoses enter the water, the water inside will freeze at the same rate as the water outside the hose resulting in no damage....but......theory dont always work out.
 
   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization #15  
We had a goldfish pond for years and the only thing I did was put a dowel rod across it with a metal bucket containing a low power birdbath heater in it. Everything would freeze except the water in the bucket and I suppose the water under it. Fish lived for years until I got tired of cleaning it out every spring. I think the last couple years I didn't even put the heater in it and it would freeze pretty solid.

RSKY
 
   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization #16  
Short of winterizing your pump you way over thinking it. No need for all these shenanigans, the fish will do fine on their own. Do not I say not run a pump all winter oh, that will kill them for sure.
 
   / Koi/Goldfish pond winterization #17  
A friend in Saskatchewan just posted pics of her gold fish that she took out of her pond and put into a large aquarium for the winter. Seems like a lot of work to me, but it's what she does every year.
 

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