Pond Maintenance
- Floating solar heater
- S. J. Skinner sent these assembly
instructions to rec.ponds on October 12, 2000.
- This idea came from the Water Gardening magazine some time back:
- Material for the pond warmer:
- Two styrofoam rings either 20" or 24"
- Black paint
- Four-foot square of 4 or 6 ml clear plastic
- Screws or wire
- Hooks and string
- Assembly instructions
- Cut one of the rings into 1 half and 2 quarters. Keep the other ring whole.
- Attach the pieces to the whole ring to make a dome. (This is
really hard to explain without pictures!!!) Put the whole ring
on the floor. Set the half ring on its ends on top so it is
forming an upright arch. Set the 2 quarters on either side so
they are form another arch. Screw (or wire) everything
together.
- Paint the resulting styrofoam dome black.
- Cover it with plastic.
- Voila, a greenhouse dome which will float around on the pond and
heat up the water under it. The final suggestion was to cut 2
tiny holes in the top so the dome doesn't hop around on the water
(I don't know why it would hop...) and to put hooks in the side &
tie the dome to rocks on the bottom so it doesn't blow away.
- Note: expanding air will cause the dome to hop if the relief
holes are not present.
- Winter
- K30a's Winter Pond Check List
- K30a sent these comments to rec.ponds on
October 18, 2000. K30a lives in
SE Washington state, zone 7a.
- Winter Pond Check List
-
Tropicals should be removed and wintered over indoors or discarded. Someone
else can post about that as I am a total failure that this!
-
After the first good frost trim up as much dead foligage as you can. Some folks
drop their marginal plants to the bottom of the pond. (Here in zone 7a I do not
drop my marginals).
-
Remove leaves as they blow into the pond or spread nets over the pond to catch
them (anchor securely). Do not let netted leaves dip into the pond.
-
Stop feeding fish when the water temperature reaches about 55 degrees.
-
Choose a method to keep a hole open in the ice.
This allows for gases from decomposing plant and fish waste to escape and
oxygen to enter the pond.
-
A luft pump with an airstone, at the surface, works well and seems to be the
most energy efficient method.
-
De-icers float on the surface and switch on when the water gets cold enough to
form ice.
-
The pump can be raised off the bottom and the flow directed up to the surface
of the water.
-
The waterfall can be kept running (care must be taken that an ice dam does not
form and direct the water away from the pond).
-
If the pump is turned off remove the pump, clean it and store it for the
winter.
-
Turn off the filter at about 40 degree water temperature, clean it and have it
ready to go in the spring. Never turn on a filter that has been sitting over
the winter without cleaning it first - noxious dead bio bugs will enter the
pond
-
Ponders in the really frozen zones bring in their fish (the depth of your pond
is an important factor).
A large stock tank is a wise investment. Add oxygen with a bubbler and net the
tank to prevent fish from jumping out. Do not feed the fish if the water
temperature is below 55 degrees. If the water is warmer a filter will be needed
for fish that are fed over the winter.
(A stock tank is also handy for quarantining new fish before adding them to
your pond.)
-
A winter pond can be very pretty and enjoyable if you are prepared.
-
Fussing around the pond in 2 degree weather is *not* fun, been there, done
that.
- Information
- Plant Tools and Stands
- Pond Observation
- Reachers (Pik Stik)
- Waders and gloves
Bonnie's Links
created by Bonnie Lee Hill,
bonniehill@verizon.net
last modified on July 29, 2009
URL: http://mysite.verizon.net/bonniehill/ponds/pages/construction.html
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Pond Covers and Greenhouses