hi! im new to this site! hehe!

my winter was ok! really wasnt expecting the snow! haha!
all my frogs are "doing their business" as my mother says! and im really looking forward to seeing my pond full of frog spawn!
also... i found a few baby newts in my pond which was unusual for me! i didnt think we had newts here in liverpool!

welcome stavrosLP.

Ice storm knocked out power after midnight, early 26th, power returned on 31st. Pond pump frozen since outage, several inches of ice and temps well below zero make me apprehensive about what will be floating after the thaw. 20+ fish in jeopardy, largest 2 about 14" each. I estimate I will know by about next Wednesday (12th).

But i'm lucky. Many just south of me in Kentucky supposedly have WEEKS to go before power can be restored.

Did not think about draining the pump when power went out, would have been fairly easy to do. Might be buying a new one. :(

Cath, good to see you back in print! Like you we have lots of snow, I'd say about the most snow, that I have seen staying on the ground in years. Usually it comes and goes all through the winter. This year it is just piling up and the snow banks are getting higher and higher.
The thaw is supposed to start tomorrow with rain and higher temperatures.
The pond is cocooned under the tarp canopy, which is covered with snow. I have a maintenance hatch that I can remove to check things out, in case the bubbler pump should quit. I can see the fish slowly moving around, through the vent hole in the ice.They seem happy enough down there in the cold, cold water. At least I think so, I never heard any of them complain about the conditions!
Roll on spring, this has been a real drag of a winter. It just seems to go on and on with all this snow laying around.
Take care,
"Horton"

Hi everyone!
Boy the weather this year is crazy. We've had horribly cold temps for so long, now it's in the 50's, and even warmer tomorrow. I just don't want to look out at the pond and see any frogs! That's usually bad news when they get lured out into these temporary high temps.
All this snow melting, plus expected rain will probably cause alot of flooding. Better start building the ark!
Bon Voyage!

Can't remember a winter this harsh myself! We hit a personal all-time minimum here at the house in January, it was -17 degrees F around 7 in the morning. We have seen more snow - the blizzard of 78 comes to mind - but, just like you Horton, there hasn't been a January thaw here. This weekend was the first time the temps were above freezing, and this afternoon I was finally able to chip some of the December 11th'2 ice sheet off the driveway...
I have had also a really hard time keeping a hole open in the ice. The bubbler was apparently TOO close to the surface, and it turned off when we lost power on Dec. 11 and froze into the ice layer. So now I have the floating deicers on, but more often than not I can't find even a wet spot under the latest layer of snow...
I won't complain though, we just got back from a week's visit to the DD&SIL and the grandkiddos in L.A., where it was, I quote the weatherman, "unseasonable warm"...

:) Mary

Nasty, nasty weather this year. I am worried silly about the fish. Sandy

Catherine, check out "A couple of pond questions" thread. Proudgm has questions on stocktank repairs. I think you can help her. Sandy

My frog songs are swan songs, I afraid. The ice mostly thawed in the unseasonal 60 degree weekend letting me see the 4 deceased green frogs at the bottom. But a little pickerel frog scooted across the bottom, so all is not lost. My six goldfish and 2 minnows look good so far. Another month and winter weather will be over here for sure.

Its supposed to be 60 here for a couple days! Just a couple weeks ago, it was below zero here! I disconnected the deicers yesterday and started up the pump/bubbler, so maybe I can get some oxygen going in there before it freezes again. No frogs out today............I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
Sorry about your frogs riverspots! You'd think they'd know better. My chickens know. If they were laying eggs, they stopped when it got so cold, because they know there's no sense in raising babies in the cold. Poor frogies.

In early January, a low of -18 F caused ice to form over the hole created by my aquarium pump stones. I had to use a stock tank heater to open it up. Once open, the bubbles were able to maintain the hole. I was surprised when the hole stayed open during a -12 F that occurred a couple of weeks ago.

The temperatures have been in the 40's for the past few days and the ice hole has grown to about 3 feet. It's still too small to get a look at the fish.

I think the top of my aquarium stone may have froze during the deep freeze. I'm glad I had 14 inch stones and will continue to hang the long stones vertically. The air pump has continued to run all winter. After this winter, I don't think I would worry about ice causing a problem with the air pump and tubing. It definitely endures ice and cold.

I had an indoor telescope fix on the "ice hole" all winter. It allowed me to monitor the pond without taking multiple trips over the frozen tundra. A flood lamp on a remote control switch provided monitoring after dark. I think I'm going to maintain my indoor observation station next year. Lazy? Maybe. Warmer? Definitely.

I am having trouble getting the picture to load. I will try again. Really big picture. Sorry!

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Pond is thawing but SC still locked up with ice. Pump runs but can't draw from SC. I have seen signs of life and looks like all fish survived our freeze & power outage. fingers still crossed......

Its in the 60's today, and we're supposed to get thunder storms tomorrow. When I let the dogs out, I glanced over at the pond, and there was a little round wet spot on one of the stones. That means a FROG was sitting there!! Go back! Go back!!

pump on tonight after 2 weeks of power outage / freeze, no leaks (yet). retrieved one fish from SC. Microscreen in SC is failed, planned to replace it anyway. After 2 weeks of COLD and now warm plus storms, I'm ready for the warm weather to stay.

Cathy, the question "Who let the dogs out?",at long last, has now been answered.
It was you all along!
"Horton"

LOL Horton. Yep, its me! I'm always the one letting the dogs out.....ooh....ooh. :)

The pond is starting to thaw. There was a lot of snow over the solar cover. With the winter fence it is hard to get a good look inside the pond. 3 weeks ago I took out the skimmer pump to pump out my waterbed and put it back. There was a small open area at the skimmer mouth - but not nearly as large as I would have liked. So I am hoping the fish are alive. I will check tomorrow.

Regards,
Lisa

As of yesterday, my pond finally and totally thawed! Wahoo!! When I got home from work late last night, I laid down on the ground at the edge of the pond so that I could reach my arms all the way in and make adjustments to the pump, etc (adjustments I should have made before everything froze  my bad). I had one of those miner lights around my head so that I could really see what I was doing. Those things are awesome, especially the LCD ones.

I have kind-of a weird pond setup where I've stacked a few black milk crates in the middle of the pond with a large cement urn sitting on top of them so that it kind-of looks like the urn is floating on the surface of the water in the middle of the pond (at least it does when all of the plants are growing around and disguising the milk crates). I have to take some pics this weekend and post them. It makes more sense if you can see it ... a bit tricky to visualize.

Anyhow, I have the pump set-up in the pond (about halfway between the surface and the bottom) with the outflow going through a "Y Connect" that diverts most of the water up and into the urn through a drain hole in the bottom of the urn which I ran a tube through. The water fills the urn and overflows down the side of the urn and into the pond. The rest of the water from the "Y Connect" is diverted upwards from the pump towards the surface of the pond. Even when the pond was at least 6" thick with solid ice, that upward flow of water from the pump kept a nice little hole going in the ice.

But, I really should have sealed the urn with cement sealer when I first installed it. This is its 5th winter and it's been breaking apart a bit around the upper edges so the water doesn't flow over the sides as evenly as it used to. It pretty much just flows over one side. In years past that flow of water has always been enough to keep the ice from forming at the point where the flowing water falls into the pond. Not this year.

So, I had to get in there and adjust the jet flow so that both the water flowing up from the pump and the water flowing down from the urn meet in the same exact spot. Even if we get another big freeze, I think weÂre good.

IÂve gotta say, it was really great doing pond stuff again. Like all of us IÂm sure, IÂve really missed it. It was also fun to finally see the fish again. They were playing their usual games: "follow the leader" and "tag." The games are the same, but the speed is much slower in motion.

Good to see posts from everyone.

Lots of snow.. Lots of cold. Still 2 or 3 feet of snow on the pond. Hopefully the bubbler continued working through the winter. Won't know til I can get to the pond. I can't even see it this year in its new location.

Anne

Here are the pics, finally.

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You can see that the urn has really taken it share of abuse through 5 winters, but it's still doing its thing.

Obviously, everything looks a lot better with the plants all around the perimeter and the urn looks especially cool when the pond plants are all around the base. It then really does get a kind-of floating quality about it.

I've also been filling the urn with water lettuce/hyacinth in recent seasons and that looks kind of cool, too.

*pouting*
I'm with Pashta. Except I can see where the deicers/bubblers are, there's a more icy area in the snow on the pond. No ice-out for us for another three or four weeks, probably.

*sigh*
:)Mary

I am hoping all mine survived. I did see fish today as i was mucking but only 2 and i have 7 so will have to wait to check out the other.

I too am getting winter blues and trying to think spring. Got all my winter sowing done and cleaned out the GH. Hve a ton of sprouts in the front yard (gets lots of sun) and tons in the front window. lol

Question... I have a new pot with canna, cattails and grasses I got last summer and moved it down to the 3 ft area is there a chance the plants may make it? I believe it only froze to about 2-3 inches.? Anyone do this and have success?

I know the only lilys I got back last year were the ones I accidently left in the pond. All the ones I triied to overwinter in the frig. didn't make it. So I left the lilies in again this year and am keeping my fingers crossed that they did just as well. Anyone else do this?

BTW - Violet and Steve I love both your photos. They are wonderful photos.

Tammy

Hello everyone!! Well I'm pretty ecstatic right now! All my Koi are swimming at the top and nibbling for food. I thought they weren't supposed to eat in the winter?? Wow! I can't believe they are all still alive! Now if I can only overcome the brown water. I have trouble with tumbleweeds and leaves getting in there. I was thinking of netting it this next fall and winter. Would that solve the problem? Does anyone else net? Thanks for the help!! :)

Hi cherrycreek,
Yep, alot of us net. If we didn't, it would be more of a bog than a pond! My ponds are little. I think its a little more challenging, the larger the pond. I've seen some things made out of pvc pipe arched with netting attached, and its like a big bubble over a smaller pond, which looked like a good idea.
I just stretch bird netting over mine in the fall, and occasionally go out and remove the leaves.
Congrats on your Koi making it!

Beer is cold in WV....Pond started to lose water...shut the pump down...found the problem will fix once the weather breaks...Happy Ponding! Dave :-)

Here is a link that might be useful:

Hi Catherine & all!
I'm coming out of hibernation too but the winter has actually been pretty mild. I covered the stocktank with plastic again and just uncovered it Saturday. There's all kinds of crazy growth on the lilies and the sunken marginals. All the fish look bigger (or I forgot they were such monsters)and are even eating a little. I'm planning to re-home the sulphurea lily asap because it's too big of a plant and already has pads at the surface. Probably won't put up any more for a while now that it's not in the pseudo greenhouse. I hope. It's even got buds it's been holding all winter, too.

It's too soon to check on the lotus I buried but I've watered it a bit and can't see why it wouldn't have survived. I'm now planning a pretty in-ground pond for it, though. I break ground this week...unless we get an ice-storm or something. (If I were more careful, I'd backspace that last comment out and make a burnt offering to the weather gods.)

Vanessa

Hi Vanessa!
How cool about your in-ground pond. Tell us all about it!

And.... another twelve inches!

There's a cute little squirrel on the deck railing, eating snow. I'll put some bird seed out for him/her. And fill all the other feeders. If I can't get to the pond, at least I can enjoy the other creatures!

After I clear the deck and path, of course. Now, where were those extra tall snow boots?

:) Mary
*note to self: get snowshoes before next winter*

Thanks for the advice Cathernet!! I will search on here for netting pictures. Or if there is affordable netting to buy.

cherrycreek.........just look for birdnetting at home improvement stores. It comes in big rolls for really cheap. It can be a challenge to work with though. You can end up getting all caught up in it yourself, if you're not careful!
Its good to work with 2 people when you're dealing with it.

Mary.....let me know if you buy snowshoes and like them. I was going to get some this winter and didn't get "a round tuit".
DH did buy me some Yaktrax for Christmas, and I love them on icy ground. They are fantastic for slippery places. They just stretch over your shoes/boots. haha....I put mine over my vinyl clogs, when I would go out to the chicken coop. Looked funny, but definitely kept me from breaking a hip!

Fishes are doing fine. Not much plant growth yet. Pond looks pretty drab. But It'll come along soon. Frogs are about even though we have had some cold weather lately. Found a dead frog in the lily pond with 2 leeches on him. Yuck, Yuck. Cleaned out the skippy filter and got some kind of something. Don't know what it was, but dug it out of my arm poured salt on it and it is just now getting well. I will use gloves from now on...Glenda

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Well, I thought spring was coming....the snow was melting...albeit too slowly...still have a foot+ to go yet. THEN, we went and flipped the calendar back to January, with -10 temps and supposed to stick around for at least few weeks.
Will spring ever come....I fear I may never see my pond again!!!!!
Starting to lose the 'dreaming of spring'!!!!
flora2b

Pikecoe... what kind of fish is the big black fish? That is what my female, Molly, looks like. She came as a volunteer egg on some plants and am not really sure what to call her.

Still a couple of feet of snow on the pond, but I can see the garbage can under which I hid the bubbler. I hope it worked this winter.
Anne

The biggest white one and the big black one are Koimets. Koi and Comet mix. Or some people call them mules because they are supposed to be sterile.

Well my pond began to thaw this weekend. I saw three floaters at the edges. I broke up the ice and found 3 more. The fish were two years old 6-10 inches. There are a few more but I suspect they will be dead also. Looks like we're starting over here :-( Hopefully the turtles survived.

We lost a frog after last Friday's 70 degree day, which was followed by 15 degree temps. Drats. There are several inches of ice on the pond. My fish are growing weary of their kiddie-pool-in-the-basement winter lodging. I can't wait to bring them outside.

Hi All! Finally thawed out here in NW Ohio and I could walk back to the ponds. Saw my ginormous frog sliding back into the water. Hope he's smart enough to stay put til spring. Added a new family member last spring, an Old English Sheepdog named Abbyrose. She was a rescue from the Humane Society and about a year and a half old! Already a 65 pound puppy!. She LOVES the ponds. Last fall she spent most of her days chasing the frogs off the rocks. She runs from side to side looking for them. If she's lucky she can get behind one before it sees her and "WOOF". She gets the biggest kick out of them jumping into the ponds. And when she gets hot she climbs into the fountain to cool off. Needless to say, I expect her in the big ponds this summer. Tho' she's torn up the yard pretty well, she's become my best buddy. We both like to be outside all day. Good luck getting your ponds ready for summer!

Hi Pat!
Sounds like you have a really cute buddy there!
We've gained another dog too. She adopted us. She's old, partially blind, deaf, and probably retarded. But we love her. She drinks out of the bird bath and the other day I saw her teetering on the rocks around the stocktank pond, drinking. I hope I won't need to pull her out. Maybe I should keep a life jacket on her at all times? :)
I think Molly (the new old dog) probably won't even be able to see the frogs. She likes to spend her time outside going around in circles. Really. But she's our's and we love her.
Have fun with Abbyrose!

Well,

I ventured out today to clean up a little, we have had no ice or snow for a while now. I scooped leaves around the edges and in the waterfall, I had seen fish a few weeks ago under the ice, today I see none.......I am so disappointed. I scooped down toward te bottom and brought up a dead fishie....I suppose I lost them all. The pond had melted a few weeks ago completely, then froze over again. I had a bubbler going and a small pump keeping a hole all winter. Anyone have any suggestions why they might have croked. I don't see any frogs but it may just be early yet. I started up the main pump and cleaned out the skimmer ect. Hubbie was reluctlant to start it for me but he did. I hope getting the water moving will help . I never ever lost all my fish, but this is a new pond put in just last July, this was it's first winter. all I can say is we tried.

kittcatt, I hope there are a few alive still. They always do such a good job hiding. After our first winter - well, our first batch of fifty or so goldfish were chopped up in the submersible pump the previous summer. We felt terrible, but as everyone says, how were we supposed to know? We didn't even know to ask the questions. We didn't know they even fitted through the inlet openings of the pump. So we had given up on fish for the time being, and we never did a proper pre-winter clean-up, since there were no fish in the pond, right?

You can tell where this story is going...

On June 20, when the water was getting nice enough to step into, we decided to scoop up what we could of that mess of dead leaves on the bottom. DH went into the pond, I manned the dead leaf pile. And to our immense surprise, after seeing lots of little beetles jump out of the dead leaves with every net full, suddenly! a six! inch long! bright orange! goldfish! flopping on the leaf pile! We put that beauty back into the water real fast. And went out the next day to get some more fishies! We bought three lovely small koi, and they were very happy together with the goldfish. We named them Demetrius, Helena, Hermia, and Lysander. Not that we knew the girls from the boys or anything.

After the next winter, fear in our hearts, but lo and behold, sometime in April I saw Demetrius jump clear out of the water.
The six indoor tank goldfish were freed into the pond that spring.

That's five or six winter ago, and by now we know a little more and fear a little less. And have a lot more goldfish.

The sunny side of our pond has a watery edge today, and we could see some lovely orange and red-and-white little bodies swim around. Haven't seen Demetrius yet. He's much bigger now than the goldies and likes the cold water less. (That we have only one koi left is another disaster story, involving a new beautiful little koi and KHV - koi herpes virus... only Demetrius survived but he is a carrier now, so no new koi into our pond, ever).
You know what else I saw? A little one-inch baby, all white with a cute red spot on his belly.

I wonder who we can give a few dozen goldies away to this spring?

:) Mary

*There's always hope!*

Well,
Yesterday was a beautiful day here, and I was just itching to get the pumps and falls going again, so I cleaned out the leaves around the edges and in the waterfall, I putted around all afternoon cutting off dead tops ect and low and behold, I saw at least 5 orange fishes down at the bottom. My pond is at least 3 ft deep. I was so happy, I ran in to tell sleeping hubby....also while I was removing some leaves a small frog swam over and like on que he swam into my hand as to say Hello! then he darted away.....I could not believe it. I think he was a little sleepy and didn't know what he was doing. Ha, ha. I guess I spoke too soon. At least at this point I see a few fish so I am a happy ponder!