In zone 7 you can run the pump and filter year round with no more than regular maintenance and attention. It is possible your water may get up around 55oF occasionally in spots as it is. I decided to run the pump through the winter 4 or 5 years ago here in zone 5 when my health took a turn for the worse.I have had no problems related to ice dams. Debris and squirrel nests are a different story.

There are things that can cause problems. I try to think smart to circumvent them as much as possible. For example, water spread out as in a pretty stair step waterfall is likely to freeze solid so in my pond water from the outlet to the pond from the filter is one straight drop. It freezes but the flow forms it's own tube in the center that is actually protected somewhat from the winds and cold air so the flow is almost as much as it would be in warmer weather. If the force of the flow were reduced it is possible, even likely, that the tube wouldn't form. As it is, there is enough circulation that no ice has ever formed in the Skippy. If it did, I would resort to a deicer on top of the filter in front of the outlet pipe but sufficient flow is essential.

Since no two ponds are alike, you may have totally different situations to deal with.

Some advantages of running the pump are continued filtration and elimination of "dead zones" where there is a decrease in oxygen, and more consistent temperatures throughout the pond. I think this can reduce the existence of anaerobic bacteria and parasites in the pond although I have no proof except that I rarely have any casualties among the fish population during the winter and early spring that I can attribute to that since I have been leaving the pump running.

The amount of crud that accumulates in the filter certainly indicates that it is improving water quality. Cleaning out the filter is about the same as replacing it at any other time. Water changes don't seem to be really necessary except for leaves and other debris that got through the netting. Since the end of the prefilter in my system is at the lowest end, most of the organic matter rotted from the leaves has been carried to the filter. What remains can be vacuumed up which does a partial water change. If there is too much of this degraded leaf material or a stray piece of plastic or other debris it can clog up the prefilter. You want to keep an eye on that. It puts a strain on the pump.

I replace the Activated Carbon and Ammochips as I replace the filter material unless I need to medicate the pond for some reason. Some people use some version of commercial bacteria at this time. I don't. I just save a scrap of the old filter material and leave it in with the new material for a week or two until temperatures level out. If I had problems with parasites I wouldn't do that since eggs and larva could be in the old material.

One thing that can calm your nerves is a wireless submersible thermometer. There are some nice inexpensive ones on the market that allow you to keep an eye on the water temperature from a distance.

When you start feeding the fishies it is easy to overdo it. A couple or three feedings a day rather than one is much better for their digestion. If your pond doesn't support algae, you can even drop in a few algae tablets made for algae feeders and your fish will love them. I haven't seen these encourage any algae growth and they are easily digestible for the fishies.

The reason for pinning the pond start up at 55oF is that that is the approximate temperature at which your fishies will be going into or coming out of their winter torpor and determines if they are able to digest food. Since they are such greedy little critters they don't always know when to stop and full bellies going into torpor leads to serious digestive problems.

Thanks! My pond is a 5000 gallon "garden pond" with a max depth of 3 feet and average depth of 2 feet. Plants and comets and I don't feed the fish ever. They seem to do fine finding what they can in the pond to eat.

It sounds like the 55 degree temp is related more to when they should be fed rather than when the pond should start running?

BTW, I checked the water temps yesterday and the surface is 43 degrees.

This pic was NOT taken yesterday lol
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Oh, that makes me want spring to come soon. Nice!

But I would get rid of or not use the Tiki torches. I had just lit one on our patio when one of the kids fell and required a fast trip to the ER. I was more concerned about the kid than the torch since it wasn't that close to the house or anything burnable. When we got back we discovered the wind had changed and had blown the greasy smoke into the house. It took days to clean it up. That kind of mess in the pond isn't something I would want to deal with. The look is great though.