Thought I would make a spot for following my ponding and gardening in general. I took over this pond last year. Some of the fish were here and some made the move with me from my old place. I shut down the upper pond and stream and also the waterfalls in the fall, drained them and with a shop vac, sucked out almost 400 gallons of sludge that smelled like sewage.
Here are some current pics of the pond. The fish made it through the winter fine it seems, I used a pump to break the surface in one spot and when it dipped below zero for multiple days, I had to use deicer and boiling water to maintain a opening but it was only for a week or so. They have been active on some of the warmer days recently.
Ive been keeping busy over the winter upgrading pumps,uv lights,skimmers and building k1 barrel filters. I have tentative plans on draining the pond in the spring and using shop vac to get out the excess sand,rocks,pebbles and general debris.
I plan on keeping the fish in the garage in four 275 gallon ibc totes filtered by four k1 barrel filters and 4kgal pump, while im cleaning pond and cycling the barrel filters for the outdoor pond.
Spring is just around the corner!
Dubya