• Amused
  • Angry
  • Annoyed
  • Awesome
  • Bemused
  • Cocky
  • Cool
  • Crazy
  • Crying
  • Depressed
  • Down
  • Drunk
  • Embarrased
  • Enraged
  • Friendly
  • Geeky
  • Godly
  • Happy
  • Hateful
  • Hungry
  • Innocent
  • Meh
  • Piratey
  • Poorly
  • Sad
  • Secret
  • Shy
  • Sneaky
  • Tired
  • Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast
    Results 21 to 40 of 72

    Thread: Covering Your Pond Where Winter Is COLD

    1. #21
      Dale is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Lexington, KY
      Posts
      511
      Quote Originally Posted by Goodkarma
      Thanks Dale for this great thread. How many GPH are you running to your filters, and how warm is the pump house?

      Lisa
      Lisa,

      There are two 4" Spindrifter bottom drains in this pond. The 4" PVC pipe from the drains is buried 4' underground and flows to two Nexus 300's with Answers in the filter building that is about 60' from the pond. The flow rate during warm weather is about 3,600 gph to each filter. I have the flow restricted in the winter to about half that, maybe 1,800 gph. The volume of the pond is 6,000 gallons, so with the restricted winter flow rate for both filters combined, the water in the pond passes through the heated filter building about once every 1 1/2 hours.

      I keep the filter building heated to about 60 degrees all winter.

      Dale

      Dale

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    2. #22
      wanman is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jul 2004
      Location
      Columbia, MD Zone 7A
      Posts
      768
      Dale thanks for the pics, great job

      The only thing I would have done differently is extend the plastic to the ground, thereby covering the stone with plastic and using its solar abilty to hold heat from the sun. The stone would radiate whatever warmth it got from the sun back under the cover in the evening

      Cool build, I never thought of using tywraps, that make it much easier to breakdown and store for next year
      I am the ORGANIC guy now! way cool

    3. #23
      Cowiche Ponder's Avatar
      Cowiche Ponder is offline Living my life's dream
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Cowiche, WA
      Posts
      18,433
      I might have wrapped the tie wraps with duct tape so they don't rub/poke holes in the plastic.

      Glad you don't get snow, cause I don't think it would handle a heavy load!

      Next year my pond will have a cover...I hope

    4. #24
      Dale is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Lexington, KY
      Posts
      511
      Quote Originally Posted by Ronin-Koi
      Dale, looks good. Hope it holds. Water and ice get heavy so the only concern is with those tie-wraps. Please continue to post your temperatures measured since this is a great experimental setup. You have both a covered and an uncovered pond side by side to compare water temps. To be clear, is the filtered water only going to the covered pond, or is the uncovered pond also being filtered through the pump house? And what temp is the pump house?
      Wayne,

      Water from both the covered and uncovered pond are filtered through the pump house during winter. The skimmers and waterfalls are turned off.

      The covered pond is larger (6,000 gallons) with 2 bottom drains feeding 2 Nexus filters. The uncovered pond (3,000 gallons) has one bottom drain feeding a set of Nitritech vortex filters. The water circulation of the uncovered pond to the heated pump house keeps this pond from freezing over completely, but it will have ice form and the water temperature will be much colder than the covered pond.

      The uncovered pond is our 'lily pond'. No koi in this pond, but it does have goldfish. With this arrangement last year, the goldfish came through the winter just fine. I have heard that goldfish are much more hardy than koi. Is that true? There should be some people here who would know the answer to that question.

      Dale

    5. #25
      Roddy Conrad's Avatar
      Roddy Conrad is offline The Koiphen Chemist
      is Busy!
       
      Feeling:
      Awesome
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      Charleston, WV, USA
      Posts
      3,458
      Hey, Dale, my only concern with the posted design is whether the plastic is secured with rocks enough to avoid the wind tearing off the plastic. It is hard to see in the photos how you "tucked the plastic into the rocks". You probably did such a good job it won't be a problem, but I can't tell from the pics. The wind can put a large force on the plastic, so it needs to be anchored well.

      The plastic wrap on my design is both anchored to the pipe with "snap clamps" and weighted down at all the edges with lots of concrete blocks. I don't see the snap clamp on yours, maybe they won't be needed.
      Your koiphen chemist and environmental scientist.

    6. #26
      JoesPonds.com's Avatar
      JoesPonds.com is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Sep 2005
      Location
      USA
      Posts
      1,621
      Wow! Awesome idea and I love the before & after pics... Very interesting...

      - Joseph

    7. #27
      emmalou is offline Inactivated
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Nanaimo. B.C. Canada
      Posts
      20,788
      Good stuff Dale. I am going to tarp mine.

    8. #28
      Dale is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Lexington, KY
      Posts
      511
      Quote Originally Posted by Roddy Conrad
      Hey, Dale, my only concern with the posted design is whether the plastic is secured with rocks enough to avoid the wind tearing off the plastic. It is hard to see in the photos how you "tucked the plastic into the rocks". You probably did such a good job it won't be a problem, but I can't tell from the pics. The wind can put a large force on the plastic, so it needs to be anchored well.

      The plastic wrap on my design is both anchored to the pipe with "snap clamps" and weighted down at all the edges with lots of concrete blocks. I don't see the snap clamp on yours, maybe they won't be needed.
      Roddy, you are a prophet. A few days after my cover was completed it started snowing with the wind blowing pretty good. The wind was causing the plastic to billow up away from the frame. This caused the plastic to loosen around the edges and it started flapping up and down with the wind gusts. I had secured the plastic as tight as I could by lifting the biggest heavy rocks around the lip of the pond and tucking the plastic up under them, but it wasn't staying put. The wind would jerk the plastic and little by little it was pulling it out from where I had tucked it in.

      I now have the plastic both tucked and in addition put either large flat rocks or concrete blocks on top of the plastic around the edge. I thought what I had done would work, but it didn't.

      I still have the picture you sent me a couple years ago of your cover. I'll post the picture here so everyone can see how yours is done.

      Dale
      Attached Images Attached Images  

    9. #29
      JPR is offline Inactivated
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      New Jersey
      Posts
      2,073
      very nice! well done! Up north here I used to use a VERY similar design with PVC. But the snow load is incredibly heavy. Especially the wet snow/slush. In my case, a few 2 x 8s ( or even 2 X 10s if the span is wide) are a good idea to help carry the load.

      By the way, If that is a kentucky winter, I'm moving down tomorrow! JR

    10. #30
      Dale is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Lexington, KY
      Posts
      511
      Quote Originally Posted by JPR
      very nice! well done! Up north here I used to use a VERY similar design with PVC. But the snow load is incredibly heavy. Especially the wet snow/slush. In my case, a few 2 x 8s ( or even 2 X 10s if the span is wide) are a good idea to help carry the load.

      By the way, If that is a kentucky winter, I'm moving down tomorrow! JR
      JR, Hey, a few years ago we had a snowstorm that dumped FOUR FEET of snow on us. That's the most I can remember, but it is not unusual to have snow from 2" to 6" off and on during the winter here. No, we are not eskimos, but we do have winter in Kentucky and the temps always get down below zero a few times every winter.

      We have an underwater camera that lets us see the fishes all winter. Here's a couple shots of the TV where you can see the stand I made in the center. The air coming up from the two air domes is pumped underground from the pump house about 60' away. The air runs 24/7 all winter. The pump house is heated, so this is warm air continually coming up through the water and, hopefully, keeping the air under the dome warmer than it would be otherwise.

      Dale
      Attached Images Attached Images   

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    11. #31
      Ryan S.'s Avatar
      Ryan S. is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Greenville, NC
      Posts
      4,939
      Dale,

      Thanks for posting. Its good to know how diffierent covering methods work on the same pond. That type of information is hard to come by. My polycarbonate sheets did not work out that well last year. This year trying the same thing this year, except with plastic spread over the top in addition. The sheets give you decent strength for a small amount of snow and good rainwater runoff. I have a feeling I will trying floating pool solar covers next year.

    12. #32
      JPR is offline Inactivated
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      New Jersey
      Posts
      2,073
      Beautiful! What I find interesting is that even though you may keep your temperature at the same range or level all winter, the koi will naturally become less active except for mid day and early evening. This is likely based on the amount of light- cut by the natural lack of light due to season AND the cover itself ( especially if its snow covered). I find that my koi, kept at 48-52 F just settle down for the month of Jan. and except for a Feb thaw, are content to remain in stasis for the 6-8 weeks of my artifical winter. But with a temp no lower than that, they never show while film, red veining or any other 'survival testing signs'

    13. #33
      JesusB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Mar 2005
      Posts
      124

      Pond Cover Strong for snow but lite enought to move around

      Here in Oklahoma we do not get much snow, but we get ice, and the wind is horrible, last week we had 4 days of low around 7 F and with the wind it made it to about -10 F, for the past 3 years I have use this cover and it helps a lot I have been able to keep the temperature on the 50th and the times we get ice I have had not problem, the cover been made of 3/4" electrical conduit makes it easy to move and strong to hold ice and snow, I also use 3 layers of 6mil clear plastic


      Jesus
      Attached Images Attached Images        

    14. #34
      ahhuhz's Avatar
      ahhuhz is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2004
      Location
      Drums, PA
      Posts
      0
      I used clear solar cover and cedar 2x4 frames that are each 4x12' with 1/2" electrical conduit in between. So far, it is working great. We have had over 14" of snow so far this year. It cleans off with a sponge mop or shovel.
      Attached Images Attached Images   
      Chuck

    15. #35
      JesusB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Mar 2005
      Posts
      124
      Chuck, what are the 3" pipes with elbows for? is itfor air circulation?

      Jesus

    16. #36
      ahhuhz's Avatar
      ahhuhz is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Jun 2004
      Location
      Drums, PA
      Posts
      0
      Actually it is 4" sewer grade pvc pipe and yes, I use it for venting. It is working real well. It has been in the teens and single digits and the pond is still 46.4. The kids are happy.
      Chuck

    17. #37
      JPR is offline Inactivated
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      May 2004
      Location
      New Jersey
      Posts
      2,073
      Well I thought it would be a few more decades before I had a personal conversation with Jesus, but here goes---

      Jesus, very nice cover indeed! Just what I wish I had! How did you bend those bars to actually fit into the T fittings? JR

    18. #38
      Dale is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Lexington, KY
      Posts
      511
      Quote Originally Posted by jesusbrito
      Here in Oklahoma we do not get much snow, but we get ice, and the wind is horrible, last week we had 4 days of low around 7 F and with the wind it made it to about -10 F, for the past 3 years I have use this cover and it helps a lot I have been able to keep the temperature on the 50th and the times we get ice I have had not problem, the cover been made of 3/4" electrical conduit makes it easy to move and strong to hold ice and snow, I also use 3 layers of 6mil clear plastic

      Jesus
      Jesusbrito,

      That is a GREAT frame you built there. I really like it. In fact, I think I'd like to re-do my frame next year using the electrical condiut pipe instead of PVC pipe. What is the wall thickness of the conduit? That sutff looks pretty stout. Did you use a pipe bender and make it on site yourself as you put it together? If I did mine again with the conduit, it would be neat to be able to use those fittings to secure it all together and bend it into the same shape I have now, but much more rigid than the flexible pvc pipe.

      Have you used your frame for more than one year or are these pictures of it new? The reason I ask is I'm wondering if the conduit will rust or corrode under the plastic during the winter with all that moisture under there.

      Dale

    19. #39
      Dale is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Lexington, KY
      Posts
      511
      Quote Originally Posted by Cowiche Ponder
      I might have wrapped the tie wraps with duct tape so they don't rub/poke holes in the plastic.

      Mary, we thought about that. We rotated all the plastic ties so the sharp stuff was pointing down before we stretched the plastic over the frame. I don't think the ties will poke holes through. We've already had the wind move the plastic around quite a bit the first week on a couple windy days with no problems.

      Glad you don't get snow, cause I don't think it would handle a heavy load!
      Don't get snow??? What are you talking about??? It's snowing here right now! This picture just snapped! Can you see the snow falling?

      Dale
      Attached Images Attached Images  
      Last edited by Dale; 12-12-2005 at 04:01 PM.

    20. #40
      JesusB is offline Senior Member
      This user has no status.
       
      Feeling:
      ----
       
      Join Date
      Mar 2005
      Posts
      124
      I am not sure about the thickness but it is regular 3/4 inche electrical conduit from lowes, those pictures are 3 years old, I have had the cover for 3 years, I used a pipe bender, I was bending pipes as I was putting it together, I did the bottom ring first, which is the shape of the pond , after it was done then I started with the frame, place them about 2 feet apart, I used self taping screws, OH, to hold the pastic to the frame I did cut a 3/4 inche pvc in Half(it was not easy) and screwed it to the bottom ring, I can pick up the cover all together and move it around, the conduit is not showing rust it is showing a calcium build up(some white stuff), I have it setup that around march I start lifting it up during the day and putting it back down in the evening , I can lift it like a car hood on the long side and I have a couple of legs to hold it up.
      I weight quiet a few pounds and I can hang on to the frame and it hold me.
      one thing that helped me a lot I have a big pipe bender that I can nail to the wall, so I do not have to hold it and the pipe at the same time, if you want or when you get ready let me know and I'll take pictures of anything in particular in the frame.

      Jesus

      • Remove Ads
        Advertising from Google
        Promoting Koi and Pond
        keeping since 2007

         

    Page 2 of 4 FirstFirst 1234 LastLast

    Posting Permissions

    • You may not post new threads
    • You may not post replies
    • You may not post attachments
    • You may not edit your posts
    •