| Most of us have outdoor, unheated ponds. Here are few things to consider for your pond.
1. By pass the water falls. A waterfall is a major heat loss point.
2. Continue to run air pumps on the bottom drain diaphragms. The reason is that the air pump cools itself via the pumped air. So the air being pumped will be warmer than the ambient air.
3. Put a cover over your pond. This can greatly reduce the chill effect from winter blasts. If the cover is a clear solar pool cover (heavy duty bubble wrap) it will also help build up a relatively warm air layer between the pond surface and ambient air…if you are floating the cover bubble side down and are running the air pumps.
4. Starting no later than New Year, stop feeding the fish for at least 4 weeks regardless of water temp. Given our typical winter weather patterns, do not plan to feed in February. Watch the water temps in early March, when the pond is above 55F and stable, begin light feedings of wheat germ based food moistened with orange juice or liquid vitamins.
Remember that colder water holds more dissolved oxygen, the koi are using less oxygen, and the bacteria are using less oxygen. The reason to run the air domes is to establish a "warm" layer between pond surface and pond cover.
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Too much sanity may be madness and maddest of all is to see life as it is and not as it should be.
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