Ahoy there fellow local pond enthusiast! This video is exactly what i needed as Ive started to think about over-wintering my outdoor aquatic abode for my 1 year old shubunkins. In all honesty I was a bit unsure about leaving them outside in the cold but this video has answered a lot of questions. Ive not checked if you have an update on unwintering your ponds in spring, but if you havent, please coiuld you do that in a future video? Id like to know if you had any fish losses? What were the the ph and nitrate levels in spring? When did you remove the covers and when did you start feeding again? Did you experience any leaksages or evidence of freezing pipes? What was the overall fish health when you took off the covers, and whether you noticed if your finned friends had grown much after their winter hiatus? Many pond experts report that they have seen spawning activity when the weather warms. Have you noticed any spawning or have you seen any fish fry? Lots of questions :D Thanks again.
This is very helpful. I don’t have a bog filter. I think I’m going to remove my pumps completely and rely on my bubblers to float at the surface. Also, can I cut down hostas but leave them in the pond? Thank you for any input you can provide.
Yeah, I am a little nervous about the ponds.. Last year I only had two so I was able to heat them so they didn’t drop below 10 degrees. Now I’ve got 4 ponds, and with the current electricity prices, heating all of them isn’t really an option.. I’m sure they’ll be fine though! 🤞
Cheers bro! Unfortunately, someone has just informed me that we are forecast to have the coldest winter in 100 years.. I’m very much hoping they’re wrong.. 🥶
@@GingerFishyOfficial yes we heard the same….Mother Nature has had just about enough of us humans messing up her stuff and she’s been trying to tell us for a while now….maybe people will start to listen sometime soon….
I was going to add an air stone into my pond but the air pump will be inside the house in the hope the warmer air will keep the pond warmer. What do you think? I will also be covering the top with a correx sheet the same as you.
Hi mate, keeping the air pump inside the house will definitely help, by as you said, pumping in some warmer air.. That with a cover you should be more than ok! 👍
Nice ideas. Didn't even think about the pipes freezing ect.. Will definitely get those insulated, I've got lots of pond lettuce, will ovef winter some of it in the kitchen and probably bin the rest 😂
I ended up throwing all my water lettuce.. 🫢 I have put a bit of the Salvinia and Amazon frogbit in a little indoor tub though, to hopefully over winter! 😃
@@GingerFishyOfficial yeah I've got a water chestnut (I think?) that should die off and re surface in spring, my water lettuce has literally multiplied 20x 😂 😂 gonna be doing my winter prep this week, hopefully should be OK.
Thankfully I don't have that problem. The area I live in is called the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland, Australia and I'm probably about in the middle of it on the North/South axis but on the coastal side of a range. We do get down to single digits in winter but the coldest we've had the five years in this spot was 6 Deg Celsius. Still thinking I might at least insulate my above ground pond build though but mostly because of the heat. Anyway, I bought a pump yesterday, a Chinese made pump but I'm told it's pretty good. DC variable speed, programmable etc.
Yeah, we had a really cold snap mid December and the bog filter on the above ground mini pond did briefly freeze solid.. luckily everything started back up after the ice all melted.. but yeah, part of the reason I went in pretty hard with the insulation was also for heat, after we hit an all time high of 40°c the summer just gone… I’m sure the pump will work great! Also, Sunshine Coast sounds amazing!!!
Hey buddy, here in Belgium they are speculating that it would be the coldest winter in a 100 years. We all will have to do that little bit extra to make sure all will be fine. There are some great tips!
Oh no.. 😩 I was hoping for a nice mild winter! At what temperature would you start to worry about your fish? What precautions will you be taking? Hope you’re all good bro! 😊
@@GingerFishyOfficial my pond is in the ground so not to much. Just cutting down my waterfall so that it doesn't cool down the water more. Set my airstone higher up and put some dome shaped foam in there to be able to look down on the fish if it starts to freeze over. If the ice becomes to big I will shut down all the filtration to make sure that nothing gets blocked and freeze's over and break's down on me. Could make a vid on it
Hi ,you have some really good ideas here. Unfortunately, when my above ground pond was built the liner was just put straight onto the patio. On your other video, you put down sand and insulation. Do you think my pond will be ok or should I get someone in to do what you have done ? Ohherwise next winter I will only be able to insulate the sides and the top. If electricity prices come down I will heat the pond. Last year I was not ready at all. Do you remember in November we had that really cold winter. I brought my fish inside. A lot of my neighbours lost their fish 😢 I hope that your fish were all OK. 😊
Hi! I don’t think insulation under the pond is essential.. from the research I did, the best thing you can do to help stop the water temp from dropping to far, is a lid, as apparently it’s the wind whipping across the water surface that really cools it down. Insulation does definitely help though. I took the lids off all my ponds this weekend just gone to see how all the fish were, and they were thankfully all good! I did put the lids back on afterwards though, as it’s still getting really cold at night. The only issue I really had over winter was around mid December when the temp really dropped, and the bog filter in my above ground mini pond completely froze.. so I turned the pump off, and once the pond had thawed I turned it back on, and luckily everything was fine. I did add a heater after that though, attached to an inkbird thermostat, so it would kick on if the temp got too low again, and stop it freezing. Fortunately I don’t think it got that cold again, so the heater never kicked on. 😊
@@GingerFishyOfficial Thank you for such a good reply. I will buy one of those thermostats for the winter. I remember when it was really cold in December my pond completely froze over right to the bottom and the ice actually came up high out of my pond. So how much of a breathing gap do you leave when your lid is on your pond? Do you leave your air stones going? I am really happy that all of your fish are well and made it through the winter. 😊🐟🐠🌨
@@suzannemoran7281 i don’t think you need a huge air gap, but you do for sure need to make sure that you don’t completely seal off the pond.. I leave my air stone going, but what I do is to lift it up, nearer the surface, that way it can help stop the surface of the water freezing, but won’t disturb the fish overwintering at the bottom! The inkbird thermostats are really handy for setting a heater to a lower temp!! 😊
@GingerFishyOfficial There is quite a lot of information one needs to become a successful fish keeper. 🐟 Thank you for all of your help and advice . Sorry one last question ,do I turn off the pump in the pond and just leave the airstone. BTW I love the little stones you have to put your airstones into
@@suzannemoran7281 That’s a tricky one to be honest, I personally leave my pumps running over the winter, but I do lift the pump up a bit higher so it doesn’t disturb the water at the bottom where the fish are over wintering. A lot of people choose to turn them off though, and just leave an airstone going to stop the surface from completely freezing over.. There’s pros and cons to both.. I’ve heard if you turn them off you have to make sure no water is left in the pipes/ hosing etc because if the water freezes inside the pipe work it can expand and cause a leak when it thaws out. Leaving the pumps going can also cause problems though.. for example if the pond does freeze, water can sometimes be diverted out the pond, which has actually happened to me before, luckily I noticed what has happed before the pond was drained too much. I think if you can stop the pond from freezing, through insulation, a cover and possibly a heater you can safely leave the pump going. But if you think the pond is going to freeze then it maybe better to turn the pump off, and so long as the pond doesn’t freeze solid the fish should be ok to over winter at the bottom. The fish won’t really be eating and producing waste over the winter so the filtration isn’t really needed. Hope that helps! 😊
Not usually, once it drops below 10°c/ 50°f i usually stop feeding. I am thinking of trying to heat 2 of my ponds to 10°c this year though, so probably will give a little bit of food maybe once or twice a week. I’ve watched a few videos by Dr. jessie Sanders (a fish vet) and I’m pretty certain she recommends continuing to feed a little bit over the winter (although she is in a warmer climate).. I think she also said that you can continue to feed normal fish food aswell, as opposed to feeding wheat germ, which is what most people recommend for feeding at lower temps. It was a while ago that I watched the videos though so you may want to check them out for yourself 😊👍
Brilliant ideas for me to use on my first above ground fish pond (a recycled corner bath). Thank you
I’m glad you found the video useful! And a pond made out of a recycled corner bath sounds awesome!!! 😊
I never realized how much goes into preparing a pond for winter in a cold climate. Great job with this video!
Thanks bro, still hoping we have a nice mild winter, but if not, I’m now prepared!! 👊
Ahoy there fellow local pond enthusiast! This video is exactly what i needed as Ive started to think about over-wintering my outdoor aquatic abode for my 1 year old shubunkins. In all honesty I was a bit unsure about leaving them outside in the cold but this video has answered a lot of questions. Ive not checked if you have an update on unwintering your ponds in spring, but if you havent, please coiuld you do that in a future video? Id like to know if you had any fish losses? What were the the ph and nitrate levels in spring? When did you remove the covers and when did you start feeding again? Did you experience any leaksages or evidence of freezing pipes? What was the overall fish health when you took off the covers, and whether you noticed if your finned friends had grown much after their winter hiatus? Many pond experts report that they have seen spawning activity when the weather warms. Have you noticed any spawning or have you seen any fish fry? Lots of questions :D Thanks again.
This is very helpful. I don’t have a bog filter. I think I’m going to remove my pumps completely and rely on my bubblers to float at the surface. Also, can I cut down hostas but leave them in the pond? Thank you for any input you can provide.
Wish I could keep my ponds running like yours but I would super chill mine...
Great covers that you made and use of insulation
Yeah, I am a little nervous about the ponds.. Last year I only had two so I was able to heat them so they didn’t drop below 10 degrees. Now I’ve got 4 ponds, and with the current electricity prices, heating all of them isn’t really an option.. I’m sure they’ll be fine though! 🤞
@@GingerFishyOfficial they should be fine
Great ideas Ginger hopefully old man winter isn’t too nasty this year
Cheers bro! Unfortunately, someone has just informed me that we are forecast to have the coldest winter in 100 years.. I’m very much hoping they’re wrong.. 🥶
@@GingerFishyOfficial yes we heard the same….Mother Nature has had just about enough of us humans messing up her stuff and she’s been trying to tell us for a while now….maybe people will start to listen sometime soon….
@@jackanddan I hope so bro 🌱
Good for winter !
Yep!! Hopefully all set! 🥶
I was going to add an air stone into my pond but the air pump will be inside the house in the hope the warmer air will keep the pond warmer. What do you think? I will also be covering the top with a correx sheet the same as you.
Hi mate, keeping the air pump inside the house will definitely help, by as you said, pumping in some warmer air.. That with a cover you should be more than ok! 👍
Nice ideas. Didn't even think about the pipes freezing ect.. Will definitely get those insulated, I've got lots of pond lettuce, will ovef winter some of it in the kitchen and probably bin the rest 😂
I ended up throwing all my water lettuce.. 🫢 I have put a bit of the Salvinia and Amazon frogbit in a little indoor tub though, to hopefully over winter! 😃
@@GingerFishyOfficial yeah I've got a water chestnut (I think?) that should die off and re surface in spring, my water lettuce has literally multiplied 20x 😂 😂 gonna be doing my winter prep this week, hopefully should be OK.
Thankfully I don't have that problem. The area I live in is called the Sunshine Coast in South East Queensland, Australia and I'm probably about in the middle of it on the North/South axis but on the coastal side of a range. We do get down to single digits in winter but the coldest we've had the five years in this spot was 6 Deg Celsius. Still thinking I might at least insulate my above ground pond build though but mostly because of the heat. Anyway, I bought a pump yesterday, a Chinese made pump but I'm told it's pretty good. DC variable speed, programmable etc.
Yeah, we had a really cold snap mid December and the bog filter on the above ground mini pond did briefly freeze solid.. luckily everything started back up after the ice all melted.. but yeah, part of the reason I went in pretty hard with the insulation was also for heat, after we hit an all time high of 40°c the summer just gone… I’m sure the pump will work great! Also, Sunshine Coast sounds amazing!!!
@@GingerFishyOfficial I would send you some pics but it would probably be quicker and easier for you to Google images for the Sunshine Coast, QLD. 😆
Hey buddy, here in Belgium they are speculating that it would be the coldest winter in a 100 years. We all will have to do that little bit extra to make sure all will be fine. There are some great tips!
Oh no.. 😩 I was hoping for a nice mild winter! At what temperature would you start to worry about your fish? What precautions will you be taking? Hope you’re all good bro! 😊
@@GingerFishyOfficial my pond is in the ground so not to much. Just cutting down my waterfall so that it doesn't cool down the water more. Set my airstone higher up and put some dome shaped foam in there to be able to look down on the fish if it starts to freeze over. If the ice becomes to big I will shut down all the filtration to make sure that nothing gets blocked and freeze's over and break's down on me.
Could make a vid on it
@@GingerFishyOfficial th-cam.com/video/AGCXcAAWWJA/w-d-xo.html
This is what I did for my rigid pond... Could be a good option for yours to
@@vertigoone-one-722 Yeah, make a video bro, be good to get an update on your pond! 👊
Hi ,you have some really good ideas here. Unfortunately, when my above ground pond was built the liner was just put straight onto the patio. On your other video, you put down sand and insulation. Do you think my pond will be ok or should I get someone in to do what you have done ? Ohherwise next winter I will only be able to insulate the sides and the top. If electricity prices come down I will heat the pond.
Last year I was not ready at all. Do you remember in November we had that really cold winter. I brought my fish inside. A lot of my neighbours lost their fish 😢
I hope that your fish were all OK. 😊
Hi! I don’t think insulation under the pond is essential.. from the research I did, the best thing you can do to help stop the water temp from dropping to far, is a lid, as apparently it’s the wind whipping across the water surface that really cools it down. Insulation does definitely help though. I took the lids off all my ponds this weekend just gone to see how all the fish were, and they were thankfully all good! I did put the lids back on afterwards though, as it’s still getting really cold at night. The only issue I really had over winter was around mid December when the temp really dropped, and the bog filter in my above ground mini pond completely froze.. so I turned the pump off, and once the pond had thawed I turned it back on, and luckily everything was fine. I did add a heater after that though, attached to an inkbird thermostat, so it would kick on if the temp got too low again, and stop it freezing. Fortunately I don’t think it got that cold again, so the heater never kicked on. 😊
@@GingerFishyOfficial Thank you for such a good reply. I will buy one of those thermostats for the winter. I remember when it was really cold in December my pond completely froze over right to the bottom and the ice actually came up high out of my pond.
So how much of a breathing gap do you leave when your lid is on your pond? Do you leave your air stones going? I am really happy that all of your fish are well and made it through the winter. 😊🐟🐠🌨
@@suzannemoran7281 i don’t think you need a huge air gap, but you do for sure need to make sure that you don’t completely seal off the pond.. I leave my air stone going, but what I do is to lift it up, nearer the surface, that way it can help stop the surface of the water freezing, but won’t disturb the fish overwintering at the bottom! The inkbird thermostats are really handy for setting a heater to a lower temp!! 😊
@GingerFishyOfficial There is quite a lot of information one needs to become a successful fish keeper. 🐟 Thank you for all of your help and advice . Sorry one last question ,do I turn off the pump in the pond and just leave the airstone. BTW I love the little stones you have to put your airstones into
@@suzannemoran7281 That’s a tricky one to be honest, I personally leave my pumps running over the winter, but I do lift the pump up a bit higher so it doesn’t disturb the water at the bottom where the fish are over wintering. A lot of people choose to turn them off though, and just leave an airstone going to stop the surface from completely freezing over.. There’s pros and cons to both.. I’ve heard if you turn them off you have to make sure no water is left in the pipes/ hosing etc because if the water freezes inside the pipe work it can expand and cause a leak when it thaws out. Leaving the pumps going can also cause problems though.. for example if the pond does freeze, water can sometimes be diverted out the pond, which has actually happened to me before, luckily I noticed what has happed before the pond was drained too much. I think if you can stop the pond from freezing, through insulation, a cover and possibly a heater you can safely leave the pump going. But if you think the pond is going to freeze then it maybe better to turn the pump off, and so long as the pond doesn’t freeze solid the fish should be ok to over winter at the bottom. The fish won’t really be eating and producing waste over the winter so the filtration isn’t really needed. Hope that helps! 😊
Thank you my friend 😁 You are so close to 1,000 subs!!
Hi Audra!! So close.. 😬
Really nice sharing ❤️
Thank you! 😊
Do you not feed in winter?
Not usually, once it drops below 10°c/ 50°f i usually stop feeding. I am thinking of trying to heat 2 of my ponds to 10°c this year though, so probably will give a little bit of food maybe once or twice a week. I’ve watched a few videos by Dr. jessie Sanders (a fish vet) and I’m pretty certain she recommends continuing to feed a little bit over the winter (although she is in a warmer climate).. I think she also said that you can continue to feed normal fish food aswell, as opposed to feeding wheat germ, which is what most people recommend for feeding at lower temps. It was a while ago that I watched the videos though so you may want to check them out for yourself 😊👍
1st
Thank you, fish Master! 😁
Can't get a word she's saying.
*Ponds are in the ground. You have outdoor Aquariums. I really wish you guys would stop calling them ponds.*