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Bottom drain a winter success
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Posted by mollymaples Northwest,z6 (My Page) on Thu, Apr 2, 09 at 12:48
| Just thought I would share my winter success. After all the debate on bottom drains a while back, I put one in two summers ago. Last year I upgraded my filter tanks to three 75 gallon horse troughs to allow for more water flow. This winter we had a record breaking snow fall in December. Not liking cold weather, I have to admit that I did not check on the condition of my pond under the three feet of snow. I have not idea how long the pond was frozen completely over, but at least a month. By time I realized that with the waterfall frozen over I could lose my fish, I set out to thaw it with a tank heater, one I intended to put in before the pond froze over but didn't. Under several inches of ice and 3 ft of snow, the waterfall continued to filter the water. The first tank held one small fish that came up through the bottom drain, the third and pump tank held another, both alive. Due to the filtration, my fish were happy as clams, I didn't lose one of them. Next year I intend to get the heater going before it freezes as a safety measure. I don't want to give to much to chance. I have never regretted putting in my bottom drain, it was definitely worth the expense, effort and labor. |
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RE: Bottom drain a winter success
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| I put in my bottom drains last year just before fall. I have a settling tank with mechanical filtration before the stock tank/bio filter/ waterfall. I disconnected the waterfall and kept the water cycling through the settling tank/mech filter and then straight into the pond. The rushing water helps to keep ice clear(most of the time). On single digit nights the water stream would freeze on the outside, creating an ice pipe if you will. The Koi did fine, as did the frogs. Koi winter over really well. My first year I lost 1 of three fish(One of the two survivors was a comet- I lost all frogs). At the time I had no bottom drains, no water filtration through winter and only had a makeshift deicer to keep a hole in the ice so toxic gases could escape. It was pathetic but there were survivors. |
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