Well, it's officially to the point where the pond temp will not be over 50 F for the rest of the season. Our nights have been getting down into the 20's and 30's and days have been in the 40's and 50's. The pond temp has stayed stable at around 48 for about a week now.

Question is, when is the right time to do my last water change and to turn off the filters? The fish haven't eaten in a week. I don't want to shut the filters off incase there's still stuff that needs to be stabled water quality-wise. Should I do a water change and then let the filter cycle for a few days or does that matter? Or should I wait until it's colder in the water to ensure that I get the last bit of "dirty" water from the fish's poop (from eating algae off the sides)?

Once the water gets to a certain temperature the bacteria stop working, so if you keep the filter going then in the spring the bacteria will colonise again quicker but you would be taking away the warmer water from the bottom.
As far as i remember reading the temperature at the bottom of a pond doesnt drop as much as it does at the top so its why it doesnt freeze, but if your pump is taking the warmer water out then all thats left is the cooler top water. If you want to keep the filter running then lift the pump a couple of feet off the bottom and put something under the fall to stop the water going down. I think this only happens to ponds that are at least 4 foot. Any shallower and the whole pond can freeze if the temperature gets low enough. Also you have to consider the pipes freezing which may burst if it freezes.

Turning the filter off is probably the better thing to do and just leave it for the winter as the fish respiration will be low so they arent creating much ammonia. Test the water to make sure theres no ammonia or nitrite but if they come back clear then leave it.

How deep is your pond again Erika? If less than 3 feet then i would bring all the fish in when theres a risk of deep frosts happening.

I switch my pump off at nights now and it wont be long before it will be off altogether as i dont want to chill the two sarasa fish even more.

Sorry, not hyjacking the thread here.. but, Sandy, do you think I should turn my pump off or make it higher then? Its 3ft deep and wont freeze right through, it never gets cold enough for that.. but as its so small I want to keep a warm bit for the fish as much as possible.

If you can raise it a couple of feet then they should do fine.
The coldest area will be where the water goes in so you have to decide how to approach that. Using some foam or polystyrene will help to keep the water from going under but you dont want everything to freeze over.
Where is the filter itself? If its hidden from the frosts then have a hose going into the pond from the outlet.

I cant raise the pump in mine as theres nothing to put it on so will shut it down completely next month.

Mine is a tad over 3 feet deep. I figured I'd turn the filter off, but I'm a bit confused as to when. I have my submersible de-icer and a floating one, but I havne't placed them yet as I wanted to wait till the filter was taken out to place them.

So you think I should wait another week or so, turn off the filters, do a water change, place the de-icers and call it a day?

Theres someone I know that has kept koi for a long time and he has taken a hose from his filter outlet into the pond so it just goes under the surface. As far as i can make out he is leaving it like that over the winter.
I wouldnt do a water change unless the params are out.
But we have goldies not koi so im not sure what we should be doing. If i had lucys milder winter then I would leave it running, but i think i might just turn mine off when we get the first frost and let them take their chances.
I dont have a de icer yet and maybe i will get one.

Yeah, I got mine at Farm and Fleet (a farm supply store that sells pond stuff too). I got both the floater and the submersible just to be safe. Jon has a neat idea for checking how far down the pond is freezing, so we can keep an eye on that. He's so creative.

Are you doing any sort aeration? I've read mixed things about that too.

Thought about that too but it might mix the water too much.

Yeah, I guess we could always bubble the bottom of the pond periodically with an air pump or something? Jeesh, I had no idea I'd still be so confuzzled this close to winter!!!

Me neither. I have a day where i think just switch everything off and the next I totally change my mind

I wouldn't do a water change before shutting down for the winter. I never do and the Koi and goldfish all do fine. I do try to get as much stuff off the bottom of the pond with the skimmer but that is it.

Okay, thanks Deb! I guess I'll have to get busy this weekend then. Test water, pull out filters, clean them out, store them up, place heaters, skim the bazillion oak leaves out. ETC.



LOL!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOO true! Jon asks me constantly, "When ya gonna turn everything off?" I swear I'm going to hurt him.

Well we got 0 just now on the temperature gauge so im keeping the pond off now. Im scared!! LOL

THat's your outside temp? Yowsas! We're suppose to get a slight warm up (again) and it's suppose to be in the 60's next week! Crazy November weather.

i'm in northern Ireland & my pond's water temp is currently 6*C/43*F. I had my filter and pump switched off permantly since 4th Nov and everyone seems okay! i'm not feeding at all now and although my pond was still uncycled when i switched off, my water perams have all read 0 for the past two weeks so it's nice to know they're not being stressed by out of wack perams now that everything is switched off!

Jude

We had our first frost last night and the edges of the pond were frozen over.

thankfully we haven't had any frosts here yet! is there not a risk of ice puncturing pond liners at all?

No I dont think so. Need to go and find a ball to float in it tomorrow.

Hey Sands, I've heard of people using plastic milk jugs for that too. Then again, I haven't a clue how milk comes in Scotland! That's crazy you've seen ice now. I haven't yet, but I'm sure it's not far off.