I do not have a pond, but I will have one next year. I am very interested in learning as much as possible about pond keeping, and I have read that preparing the pond in spring is something to put on my calendar. Is anybody out there doing it yet, or planning for it? And what do you do??? I'd be really interested in hearing what you do, what you've learned, and any tales you'd care to tell.
Happy Spring!

idk because we only have a really big pond, no goldfish in it but here the ice is just starting to melt so yeah i dunno lol

I have a tub pond that I've been planning to use because my 300 gallon is in the process of being built still (and that has gone on hold because we're getting snow still). Right now I am going through all the planning of "opening" the pond as soon as the weather warms up.

Weather is the most important key. When my fish start moving around (I have some rosey reds that are the only fish that overwintered) and all of the ice is completed melted, in addition to the temperature rising over 50 degrees fahrenheit (in the water)... I'll start feeding again and turn the filter back on. Everyone has their own opinions on feeding though, and some people I know in my city who keep fish wait until our water hits the 55 degree fahrenheit mark for 3 days in a row. (To assure the temperature won't fall again)

Ah, I forgot to mention I'll be starting off the spring feeding with a wheat germ based food.

Other things I'm prepping to do are: a water change, washing the plants, and doing health checks on each and every fish. I'll also be adding a bit of salt or some stress coat to help in case the slime coats are in poor condition.

13,500g pond. I greenhouse cover the pond in winter. Bypass the water fall so I don't get supercooling there. I also shut down the skimmer circuit. The pond doesn't freeze with the greenhouse. My filters don't have a big cycle to do in spring. When water gets to around 50 I start feeding every few days. Most will recommend a wheat germ based food for easy digestibility. This year I was able to start feeding the end of February which was 3 weeks earlier than last year. Some may have been the bypass of the waterfall which I ran the winter before. Water temp low in our coldest weather (6f) was just below 38. It was only in the 30's for about a month this winter.

I don't have to worry to much about temp falling because of the greenhouse, but also the larger water volume. Larger ponds are easier to maintain water quality and don't have the temp swings (summer or winter) that a smaller pond would have. Deeper is always better for a koi pond and in climates where the frost is deep.

from last winter.

Greenhouse cover will stay on through April. The ends can come off earlier and I will probably take them off in a few weeks IF it ever decides to warm up again!

From inside the greenhouse earlier this month..

It looks like you have gotten plenty of excellent advice to file away. My local pond dealer gave us a great seminar, and I have posted his handout on my blog: phillyrover.wordpress.com

It's a great hobby - you will enjoy it!!!

Philly Bill - I checked out your blog - that will be interesting to follow in the coming months! Seems like you are south of me, but possibly in the same hardiness zone. It looks like your pond is raised up above the level of the earth, which I would think would contribute to more severe freezing problems - something I'm worried about. Are you using the solar cover? Does a solar cover allow the pond to "breathe"?

Mary, your greenhouse idea looks very interesting. Is the greenhouse custom-built, or did you use some kind of greenhouse kit or plan that could be purchased? Is it hard to take down in the spring (should I have one, it would be MUCH smaller than yours!) I hope you will be posting more pictures as the season goes on!

The first pond is in the earth, up against a neighbor's house, and on a south facing wall, so I had very little freezing problem last winter - just a light layer one time, no danger at all to the fish with the Thermopond to keep it ventilated. Although we are just one half zone different from eastern Massacusetts (6b vs 6a) and one full zone from western Mass (5), this past winter was mild for us and severe for you.

The new pond is above ground and partially shaded but deeper at 26". I plan to wrap the tank in insulating material - bubblewrap with reflective coating available from home supply stores - and then build a masonry surround.

I never had to use the solar cover last winter. It has one side with the bubbly texture that should allow for gas exchange. I have seen posts from people that cover their ponds entirely with it. If I use it on my new tank next year, I will be rather safe than sorry and not cover the entire tank, leaving space for the waterfall and floating heater.

Apparently the solar cover not only heats the pond, but is great for predator control. Herons hunt by sight, and raccoons like water, so the plastic effectively hides the pond from them. I also hear fewer leaves get though it than with a net.

Where can we find further info on buying/building an inexpensive greenhouse cover?

Oliver

We are farmers by occupation and I actually had the pre-bent hoop laying around here. Here is a good site for buying pieces to do a pond cover that is realatively easy to put up and take down. http://www.creativeshelters.com/Fittings/Canopy-Fitting.aspx Two critical things..snow load and getting the covering (of any kind) well anchored so it won't blow away!!

My structure will take a few hours to take off and a few to put on. Now that all the pieces are drilled it should come off pretty easy, but it will take quite a bit of room to store, but for us that isn't a problem

I will post more pics later

Oliver many use heavy pvc (read bigger than 1/2 or 3/4") to build lean-too or bend the into hoops. There does need to be at least one ridge across to support a hoop style greenhouse. PVC does not have to be glued, but some fittings in some critical spots might be better off glued.