Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Empty pond for the winter????

We just recently bought our house and it has a backyard pond. It appeared to have been neglected and it had all kinds of crud on the bottom. So we decided to drain it for the winter and start fresh in the spring. We also took the plants out. My questions are: 1. Is it alright to have the pond empty over the winter?
2. How should I take care of my water lilies? Some sites say submerge, others say put them in peat moss and spray with water occassionally, which is most effective? 3. What do I do with my filter/moter?
Thanks so much for any help any of you could give me. We are very new to the world of ponds.

Vanessamt,

What state are you in? It is difficult to visualize your situation without knowing what part of the country you're in.

Sorry, I am in Philadelphia, PA. Thanks again for the help.

1. It is definitely OK to let your pond stay empty over the winter. If you start allowing it to fill, even just a few days before stocking young fish next year, you will have the start of a vibrant zooplankton community within four or five days.

2. I doubt if you will find a lot of people with water lilly overwintering knowledge on here. This site is primarily people with larger ponds. I don't know of anybody off hand who is dealing with backyard ponds.

3. Ditto above. There may be a couple of individuals who have backyard ponds in addition to their larger ponds, but I can't think of any. It may be beneficial for you to check to internet for some koi forums. Of course you're welcome here, and many of the same concepts apply, but that is not the focus of this forum.

Here is a quote from "Pond Fertilization and Zooplankton Management Techniques for Production of Fingerling Striped Bass and Hybrid Striped Bass" by James G. Geiger and Charles J. Turner.

Pond Filling: If the water for the ponds comes from cool groundwater and is essentially sterile, the ponds should be filled about 10-14 days before anticipated stocking with larvae. If the source is a reservoir or stream that is warmer than well water and has an abundance of zooplankton, it may be necessary to fill it only 3-7 days before stocking.

Sorry about the lack of clarification. I guess it really "just depends" as BCody and Ewest often say. Ultimately, if you want the pond fired up quickly, make sure the water is amply warm and there is a source of appropriate species of zooplankton present for innoculation.

Thanks Bruce I have not seen that info posted here. I learn something all the time.

If the water is warm or warming but from a well you can speed up the process by seeding the pond by moving a few 5 gallon buckets of water from another pond (with good plankton qualities) to jump start the process.

vanessamt, perhaps Cary Martin with ATI www.aerationtechnologies.net
will chime in as he has extensive knowledge on small ponds, water gardens and features as well as the larger ones, If not feel free to call him at 800-609-6385

Thanks so much for the help. I didn't realize that this site was mostly for non-backyard type ponds. I do appreciate the info and the help though. I was mainly worried about leaving the pond empty. I figured it should be okay. Thanks and take it easy.

Vanessamt,

There are several folks who have great knowledge on small micro ponds that frequent this Forum. I'm in the first year of having one myself and in a Southern climate so can't offer you much practical experience....but I hope you will continue to post. Much about fish behavior can be learned through micro ponds and, for that matter, about ponds in general. They are a great place to try out things in a very controlled setting.

If it were me, I think I would use this opportunity to clean out the pond and get it ready for spring. Service the equipment as needed and store some plants in a place where they can survive your winter and be ready to place in the pond and multiply next spring.

Vanessamt,
Andrew Davis and myself have knowledge of backyard lily ponds - Andrew has more hands on experience than myself. Hopefully Andrew checks the forum daily and can respond soon - check back occassionally in the next week.

Firstly how deep is the pond?

Secondly does the pond have a membrane liner or is it an earth bottom pond?. If it is a liner pond, then I suggest doing a fall cleaning of pond bottom and then refilling with water for overwintering. Freezing and thawing of an empty pond can damage the underlying liner wall. If the pond is refilled then plants can be stored in the deeper waters. If you overwinter the lilies out of the pond then just keep them damp and in the dark till the pond is refilled in spring.

Are there other plants besides lilies?
I assume no fish?
What type of filter - internal or external?. Is the filter mainly mechanical, biological or combination style?

Bill and Vanessamt,

Bill asked all the questions I wanted to ask. If you do have a pvc or better, EPDM rubber liner, do put water in the pond and let it freeze. If it is exposed to the sun and cold of winter, especially the PVC liner, may crack during winter. PVC liners have a tendency to shrink as much as 10%/ year depending on your location.

I would drain it while it is still farily warm, scoop as much junk out of the bottom as possible, rent a pressure washer and wash down the rocks and bottom towards the deeper sections, using a sump pump or trash pump, suck out the dirty water and refill. If needed we have a clean out kit available for the pumping needs.

Once you update us on the type of filters, I can help you with cleaning of those too.

Bill answered the questions on the lillies so I will not go into that.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing from you.