Water features in Winter

Just guessing here. I have had similar problems and work with a lot of ponds.A large pond with a strong pump can be left on. Smaller pumps can easily have their outlet lines freeze up.That can be very bad for the pump.

Even large pumps can freeze up in a very bad arctic outflow. One of my pictures I uploaded shows that. In those situations I would turn the pump off. Save electricity Save the pump..

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/54729-one-of-those-winters/member/skyline

Most fish, Koi are going dormant already beginning in late Nov. Not much biological activity occuring aside from decaying tree leaves that fell in and weren't filtered out. I suppose my answer, is wait until all tree debris has fallen, clean the pond out, bottom and top and turn the pump off.

IMO.

Stop feeding the fish.

Last. Sometimes it is the unexpected, as in my case. My rubber lined pond was penetrated by the eager beak of a blue heron trying to eat my Koi. Those holes caused major leakage to my pond..

your fish almost need your filter running more in winter than summer.its wear they get there oxigen.it stops ice covering your pond.one of the worst mistakes is to turn it of in winter.if you get a dead fish under the ice youl loose them all.you wouldnt turn your heating of every winter .never NEVER never turn it of.trust me ive had fish for well since i could reach in my dads pond when i was about 3.i hope ive helpede.decaying leaves under ice can kill your fish.

I break the ice. My comment refers to a big freeze. It all depends on where your pump is and if it can be protected.

On this I know of what I speak. I built a very complicated system for a major duty Koi Pond. Even that waterfall, froze up and could not deliver water to pond in one winter we had. The intake still worked. It would eventually have emptied the pond.

ow your right we only get it down to about -15 here ever but i was right what i said.you scare the fish breaking the ice.perhaps build a shelter.have your pond indoors as such.you put the pump the furthest dystance from the filter you can to get rid of a lot of the dead spots.bury the pond pipe is warmer undergrood.you could put a couple of powerfull heaters in the filter and maybe grow some plants round it.it all helps a lot

The 'friendly' bacteria in the filter that feed off the harmful bacteria will die if you turn off the pump as they rely on supplies of oxygen to stay alive. This could cause the Ammonia and Nitrite levels from fish body waste to build up in the pond, and the fish will be prone to disease or die.
We keep our filter going all the time all year round.

Do check out my new pictures on the pond construction.

I wish I had taken a picture of that mess. The koi pond was fed from two smaller rock/waterfall features. Every gallon of water (and we were talking about a 1 horsepower pump) froze solid before it could get to the pond. I raced over and shut it off.

We also compound that problem with winter power outages. Then it is total freek out time. Marie bought a generator, more for her Koi than for herself. Luckily I had an unfrozen hose and was able to refloat the pond from a protected water faucet.

I think Noseypotter's experience was about the same. It was minus 7 F, which I think is close to your -15 C.

One year we droped to to your equivalent of -22. F. and everything was toast. No snow cover, just freezing bitter cold. Even the Canada geese collapsed. That freeze lasted for TEN days. I lost every plant I had grown.

I too keep the water flowing all year as well.

well over here we have underwater pumps and plumming.the ice doesnt get near them

when you turn them on in spring your putting some realy nasty things into your pont to

I DIDNT HAVE Aexperience i was trying to help.my pond is on my photos and theyve bean healthy for a good 8 years.clearer than my tap water i swear.i filter with bbq charcoal over chicken wire over old milk crates.this is so the water passes all under though the charcoal.in the srpring i purches some watercress from tescos and scater it on the charchole.simple and very cheap.i shouldnt keep giving all my secrets away lol

i always leave my pump on, so far the pond hasnt frozen over.
i was told that by leaving a tennis ball on the water it will stop it from freezing over. havent had to try this so far so not sure if it actually works.

you wont have 2 with the pump running