Pond vent and night light

[Dave in Innisfil]

Outdoor activities limited in this heat, I sat down in front of the window A/C unit and finally finished the minor modifications and construction of Greg's winter pond vent. Endorsement - Greg B's got a CD available with some great DIY projects, the de-icer being just one of them and I highly recommend it to other newbies. The pic is the functional model, now I'm working on cosmetics appealing to both summer and winter. Rather use it than store it, is my motto.

The red bulbs give the pond a real neat look at night in contrast to the many solar lights, and illuminate right to the bottom. My plan is to situate a light shallow plastic planter on top containing something shallow rooted, with long trailing f vines/flowers/whatever to cover the black plastic bin and PVC piping. Something the fish would like to nibble on, or that would also act as an oxygenator would be a bonus. Suggestions ?

I'm also wondering whether I will need to switch to clear or white bulbs in order for the unit to optimally function in -40 C ? I'm using dual 25 watt bulbs right now.

[GregBickal]

Cool. Nice flip top lid. The bulbs are only there to produce heat, so the color of the light wont matter.

Great work !!

[Dave in Innisfil]

The credit goes to you, Greg....your design. I figure with the flip top lid I can periodically check on the bulbs, and do a couple of winter water tests so I don't end up with an ammonia spike like I did last year. I did the leak test, but 24 hours later there is some water inside the piping, so I'm planning on filling the outer ring with foam insulation. I affixed it to the housing with 8 large tie-wraps, partially to give it some flexibility with shifting ice. The tie-wrap holes in the housing will provide venting and quick reference the unit is functioning. Green bulbs also gave the pond a nice effect, and I'm painting the entire unit flat black to absorb what little heat the sun gives off in winter.

Fortunately for me, in 40 C temps, the only ice I'll have to worry about for the next while resides temporarily in the Cesaer's I like to drink while reflecting on what it's taken to get our ponds to this point, and what's next !

:lol:

[Jackie Ramo]

Ceasar's, I thought the label said Molson's :lol:

[Wulff]

My de-icer failed last winter.
Ended up having to go out every few days with a couple pots of boiling water.
Call me lazy but can i get the plans for that or the CD please ;)

[Dave in Innisfil]

Greg has a CD with a bunch of great DIY projects available for a nominal cost. The cost will more than pay for itself in simple projects to replace expensive purchases or contracting someone else to do. Last winter I tried in vain to keep my pond vented with aeriation (which didn't work as planned) and almost daily chiselling of a hole. Utilizing things I had around the house, I made the de-icer for $20. Bet I spend more than that replacing koi I lost in the early winter because of my ignorance (No loud noises and don't aeriate the pond from the bottom in the winter)

And yes, I've been known to tip a few Molson's to help wash down the Motts.
Some of my most enjoyable moments lately have involved sitting on my "throne" pond side with a cold lager. Isn't that what ya'll said this time of year is for ?

[Jackie Ramo]

Greg's cd is great and well worth the money. Good designs well laid out on how to do them.

Dave, certainly one should enjoy the pond at every opportunity, after all that's why we have them. A cold one or two is always a great way to enhance the experience.

So let's see... ceasar's in the morning, cold ones in the afternoon, wine in the evening, yep. lots of enjoyment
:smile:

[Dave in Innisfil]

Attempting to make our house smoke free gives me an additional excuse to sit and reflect on our ponds. I'm trying to limit the "wet hands on" part to feeding and plant maintenance, but the brain keeps ticking on building some kind of filtration system so the lower pond is as clear as the bog. The more domestic ponds I see online, in books and on our journeys, the more I get the idea that this hobby is not limited by imagination and ingenuity.

[Jackie Ramo]

Its a facinating hobby that can take you to many levels and learningnew skills all the time and not all of them have to do with fish. Electical, plumbing, gardening, etc...

[Merlin]

Gregs CD is good I got my copy :) and built the de-icer . ( not that us UK'ers realy need it :grin: ) Now Greg if you can come up with an umberela so we can keep the rain off of our ponds :) . !rofl

[Dave in Innisfil]

Green bulbs give a great summer evening effect in this contraption, even better than the red. I'm still at a loss for how I can cosmetically disguise it for all season's use. It will be interesting to see how well it works in the winter with -40 C temps and 3' ice. I'm planning on hedging my bets by also running my pond bubbler. With any luck, it will be several months before I report back on its success. Right now we're dealing with + 40 C outside temps, and pond water temps to almost match.

[Jackie Ramo]

Where's the pic??? What about some dollar store greenery glued on, use goop glue as it will stand the hot and cold better than a glue gun.

[Dave in Innisfil]

Plastic greenery is definitely the leading contendor now. I was leaning towards making it look like a floating dock with a fishing gnome bolted to the top. It looks pretty much the same as the first pic, except I painted the PVC pipe black too. I imagine that the plastic greenery will fade pretty quickly, but at dollar store prices cheap and easy to replace if it does. Plastic plants also eliminate the "how do I water plants in the middle of the pond" dilemna. I picked up a tall free-standing plant trellis I'll anchor with rocks to the bottom of the pond to keep the unit from floating into the lilies (gawd I hate untangling lily stalks....LOL). It's a "next year project-in-progress-now". I'm still prioritizing better filtration on cosmetics. The water in my upper bog pond is so clear you can almost read the date on a dime on the bottom, but the clarity of the water in our main fish pond seems to vary greatly from week to week with no plausable explanation. Thanks, again, Jackie.

[Jackie Ramo]

You could paint it up to look like a boat house or a marina with a little dock floating off it. The windows would slow the light shining through and would look way cool at night. When it comes to creating work for others, I'm great at it!!!

[TASSAJARA]

Man does it get could up there, -40C, is that with a 90 km/h chill factor? :frisbee:

Can you guys please figure out how to put an AC unit in one, I can't get my water below 31.1C It's so hot the tap water is 30C.
:lol:

[Dave in Innisfil]

Our pond was 86F the other day. I guess this would account for the amount of string algae that now adorns my parrot feather in great quantities.

In learning the pain of untangling lily stalks, we opted for a remote control submarine instead of remote control boats. Sonny's use is restricted to the dog and inflatable pools, but I get a kick out of watching the fish chase it around the pond. The only problem is when the battery runs low, it usually floats up and gets tangled somewhere I can't reach, thus more tangled lily stalks. A floating marina or boathouse is definitely another consideration for disguising it.

I've even considered a floating bird feeder, but wonder the negative impact of seed waste and bird poo on my increasing pH level. One thing for sure, it'd be the most squirrel proof feeder idea I've come up with yet.

:lol:

[Merlin]

You could paint it up to look like a boat house or a marina with a little dock floating off it. The windows would slow the light shining through and would look way cool at night. When it comes to creating work for others, I'm great at it!!!
Hey that would look cool :)

[Dave in Innisfil]

After a trip to Michael's, I now have a source for much of the trimmings. The black exterior of the pond vent is suppose to absorb and hold heat, so I'll work on a decorative version over the winter.

[Dave in Innisfil]

It's neat to watch the underwater night activities of our fish, and the best way to see our new babies. We interchanged different colour bulbs, and while green gives off a nicer overall glow, red seems to attract more fish. No, I'm not installing a disco ball for them.........

It adds more viewing and enjoyment time to our pond. This time of year we are almost bug-less, so sitting pondside under the stars watching our fin-kids is a relaxing way to end the day.

[Jackie Ramo]

Too Cool!!! A disco ball is a must for xmas!!!

[Dave in Innisfil]

Only if I can charge admission and retire......LOL

We noticed for some strange reason beyond us, the fish swim kinda sideways when under the bright lights. Nobody dare suggest I adorn them with sunglasses.......now they have garlic breath nobody will want to dance with them anyways.

[Jackie Ramo]

This reminds me of a funny story that happened a few years ago. On the koivet board a new member posted about his fish doing the same thing swiming on their sides when he was watching them. It became a huge thread with every one guessing why it was happening. The fish were not sick, the were fine when his wife got home. Tuned out he got home after dark and shone a light on them to see them and they of course turned to the light. Looked like they were swimming on their sides as their eyes are on the side of the head :lol:

[Dave in Innisfil]

I was thinking that having two 100 watt bulbs shining down on them inches above the water, they might be adjusting their swim angle so as not to be blinded, and able to see where the pellets floating on the surface area are.