Last Updated: 12/3/12

1. On 11/4/12, I did the usual. Both the 1800 and 153 gallon ponds were at 48 degrees F. I squirted all the flosses and changed the PondMaster flosses. I put in additives and water. I bailed 8 buckets or 16 gallons of water to the new back liner pond which had inverted after the hurricane. I did not have time to do a lot of other pond work but hope to get to that in a few days.

2. I tried to catch up on some winterizing pond chores on 11/5/12. I changed the little bag of oyster shell for new. I cut down the rest of the marginals in the 1800 gallon pond except for some of the iris. I moved the two pickerel rush pots to deeper water. I have found in the past that they do not survive winter if left in the most shallow area of the marginal area. I removed the pot of tropical waterlily. I found 7 nut-like tubers, 3 with leaves on them and 4 that were dormant or dead. One of those broke apart later when I put them in wet sand (Reptisand). Boy, dead waterlily tubers really stink! I raked up some leaves around the pond. We had our first hard frost that night.

3. On 11/7/12, I went to try to figure out why the pond outlet was not working. This time, when I held down the reset button longer on the outlet than before, it buzzed, and power returned.

4. On 11/11/12, I squirted off the flosses and the bioballs. The 1800 gallon pond was at 47 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 49 degrees F. I found two pickerel frogs in the biofilter and put them in the pond while I squirted out the bags of lava rock and bioballs. I collected two wheelbarrows worth of leaves by hand from around the pond edge.

5. I linked in these photos:

These photos are from 9/10/12:
Canna in bloom. This is an orange variegated tropical aquatic canna. You can also see a lot of water lettuce.
Snowball plant flowers

From 9/13/12:
Canna in bloom again, close-up of the flowers.
Canna in bloom, from a distance.

Basement tub pond on 10/9/12. All that is in there at that time is some snowball plant.

These photos are of artillery fungus spores on the outside of my Cyprio filter after I brought it in for the winter on 10/24/12. Here is an article on artillery fungus.
Artillery fungus spores
Artillery fungus spore
Artillery fungus spores

6. On 11/18/12, I did the usual. I changed the floss around the main pump. I put in additives and water and collected a few leaves. Oops, I took the temperature but I didn't write it down here! It was in the upper 40's I think in both ponds.

7. On 11/21/12, while it was still pretty nice out, I decided to finish winterizing the 153 gallon pond. I removed the net and put it away. I took out the PondMaster filter and put in the air stone from the Luft pump instead. I collected leaves and cut plants away from around this pond. I cut off the tops of all the iris in the 50 gallon tub pond and the 153 gallon pond. Now, I hope that the strong winds lay low and do not fill the pond up with leaves. I will manually remove leaves from this pond now. The net was open on the west end, draped over plants so animals shouldn't have gotten stuck in there. Yet, I had to rescue birds a few times who kept flying up in to the net instead of flying down and out. Soon, I will need to pull the big pond's net off the waterfall area before things freeze (if they do this year; they never did last year).

8. By 11/25/12, it was very cold, less than 40 degrees F and breezy. I didn't feel like getting in the pond to squirt the flosses so I am now doing that every other week (when the pond is not frozen). There is not any ice on the ponds yet but there is some in the bird bath and in the pool. The 1800 gallon pond was at 42 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 40 degrees F. I had planned to use the pond vacuum on the new back 30 gallon liner pond but my plans were thwarted. So, instead, I decided just to run the net through and remove most of the leaves from this now cesspool. Imagine my surprise when something was flopping around in the dumped leaves! It was a 2" goldfish (naturally colored). Back when I set up this pond, there were goldfish fry in there, at most two were seen. I found one jumped out and dead on 9/15/12. There apparently was another survivor. I rushed him in my bare hands to the 1800 gallon pond and put him in. He might have survived in the 30 gallon pond if the winter turns out to be mild as it's deep enough but the pond has no filtration or aeration and stinks badly. Good luck little one!

9. On Thursday, 11/29/12, I decided to do my "Sunday" chores three days early while I had the chance. The 1800 gallon pond was at 42 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 40 degrees F. The air temperature was 47 degrees F with a little breeze but not bad. I topped off the ponds and put in additives. I removed the MagDrive that augments the main waterfall's flow for the winter. When I pulled on the 20 feet of "kink free" tubing, the tube broke! I had barely pulled on it, not hard at all. The tubing is hard as a rock now, not flexible by any standards. It is only 1.5 years old but the tubing must be replaced when I set it back up in the early spring. When I squirted out the hose for storage, another piece brought off! What junk. I found a cranefly larvae in the filter material around the main pump (which I squirted off). I put the larvae in my 153 gallon pond.

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