Last Updated: 2/5/23

1. At 1:16 pm on 1/1/23, the air temperature was 58 degrees F! A week before, it was 40 degrees lower. It is up and down! The 1800 gallon pond was at 54 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 46 degrees F. I got in the pond for the first time in three weeks so I could remove the filter materials around the big pond and clean them off. I also squirted down the bioballs. Inside the biofilter was either a small bullfrog or a large green frog, three big pickerel frogs, and three small pickerel frogs. I put the big frogs in a bucket while I worked and then put them back in the filter. In the big pond, I found a small, less than 2 inch long pickerel frog that had died. The frogs do better in the filter. I changed out the bag of carbon/zeolite mix and oyster shell. I had to hammer the plastic container open and destroy it because the lid wouldn't come off. Sometimes little pieces of carbon will get in there and prevent the lid from opening. The fish were active but I didn't feed them. I meant to but forgot since it is going to be warm for the next five days.

2. It was 42 degrees F at 12:46 pm on 1/8/23. The 1800 gallon pond was at 48 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 46 degrees F. It is finally closer to normal. It was so warm this past week that I fed the fish for four mornings in a row, stopping two days before it was supposed to go to normal. A few days were in the 60's!

I recorded temperatures, put in additives, removed some leaves, and added water. I did not get in the big pond.

3. The morning of 1/11/23, as I came around the house, there was a great blue heron standing on the pond net over the deep end. That by itself was not unusual. What was unusual is that after I circled around the back yard and came back past the big pond less than five minutes later, the heron was in the pond, under the net! He or she jumped in the deepest end (which I had read when I started ponding that they never do) and then, as I approached, the heron ran up into the shallow area. Once I made my way there, the heron went back to the deep end where he/she proceeded to float on the surface like a duck since it was too deep. Then, the heron flew out the opening from water over his/her head! So much for the lie that herons don't go in the deep water. The fish were petrified. One koi was trying to jam himself into the hiding area but the koi was too big. The other three koi were in the open but none of the goldfish or orfe were visible as they had jammed into the two artificial hiding places (one black plastic, one mesh). I detached all the plastic stakes from the net and pulled it closer to the waterfall, hopefully preventing the same thing from happening again. I don't have a place to insert stakes that puts the net where I want it so the net is touching the waterfall. If we ever get snow or ice again (seeming less and less likely since it has been like spring most days), then that could be problematic.

4. I saw a dead goldfish stuck in the filter floss in the big pond on 1/12/23 but it would not come loose with just the net. So, I would have to wait until Sunday when I would get in the pond. I wonder if this fish died because of the heron.

5. On 1/15/23 at 2:32 pm, the air temperature was 41 degrees F, and the winds were bad. I didn't want to do pond work but that dead goldfish needed to be removed. The 1800 gallon pond was at 45 degrees F as was the 153 gallon pond. I got in the big pond and removed the filter floss with the fish. The goldfish was 6 inches long and just orange with no signs of tubercles (which means nothing since it was not breeding season) and with septicemia and what looked like scraping injuries like one might expect if he/she jammed into the plastic hiding area and got scraped on the plastic edges. When the fish were freaking out from the heron, that might have happened. The fish had no stab wounds.

6. At dawn on 1/17/23, I looked out at the pond to see a geyser! I had to get in the pond to fix it. The newer flexible tubing came off the input for the big pump. Using a screwdriver, I had to loosen the hose clamp, attach, and tighten, in water that was under 40 degrees F. For dexterity, I had to use my bare hands so they started burning almost instantly but I do what I must. Once again I thank the men who created my pond not to my specifications who made it so that the pump can only be serviced by getting in the water. Luckily, the water was shooting straight up so the pond lost less than an inch. The frogs overwintering in the biofilter were exposed to the air but it was above freezing so I presume that they are okay. A check valve would have saved them from that fate but I cannot use one because, if the power went out (or the hose popped off) when it were below freezing, and the lines didn't drain, the lines would freeze. Then, if the power came back, either the pump would burn out, or the lines would rupture.

7. On 1/22/23, at 11:35 am, it was 40 degrees F with light rain and sleet. The 1800 gallon pond was at 47 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 44 degrees F. I pulled up the airline in the big pond as the air stone had come off. I attached another air stone and will retrieve the one that came off when I get in next. I didn't get the pond as I was battling my first round with Covid. I removed some leaves, put in additives, and topped off the ponds.

8. It was 46 degrees F on 1/29/23 at 10:30 am. It was supposed to rain later so I did the pond work first. Whenever I do such a thing, the rain never really arrives. It messes with my chore schedule. The 1800 gallon pond was at 49 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 46 degrees F. I got in the pond to remove and squirt off the filter flosses. I removed the air stone that had fallen off the week before. I put in additives and topped off the ponds with water.

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