Last Updated: 3/4/26

1. I did not do pond work on 2/1/26. It was too cold. The ponds are mostly frozen. At 11:30, the air temperature was 20 degrees F, and it was windy. I put in yet another new airline tubing and air stone in the big pond as the lines keep freezing.

2. It finally got above freezing by one degree on 2/2/26! There is now a nice open hole in the big pond and even a smaller hole, and I can stop with the buckets of hot water until it goes back into the single digits next weekend.

3. On the morning of 2/4/26, I installed Webb’s Pond Ripple Air Pump, PR20, with weighed airline tubing and an air bar, and it’s so much better!! No more freezing air lines! I removed two of the three lines that went to the Luft pump, and of course, the Luft pump itself and its cover. I put a larger plastic storage box over the new air pump. I unplugged the old de-icer and replugged the new de-icer, and the new one did start to work. The morning of 2/5/26, I removed the old de-icer.

4. The temperatures were very low with high winds on 2/7/26 and 2/8/26. At 4:19 pm on 2/8/26, the air temperature had warmed up to 22 degrees F! I didn't do any regular pond chores. I did try to put the old de-icer back as the new one froze in again but the old one just sinks so I took it out. I poured hot water down the waterfall a few times to help keep it open and flowing.

5. It finally got above freezing for more than a few minutes such that on 2/15/26, I could finally walk small distances without getting hurt too badly. I brought the hose back outside. At 11:03 am on 2/15/26, the air temperature was up to a toasty 46 degrees F! Both thermometers were accessible. The 1800 gallon pond was at 36 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 43 degrees F. The net was still frozen in the sides of the big pond so I couldn't get in. There was still ice snow around most of the edges and on the marginal area. I put additives in the big pond. I looked in the empty biofilter to see a dried up, dead frog on the bottom. The frogs hibernate in there, and here I went and turned it off because the pond was losing water somewhere in and out of the biofilter. I had to sacrifice some lives for the greater good but feel such guilt.

Now, it should warm up but I don't have a functioning biofilter. I contacted about seven pond places a few months back but only got three responses. One refused to work with me; one ghosted me; and the final one is a man who does pond work as a side job on the weekends. He is supposed to visit in a week and see what he can suggest. I feel like my pond is dying. It's just too old.

6. Another storm was set to arrive on 2/22/26. They said 4 to 14". The big pond was finally melted out so I decided to do pond work on Saturday instead of Sunday. At 1:45 pm, the air temperature was a warm (for recently!) 50 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond was at 44 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 47 degrees F. It was a record six weeks since I had gotten in the pond! I got in to pull out the filter floss, and I cut new pieces for it since it was past due and uncleaned for six weeks. I added water to all the ponds and some additives to the big pond.

I removed two dead pickerel frogs. One ~1.5" pickerel frog had decided to jump into the empty biofilter where he/she couldn't get out and froze solid. I do have a lid on the filter but it doesn't prevent frogs from getting in. Another pickerel frog was in the bottom of the big pond which I got while I was in the water. That frog was huge and wide, measured at 3" from nose to tail.

7. The next day, it snowed for an hour in the morning but then it changed to rain. It didn't change to snow until after dark. When I got up on 2/23/26, there was only two inches of snow in most places, three inches in a few cold spots. So much for the huge storm! I had to go to work but, of course, they closed all the schools.

8. I did pond chores on Saturday, 2/28/26 because it was supposed to be much warmer on Saturday then Sunday (and it was). I had to move around my chores which confuses me. At 2:46 pm on 2/28/26, the air temperature was a warm 64 degrees F, and I could wear short sleeves! The 1800 gallon pond was only at 47 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 48 degrees F. I removed both de-icers, the lid on the biofilter, and the Rudolph lighted sculpture for the season. I put new ant traps in the three pond outlets and covered the now-empty outlets with plastic caps to try to keep ants out.

I squirted out the filter floss. There was a live pickerel frog in there. Unfortunately, there was also a dead ~2" one in the big pond that I removed. I finally got the pond system running again! The three half bricks under the grate are falling apart because they were in water that froze solid with the biofilter empty for months. I left them for now because I can't reach them (too far away even when leaning over). I put the new flexible hose in the bottom of the empty biofilter and put a brick on it to hold it down. I then put six bags of bioballs into six new laundry bags. I had to cut four of the old bags open because I could not get them open. There were two-lined salamanders all over (saw at least half a dozen) as it is breeding season for them. One got in to one of the new bags, and I could not find him/her. The holes in the new bags are too small for the salamanders to get through so that poor baby did not survive. The others I put back in the shallow part of the pond where the stream comes out. On top of the bioballs, I put the three bags of lava rock and a bag of zeolite/carbon blend. There were two of the small bags, and one was supposed to have oyster shell in it but they both had the zeolite/carbon! I discovered that I did not have more oyster shell aside from the open back that I am using for the chicken hens. There wasn't enough left for me to put oyster shell in. When I started everything back up, the flow was significantly lower, mainly in the main waterfall. I tried to reposition the rocks including a heavy one, and I hurt my shoulder as it was too heavy. It will have to do as is.

I fed the fish for the first time this year!

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