Last Updated: 7/2/25

1. I did pond work on 3/2/25 at 1:19 pm. The air temperature was a low 34 degrees F! The 1800 gallon pond was at 40 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 45 degrees F. I did not get in the big pond when it was that cold. I removed some leaves, put in additives, and pulled out the short hose (the big one was frozen) to put water in the big pond which keeps losing it at a fast rate (not sure why, partly the high winds and low humidity).

2. I just never luck out with a good weekend for pond chores! There are plenty of nice days when I'm at work though! On 3/9/25, at 12:53, the air temperature was 52 degrees F so not bad, right? Well, the winds were so bad that I felt like I had died and gone to hell. My supplies kept blowing all over, and I had to wear long johns and a hat despite the warm temperature due to the winds sucking out my heat. The 1800 gallon pond was at 44 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 48 degrees F. Since it's supposed to be warm for the next two weeks (not below freezing), I pulled out the two de-icers, the Rubbermaid tub lid over the biofilter (which protects that de-icer from high winds), and the Rudolph lighted figure (which lets me know if there's power at the pond in the dark with a glance). I put all those away until late fall.

For the first time in two years, there was a single batch of wood frog eggs that I found a few days before in the 153 gallon pond. So, I bailed out the 20 gallon tub pond. I removed the dead waterlily pot in there and washed off the three bricks. I put the bricks back and then bailed water from the 153 gallon pond including algae and anacharis into the 20 gallon pond and then put in the woodfrog eggs. That way, there was no water change shock. I put my late sailfin lizard's 40 gallon metal cover for her 40 gallon breeder tank on top to keep curious raccocons from bothering the eggs. My late mother had named her Einstein. Einy would be glad her lid served a new purpose. She's been gone almost two decades now which I can't believe.

Back to the pond work! I had to add extra water back to the 153 gallon pond to make up for the bailed water. I got in the big pond. I moved the two pots of golden club to the shallows as it's going to be warm and above freezing all week. I took out the filter floss around the big pond to squirt it off. I squirted off the bioballs and lava rock too. There was a pickerel frog (who I put aside in a bucket while I worked) and a two-lined salamander (couldn't catch him/her) in the biofilter. I removed the old EPDM door seal from the top of the biofilter rim as it was all removed and/or eaten (thanks, raccoons!). I dried it off well and, this time, I put down some superglue instead of relying solely on the glue on the door seal. It seems to really be stuck on there now! What is the door seal for, you ask (really, is anybody reading this stuff? Just me, a few years later)? The lip on the filter is not deep enough which means, at times, the pump strength is too strong for the filter, and water flows on top of the edge of the biofilter, at locations other than the outflow lip. That's what you call a poorly made biofilter which is now 28 years old. Since it's buried, I can't replace it myself. I'm too weak and old to do it myself and too poor and untrusting to have someone else fix it.

I put additives in the ponds including the first dose of KoiZyme for the year in the big pond.

It's going to be warm which means a big spawning mess soon. I'm feeding the fish, and they're eating like piggies since it was a long and hard winter.

The water level keeps dropping quickly in the 1800 gallon pond so I filled it all the way and tried to find where it was coming out at the overflow. I couldn't see anything but I could hear the trickle. For it to be fixed would require a few strong men of which I have zero.

3. On 3/14/25, I heard wood frogs! My back door camera even recorded their calls by accident when the camera was triggered (no animals were seen in the video but boy were the frogs load at 1 am).

4. I did pond work on 3/15/25 at a late 4:56 pm. The "experts" said it was going to pour rain on Sunday so I decided to do pond work on Saturday. On Sunday, there was no rain until after dark! Anyway, on Saturday when I went outside, the air temperature was 54 degrees F. The best thing was that it was still. On Sunday, there would be wind. I put out all the stepping stones that I had stored in the basement for the winter. The 1800 gallon pond's thermometer read 49 degrees F while that in the 153 gallon pond read 46 degrees F. I got in the big pond and squirted off the filters around the pump. I added water and additives to the ponds.

5. There was another batch of woodfrog eggs either the next morning or the one after that after we got a tiny bit of rain.

6. My hen, Dulcinea, died on 3/20/25. She was unwell for a while. I have three hens and four roosters left. Three will be 7 years old in a month and four will be 6 years old.

7. At 3:29 pm on 3/23/25, I did some pond work. The 1800 gallon pond was at 49 degrees F, and the 153 gallon pond was at 50 degrees F. The air temperature was 54 degrees F but it was nice as the winds were light. I moved one wood frog mass to the 20 gallon tub pond from the 153 gallon pond. The eggs already in there had mostly fungused. I don't think they were well fertilized. This newer batch looks better.

I squirted off the filter floss, put in additives, and added water.

8. It became very warm from 3/29/25 through 3/31/25, and the goldfish were spawning. I had off work 3/31/25 to clean my 153 gallon pond but decided to do the work on 3/30/25 as it was supposed to rain all day 3/31/25 (which it did not rain at all until after 6:30 pm!). See my 2025 pond cleaning page for details. The waterfall in the big pond had slowed to a drizzle from the spawning so I did 1800 gallon pond chores after I finished with the 153 gallon pond cleaning as follows.

At 3:30 pm 3/30/25, the air temperature was a toasty 78 degrees F. The 1800 gallon pond and the 153 gallon pond were both at 62 degrees F. I pulled the full net off the big pond. I got in the big pond to remove the main filter floss and squirt it off. It was very heavy, full of the slop that the spawning goldfish had stirred up. Of note, all the goldfish were in the shallows so only the three koi and four orfe were in the deep end. Colin was following Alex in what looked like potential spawning interest but in the deep end. Even though I have had koi in my pond for 28 years, I have never had any baby koi nor have I confirmed a definite spawning between koi. One of my four orfe though was born in the pond.

I set up the Biosteps filter and got it going. I set up the auxiliary pump and got it going so now there was lots of water flowing!

The big pond's water level was low so I put in water as well as additives. I put barley straw in the big pond (I had put the other bail in the 153 gallon as part of its cleaning). I put the half net over the deep end. I completely forgot about the clothing line I have strung across the stakes for years in an attempt to deter deer and herons from getting in but I have not seen the deer get in since they made that first huge mess, and I have not seen a heron in over a year. Okay, I just jinxed it! Free buffet at Robyn's pond!

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