Mid Winter Pond Update and Future Plans

Halfway through the winter and its about time i checked out the condition of the ponds.
The top pond is looking OK if a bit bare. I've had an air stone running 24/7 through the winter to keep the ice off the top of the pond. The pond itself is crystal clear although i can't see if any of the baby black goldfish have survived. I'm hoping they have survived and are hiding at the bottom of the pond.

The lower pond has also had an airstone running all winter and i can see that the larger goldfish have survived and seem to be doing ok. I've had the mesh covers on all winter for two reason.. Mainly to keep the herons and magpies out but also to keep the falling leaves out through early winter. The pond itself is clear like the top one and all the plants look ready to start moving as soon as it warms up.

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The micro pond i built last year is looking a bit worse for wear with all the dead leaves turning the water a milky colour. I'm not sure if the frogs from last year will have stayed in the pond over winter or if they will be elsewhere. Hopefully this year we can get some frog spawn in and watch it turn from tadpoles to frogs

Jobs for next month will be to fire up the lower pond filtration and clean the ponds of any debris. All decking will need a repaint and a general tide up.

For the micro pond it will be a full clean out ready for this years visitors. I'm also hoping to breed more goldfish using the pond mops and the moving the eggs to the top pond where the smaller fish are.