What do you use for soil in your taro plant?
We are much farther South and don’t have to deal with ice. I’ve been trying to put fish in it but the chipmunks turned the pond liner into Swiss cheese in some places.
Kind of surprised about the chipmunks. We have them too but the liner has never been damaged. OTOH it's pretty heavy duty rigid PVC.
https://youtu.be/8ExfrhjpMp4?si=dJ1pOaw-zLA-Rvk2
FWIW we are only using tap water (which comes all the way from the Quabbin reservoir in western mass) and rain water. I think at the beginning we used some sort of algae treatment once or twice during the summer but in the past 5 years it hasn't been necessary as long as the pump is creating a bubbling flow and there aren't too many fish, usually no more than 3 or 4 small to medium goldfish/carp varieties ... koi, shibunkin, and comets.
Once the temp drops below 40 degrees F (~5C) the fish go dormant, usually under some dead leaves at the bottom or in the cinderblock we have at the deep end. When ice forms they will be fine, as the bubbling pump keeps an open spot for oxygen (it should be bubbling about 1 inch above the water line and not splashing outside the pond liner). If it's a deep freeze and the pump forms an ice bubble, break it open with a hammer. The rest of the ice can stay on the pond surface.
To our surprise, every winter the pond freezes over and the fish are fine come spring. In fact they’re thriving and we don’t touch the pond at all - it doesn’t even have a pump.
The other pond could definitely do with cleaning out, but again it’s teaming with wildlife. There’s not a huge window between when the newts leave for the summer and when it freezes in winter. By the time it thaws and we think to do something about it the newts are back again.
Your pond looks lovely.
Our main problem is racoons. At night they come to fish with their claws in the shallow areas of the pond.
I've done two small fish ponds using heavy duty rigid plastic liners expecting only the fish (koi and shubunkin) would enjoy it. We live less than ~10 miles/~15 km from downtown Boston.
We were surprised to see the second pond, which is next to the north side of our basement and on a small hill, gets all kinds of animals and birds coming to drink. Racoons, possum, fox, squirrels, and many types of small birds. Without fail, one or two tree frogs find it every summer and settle in on the water plant we put out there (taro) in a semi-submerged pot.
The frogs disappear in the early autumn. Before the first hard frost, we bring the taro plant inside in a bucket, and place it next to a sunny window for the next 6 months. By mid-December the pond freezes over except where we have a small pump running. The fish go dormant at the bottom, under the ice.
Then in spring it starts back up again. The ice melts, the fish come back to life, and the animals return to drink. I am going to put the taro plant back out in May, and once again the pond will be the center of life in our side yard.