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	How do you keep your pond open in the winter?
joe fishy Fish Addict Posts: 605 Kudos: 1355 Votes: 65 Registered: 21-Apr-2003	Do you let it freeze over? Or do you keep a hole in the ice with a heater, waterfall, bubbler, cover, etc.? My tiny pond still has a hole in the ice running a small pump, but I've got two more months of winter to deal with, and don't want to end up with suffocated frogs!
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:22
littlemousling Conchiform Posts: 5230 Registered: 23-Aug-2003	We use a small ring heater - it's only 100 watts, so it's cheap to run and it was cheap to buy, but even here in Rochester it's enough to keep a hole in the ice. -Molly Visit shelldwellers.com!
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:22
terranova Fish Master Posts: 1984 Kudos: 1889 Votes: 229 Registered: 09-Jul-2003	My friends who have a pond, use one of those bubbler waterfall rings in the middle to disrupt the stillness in effort to prevent freezing over. That didn't work for too long. Now they are just keeping a small area of their pond heated, just enough so that all the fish are comfortable and able to survive. [/font] -Formerly known as the Ferretfish
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:22
LMuha Mega Fish Posts: 908 Kudos: 1144 Votes: 183 Registered: 17-Mar-2003	I use one of those floating heaters, too. It keeps about six inches open around the heater, which is enough for gas exchange to take place. A couple years ago, I tried a bubbler, which worked reasonably well until it got bitterly cold; then it just couldn't keep up.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:22
bettafin Hobbyist Posts: 106 Kudos: 112 Votes: 17 Registered: 11-Feb-2004	You should use a floating heater. The water at the bottom of the pond is slightly warmer, using a pump to keep the water open creates the colder water to reach the bottom and causes more stress on the fish. The fish need to use up energy in flowing water to remain stable. Don't just let the pond freeze over either, the heater keeps the ice open so the gases in the pond build up.
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:22
bettafin Hobbyist Posts: 106 Kudos: 112 Votes: 17 Registered: 11-Feb-2004	So gases in the pond Don't build up. Last edited by bettafin at 03-Jan-2005 19:21
Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:22


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