Winterizing - Again

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor
cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put
one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a
couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar
heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.


Why bother with the styrofoam and plywood? If your pump sends
bubbles to the surface so that an opening is in the ice all winter you
will be fine.

I run a line from my compressor in the garage to a PVC tee-shaped
contraption that spans the pond with a leg dangling into the water. A
cap at the end with small holes drilled into it makes a nice bubbler.

I am also in zone 5b in NH.

Neat idea. But my compressor is only 3 gallons, so it would probably run all
the time. Not to mention it's in the basement, so sleep could be an issue.



JMHO

John

"Hal" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor
cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put
one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a
couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar
heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.

My favorite plan for wintering a pond where it freezes and stays
frozen is to keep the water level high until after the top freezes
solid, then make a hole in the ice with a small pot of hot water or a
cordless drill. Pump out about an inch of water and the layer of ice
will insulate the pond and keep it from freezing again.

Regards,

Hal

I've read about the "Sweedish solution", sounds intriguiging. I gather you
still run a bubbler or are you saying that your hole will not freeze over at
all?

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
S. M. Henning wrote:

Derek Broughton wrote:

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight.
As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...

They get perilously little sunlight in an ice- and snow-covered Ontario
pond, whether it's covered or not, so I'd say no.

But an ice covered pond is cold. This pond is going to be covered and
insulated and heated. If you have heat, you need light. Heat promotes
activity.

You're right - I didn't read closely enough.

An air pump would do this job much easier than a heater and a water
pump.

You're even more right :-) It's easier _and cheaper_. Heaters are
expensive to operate. Most of us would never even notice the cost of the
electricity needed to run a bubbler.
--
derek

I think I agree with you original thoughts Derek. Light certainly would not
be an issue for the plants, as I only have Lillies and Iris. I doubt that
much snow penetrates the snow and ice in any event.

"rtk" wrote in message
...


John Bachman wrote:
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:


I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor
cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put
one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a
couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar
heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.

You seem to be trying to warm the fish a bit, which isn't needed. Their
problem in freezing weather is dying from excessive gas which can't be
released through ice. If there is a hole in the ice, they will be fine
semi-hibernating away from the heat you provide. The hole can be
maintained with a small round rather flat heater, made for that purpose,
which only turns on below 32 degrees or by leaving the waterfall on. It
doesn't heat the water beyond a small circumference. That's just fine.
I assume you have goldfish, koi, or other coldwater, not tropical, fish.

Ruth Kazez

I wasn't really thinking of keeping the fish active, but also don't want
them to freeze their little fins off. I don't imagine a 100 watts would keep
them too warm when it's -30. I was hoping that a cover would reduce the
maintenance required to keep the air hole open. The down side is that snow
makes a very good insulator.

"Bill Stock" wrote in message
...

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
S. M. Henning wrote:

Derek Broughton wrote:

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight.
As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...

They get perilously little sunlight in an ice- and snow-covered
Ontario
pond, whether it's covered or not, so I'd say no.

But an ice covered pond is cold. This pond is going to be covered and
insulated and heated. If you have heat, you need light. Heat
promotes
activity.

You're right - I didn't read closely enough.

An air pump would do this job much easier than a heater and a water
pump.

You're even more right :-) It's easier _and cheaper_. Heaters are
expensive to operate. Most of us would never even notice the cost of
the
electricity needed to run a bubbler.
--
derek

I think I agree with you original thoughts Derek. Light certainly would
not
be an issue for the plants, as I only have Lillies and Iris. I doubt that
much snow penetrates the snow and ice in any event.


That should be... I doubt that much light penetrates the snow and ice in
any event.

On Mon, 27 Sep 2004 17:43:57 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:


"John Bachman" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:

I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor
cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put
one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a
couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar
heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.


Why bother with the styrofoam and plywood? If your pump sends
bubbles to the surface so that an opening is in the ice all winter you
will be fine.

I run a line from my compressor in the garage to a PVC tee-shaped
contraption that spans the pond with a leg dangling into the water. A
cap at the end with small holes drilled into it makes a nice bubbler.

I am also in zone 5b in NH.

Neat idea. But my compressor is only 3 gallons, so it would probably run all
the time. Not to mention it's in the basement, so sleep could be an issue.


An alternative is to run a simple aquarium bubbler. pump. I tried
that and it worked fine until the temp got so low that the pump
diaphragm stiffened so that it could no longer create enough pressure
to overcome 3 feet of water. I raised the bubbler and all was good
but my compressor (in the detached garage so no noise problem) works
fine.

Do not worry about heat, mother Earth provides plenty. Our frost
line was nearly 4 feet deep last year but there was only about 15
inches of ice on the pond. The heat comes from the earth below. The
pond water can move, unlike soil, and therefore carries the warmth
from below to the upper regions. That keeps the ice thickness down so
that the bubbler can keep a hole open. The fishes will be fine. I
lost two fry last winter because they got trapped in the skimmer,
everyone else was fine.

John

Bill Stock wrote:


"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
S. M. Henning wrote:

Derek Broughton wrote:

I have heard that your fish and sunken plants still need sunlight.
As
long as you do not completely cover the surface of the pond ...

They get perilously little sunlight in an ice- and snow-covered
Ontario pond, whether it's covered or not, so I'd say no.

But an ice covered pond is cold. This pond is going to be covered and
insulated and heated. If you have heat, you need light. Heat promotes
activity.

You're right - I didn't read closely enough.

An air pump would do this job much easier than a heater and a water
pump.

You're even more right :-) It's easier _and cheaper_. Heaters are
expensive to operate. Most of us would never even notice the cost of the
electricity needed to run a bubbler.

I think I agree with you original thoughts Derek. Light certainly would
not be an issue for the plants, as I only have Lillies and Iris. I doubt
that much [light] penetrates the snow and ice in any event.

Yes, but SM was correct too. _if_ you cover, insulate, and heat this pond
you run the risk of not letting the plants get properly dormant. OK, you'd
have to pour a lot of heat into an Ontario pond to accomplish that, but the
point's still valid - forget the heater and use a bubbler. Let it cool
down and don't fight it except to keep a little breather hole open.
--
derek

John Bachman wrote:

An alternative is to run a simple aquarium bubbler. pump. I tried
that and it worked fine until the temp got so low that the pump
diaphragm stiffened so that it could no longer create enough pressure
to overcome 3 feet of water. I raised the bubbler and all was good
but my compressor (in the detached garage so no noise problem) works
fine.

Yes, but that's probably as expensive to run as a heater. My aquarium pump
ran 15W, and there's no reason to have it in 3' of water anyway. I had the
same problem, initially, and ended up suspending it at 6" (much less than
actual ice thickness). I did have to replace the diaphragm twice every
season.
--
derek