frost lines and shallow ponds

Hi Pat,

I live in Levittown, right outside of Philly. I've had ice as thick as
8 inchs on my pond. Is your pond above ground or buried in it? With the
above ground pond your going to have to worry about ice forming on the sides
to, and an above ground pond will get colder a lot quicker too.
You might not want to leave the waterfall/stream running because it
could form an ice dam, and divert the flow of the water out of the pond.

hth,

Bob

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"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
How does one find out what the frost line is in their area of the country?
I
live in Philadelphia, PA. and my pond is only about 18" deep. Will my
goldies
be safe in there over the winter with just a couple of air stones going?
Can I
leave my filter waterfalls/ stream going until it freezes to the point of
spilling out and then turn off the pump and start the air bubbler then?
Please
let me know your thoughts on this matter.
Thank you all,
-Pat

Bob,
Thanks for the reply. My pond is below ground, 4'x6' with a 2' falls and a 10'
stream leading into the pond. I'd like to leave the filter running a while to
see what the ice forms will look like. Or is that a bad idea? so as long as i
keep the airstones going I shouldn't have to worry about a full freeze over.
thats comforting to know. Thanks again for the info.
-Pat


Hi Pat,

I live in Levittown, right outside of Philly. I've had ice as thick as
8 inchs on my pond. Is your pond above ground or buried in it? With the
above ground pond your going to have to worry about ice forming on the sides
to, and an above ground pond will get colder a lot quicker too.
You might not want to leave the waterfall/stream running because it
could form an ice dam, and divert the flow of the water out of the pond.

hth,

Bob

careful you dont drain all the water out of the pond as it may form ice will send it
outside the stream. Ingrid


(O3raledale) wrote:

Bob,
Thanks for the reply. My pond is below ground, 4'x6' with a 2' falls and a 10'
stream leading into the pond. I'd like to leave the filter running a while to
see what the ice forms will look like. Or is that a bad idea? so as long as i
keep the airstones going I shouldn't have to worry about a full freeze over.
thats comforting to know. Thanks again for the info.
-Pat


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Pat,

I hate to sound stupid (although I'm getting used to it in my old age!), but
if your pond is only 18" deep, I would think that *air* temperature is a lot
more important than the depth of the frost line?

Granted, it's been decades since I lived in PA, and then we didn't have a
pond at all -- although we had, literally, Lake Erie for a backyard!

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC





"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
How does one find out what the frost line is in their area of the country?
I
live in Philadelphia, PA. and my pond is only about 18" deep. Will my
goldies
be safe in there over the winter with just a couple of air stones going?
Can I
leave my filter waterfalls/ stream going until it freezes to the point of
spilling out and then turn off the pump and start the air bubbler then?
Please
let me know your thoughts on this matter.
Thank you all,
-Pat

Pat,

I hate to sound stupid (although I'm getting used to it in my old age!), but
if your pond is only 18" deep, I would think that *air* temperature is a lot
more important than the depth of the frost line?

Granted, it's been decades since I lived in PA, and then we didn't have a
pond at all -- although we had, literally, Lake Erie for a backyard!

Anne Lurie

Anne,
I was thinking that as the winter progressed and got and stayed colder that the
frost line (ie frozen ground) would get deeper and deeper. And I was hoping
that the 18" depth would be deep enough so as not to freeze the pond solid (or
close to it) If it was going to be a danger to the fishies, then I was thinking
of just bringing them in the house into an aquarium. But, it appears from what
I've read here that I should be fine with just an air pump/bubbler with a
couple of air stones submerged in the pond. Although I will keep an eye on it
and run out and get a heater if necessary.
Thanks for your thoughts,
-Pat

the air temp is going to determine how deep the frost is going into the ground.
everyone in the "north" depend to a very great extent on the warm earth (55o) keeping
the water liquid. if the frost goes lower than the depth of the pond it is going to
be like trying to keep an above ground pond thawed. bocu electrical bills. Ingrid

I hate to sound stupid (although I'm getting used to it in my old age!), but
if your pond is only 18" deep, I would think that *air* temperature is a lot
more important than the depth of the frost line?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

the air temp is going to determine how deep the frost is going into the ground.
everyone in the "north" depend to a very great extent on the warm earth (55o) keeping
the water liquid. if the frost goes lower than the depth of the pond it is going to
be like trying to keep an above ground pond thawed. bocu electrical bills. Ingrid

I hate to sound stupid (although I'm getting used to it in my old age!), but
if your pond is only 18" deep, I would think that *air* temperature is a lot
more important than the depth of the frost line?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Pat,

I hate to sound stupid (although I'm getting used to it in my old age!), but
if your pond is only 18" deep, I would think that *air* temperature is a lot
more important than the depth of the frost line?

Granted, it's been decades since I lived in PA, and then we didn't have a
pond at all -- although we had, literally, Lake Erie for a backyard!

Anne Lurie

Anne,
I was thinking that as the winter progressed and got and stayed colder that the
frost line (ie frozen ground) would get deeper and deeper. And I was hoping
that the 18" depth would be deep enough so as not to freeze the pond solid (or
close to it) If it was going to be a danger to the fishies, then I was thinking
of just bringing them in the house into an aquarium. But, it appears from what
I've read here that I should be fine with just an air pump/bubbler with a
couple of air stones submerged in the pond. Although I will keep an eye on it
and run out and get a heater if necessary.
Thanks for your thoughts,
-Pat

Pat,

I hate to sound stupid (although I'm getting used to it in my old age!), but
if your pond is only 18" deep, I would think that *air* temperature is a lot
more important than the depth of the frost line?

Granted, it's been decades since I lived in PA, and then we didn't have a
pond at all -- although we had, literally, Lake Erie for a backyard!

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC





"O3raledale" wrote in message
...
Hello all,
How does one find out what the frost line is in their area of the country?
I
live in Philadelphia, PA. and my pond is only about 18" deep. Will my
goldies
be safe in there over the winter with just a couple of air stones going?
Can I
leave my filter waterfalls/ stream going until it freezes to the point of
spilling out and then turn off the pump and start the air bubbler then?
Please
let me know your thoughts on this matter.
Thank you all,
-Pat

careful you dont drain all the water out of the pond as it may form ice will send it
outside the stream. Ingrid


(O3raledale) wrote:

Bob,
Thanks for the reply. My pond is below ground, 4'x6' with a 2' falls and a 10'
stream leading into the pond. I'd like to leave the filter running a while to
see what the ice forms will look like. Or is that a bad idea? so as long as i
keep the airstones going I shouldn't have to worry about a full freeze over.
thats comforting to know. Thanks again for the info.
-Pat


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.