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hello all.

my pond froze over due to the cold here on long island, new york.

my water pump has ceased and is now unplugged due to the waterfall freezing up. however, i do have an air stone in place to keep the natural pond gasses etc to escape.

yesterday's photo:


this morning's photo


i was wondering if the koi will be ok for the time being since the waterfall no longer functions & lack of sun. i believe so because of the air stone. thoughts?


by the way.. pond is basically 3ft seep with the koi sitting at the bottom
thanks!
paul

Hello Paul
The open hole you have in the pond is fine. It is more than enough to let the gases escape

While more expensive initially, an air pump and air stone is really the way to go. The savings in electrical costs will far out weigh the cost in a years time

Most turn the waterfalls off during very cold weather where there is ice and snow as water can actually be diverted out of the pond without their knowledge.

In cold water oxygen saturation is near 100% so it is really not necessary to have a water fall running for oxygen.

Stay warm. We may be snow here tonight, one of the few times we have seen snow since we left MI in 2000!

Bonnie

excellent, thanks!

yeah, i didnt feel like buy an electric deicer for the reasons you mentioned below. i hear they are $$$ to run. the hole in the photos is a little over 2 feet wide. i have another air stone in there as well, but one of the lines from the air pump has a little ice in it.

i just hope that i do not have to buy another filter & pump! will play around when the ice is mostly gone.

thanks again and enjoy the snow tonight if it comes!

First they said 2 to 4 inches now it is 3 to 5 inches. Folks here are not used to driving on snow and they are hazardous to those of us who do know how. My guess is the grocery stores are jammed packed as the "locals" run to stock pile.

The one time I recall it snowed here, my fish were trying to eat the snow flakes, they actually thought it was food hitting the water. We watched from the window and just laughed at them. My pond is 50.2 right now (I LOVE my remote pond thermometer! http://bonniesplants.3dcartstores.com/search.asp?keyword=remote ) so if it does snow I am sure they will think it is food. They have not eaten in several days now.

The one hole is more than adequate. Usually 2 to 6 inches open is enough for gas to escape.

Bonnie

Hi Paul,

Welcome to the forum. I live in Northern NJ so have similar temps as you. During the winter months I do the following to make sure I always have a hole in the ice. I use a small 250 gph submersible pump that I locate just below the surface of the water. The pump runs 24x7 and creates constant water movement. Found this works great by creating ripples throughout the pond. I also have a small air pump with an air stone. The air stone is located about 2ft below the surface (our pond is 5ft deep) and it too runs 24x7. This way air stone pushes warmer water to the surface. I don't want to locate the stone totally on the bottom since I don't want to steal warm water from the fish.

This has been particularly cold winter so I also decided to use a deicer for emergency purposes only. I've used them in previous years and have mixed results. Some I find fail unexpectingly and others do increase the electric bill by a noticeable amount. But I've had some really good results with the unit by Tetra Pond. Used it for 3 years now and find it very reliable and its operating costs aren't too bad. I don't keep it plugged in all the time. I have it located in the pond but only plug it in during extremely cold weeks. I've noticed ice domes form around the pump area and air stone so the deicer just provides an an addtional comfort.

Remember what you never want to do is break the ice using a hammer or similar device. This can send shock waves and actually kill your fish. Pour boiling water over the ice if you need to.

Not sure about your area, but we experience periodic power outages. Decided two years ago to purchase a backup generator (of course all the pond circuits are tied to it) in case of an outage.

Good luck,
Steve