How to prevent surface from freezing

P

Peanutsweet

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Feb 20, 2006
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I need some ideas on keeping an area open in my pond so it doesn't freeze. I can't use any electric unfortunately because my bill is already sky high, and dh's job isn't looking so good. Long run, I don't even know if we will be able to stay in the house, let alone heat a pond.
Usually we get our worse weather in January, it can freeze over for several days at a time. I have a pond about 450 gallons and it has goldfish in it. It is 3 1/2 feet deep at its deepest. I currently do not have anything running in it, I took the filter out a month ago and the fountain discharge as well.
The fountain does not move the water enough to keep it from freezing.
any ideas? pretty please!
 
What's your 20?

Not many non-electric methods come to mind.
 
shut it down and rehome the fish

if you cant use electricity it would be the best solution
 
I use an air pump. I keep the air pump inside and run the air hose outside into the water. no airstone. The bubbling will keep a small section from freezing. It uses a little electric, yes...just watch your TV for an hour less per day or something and you won't even notice it.
 
Freezing over for a couple days won't bother the fish. I have a small pond in the back yard, less than 18" deep, that freezes over for weeks at a time. The rosy reds are all still alive every spring. I did have an electric heater made for livestock watering troughs (only comes on when the temp is actually low enough to freeze) that kept a hole open in the ice. It died after 4-5 years of use, and I didn't replace it.
 
Ok, well I didn't mean no electric at all, I just meant to heat the water. I know someone farther north that spends $300 a month heating her pond in the winter, I think that is nuts. I could almost make a house payment for that.

Is there any way to move the water enough that it wont freeze? Last winter I had an external filter and I thought since the water was moving that it wouldn't freeze. Stupid huh. anyway the hose going out of the pond froze and the pond emptied and my fish froze on the dry bottom of the pond. Fortunately I filled it up as soon as I found it and most of the fish survived, and the pump was ok too.
This summer I got rid of the external filter and went to one in the pond, with a smaller pump and a fountain bubbler.
I have a friend with a pond that is 2 ft deep and it froze over and her koi most all died.
They were about a foot long and had a dozen or so in it. I think she said it was frozen for several days, thing is it was probably overstocked anyway, and not deep enough either. A couple days doesn't worry me, but more than that, and I worry about them.
I also wondered about just draining the pond to catch them and bringing them in for the winter. Could I put them in large rubbermaid tubs or something like that? Keep in mind they are not large, not any koi.
It would only be about 4 months or less even. Of course I would refill the pond for the winter, not leave it dry, as I think that would be hard on the liner, and I have lilies in it.
 
We used a bird bath heater one year. If I remember right it ran on 50 watts. We kind of rigged it so it rested near the top and kept a small hole in the ice. It worked fine and I think we only lost a couple of fish.
 
not sure about how much fow you need to keep water open but maybe a low cost solar water or air pump. have seen some for under 50 bucks but no idea if they would be strong enough to keep surface open but may want to look around.
 
I think the rubbermaid container thing might be your absolute best choice to go on....let the pond freeze over for the winter and then when it gets to a steady temp of 50 or 55, add them back to the pond. (probably around May will be safest)
 
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