location of winter circulation pump?

[sissy]

Wow shipping almost 32 dollars on aerator and I bought the same heater from pet mountain.com for 29 dollars and free shipping and it was 750 watts and that is more than I needed I found that out last winter when it was the first time I used it .Does shoot up your electric bill .But then it does not get that cold here .Lowest temp we get will be around 15 degrees and that will be at night .But after the 2010 winter I would rather be safe than sorry .

 

[brokensword]

Just to add my experience;

we have a natural pond at the end of our road, approx 150K sq. ft, deepest point about 7' and two years ago, during a long winter when our typical January thaw didn't happen, we had a huge amount (I'd have to guess in the low hundreds) of dead fish in the spring. This pond is spring fed and has no river running through it, so it's much like our ponds. In the 24 years I've been here, I've seen this happen twice, with this last time the worst. And there were all sizes of fish, some 12" long. Not a lot of young/small ones, though. It was nasty; even had vultures camping out for snacks.

So, a good amount of rotting vegetation to be sure, fish load = unsure as it's natural, but I have no doubt this kill was from the gas unable to release for such a long time (Winter here is about mid Dec to late Feb).


And just because of that, I'd see about at least opening a hole once in a while. Last year, I chose the aeration model and because our winter was the warmest I've seen in all my life, my pond came close to freezing over only once, and that took the form of slush near the aerator. I'm a little worried if my air pump is going to be substantial enough this winter though, as I don't expect a warm winter again. So, I'll be reading here on the forum for further ideas. And now, off to read addy's links.


Michael

 

[brokensword]

having just read the articles, I think most of us have ponds less than 8' deep, so there is little or no stratification, aeration/water pump or not. Which means, it's going to get near freezing anyway, so I'd rather make sure there's some oxygen being added as well as provide a mechanism to secure the ice remaining open, than to trust winter won't make my pond one of those rare but common occurrences.

It is interesting to note that the author of the fishkill article is saying that photosynthesis continues even beneath the ice, as long as light can get through. Which would make a snow cover over your pond something to be avoided.

Just my thoughts.

 

[waynefrcan]

Well got the POndmaster Ap100 air pump and disappointed with the air flow. Doubt that will keep a hole open. Oh well it's back to the pump method!

 

[addy1]

Here is mine running two of the 6 - 4 inch air stones. (summer)

 

[callingcolleen1]

Just going to do what I always do, leave main pump & filter running to circulate all three ponds, with a 1500 watt floating cattle trough heater, where the water moves well, cause thats what I have been doing now for 20 years and it works very well for me each year.
I also like the fact that when I keep pond running all year, the water stays fresher, and the plants come back very very quick in the spring. By the time most people here are just cleaning out their pond and resetting everything up, my plants are almost full grown by then!

 

[waynefrcan]

Sure keep up with what works.

Now I'm happy with the Ap 100 air pump, just plugged it in today.

Will also run a surface pump until it hits -25 -30 C.

 

[waynefrcan]

having just read the articles, I think most of us have ponds less than 8' deep, so there is little or no stratification, aeration/water pump or not. Which means, it's going to get near freezing anyway, so I'd rather make sure there's some oxygen being added as well as provide a mechanism to secure the ice remaining open, than to trust winter won't make my pond one of those rare but common occurrences.

It is interesting to note that the author of the fishkill article is saying that photosynthesis continues even beneath the ice, as long as light can get through. Which would make a snow cover over your pond something to be avoided.

Just my thoughts.

So looks like it's all BS about the bottom of a 3-4ft deep pond being warmer then the surface? I really need to get a temp probe for underwater measurement. I want toknow the real truth!!