Another winter cover thread

[jrladd]

Hello all. Just posting some pics of how I am planning to covering up my pond this year. I am in Milwaukee, WI. Here is a thread about my cover I put up last year.
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/my-winter-cover-t4752.html

I expanded the pond this year, and due to some large sections of lannon stone which I found underground, I can no longer use stakes in the ground to achor PVC hoops. So i built this contraption out of 1x2 untreated lumber and 6 mil plastic. Using wood was nice because I could add a nice door to peek inside. I still have to wrap the side with plastic and anchor it down with some rocks.

Just thought I would share

 

[koisRus]

Nice SS!!

 

[Pondmaster]

Can you post some more pictures of your car?

 

[oldmarine]

Once again I am asking a silly question. Why do we go through all of the expense and trouble to cover our ponds in the winter?

 

[shakaho]

A lot of people aren't in zones 7/8.

 

[jrladd]

Yes, zone 7 is pretty mild.

Its not even december and I had about 3/4 inch of ice on my pond this morning

I do agree however that building and installing a cover can be a big pain in the butt. I have decided to forgo my cover this year. I purchased a Floating / sinking de icer by API, http://www.amazon.com/API-PDT15-1500-Aluminum-Deicer/dp/B000TZ3R3I ,and decided to see how it works. So far it is encouraging. I put it in the pond this morning and it melted nearly all the ice in my pond in about 12 hours. It is a 1500 watt unit, but it runs off a thermostat. I will see how it goes and have multiple back up plans if I need to employ them.

 

[jrladd]

oh, and here's more pics of the car

1966 Chevy Impala SS

 

[Pondmaster]

oh, and here's more pics of the car

1966 Chevy Impala SS

That is sweet! Do you ever watch Mecum Auto Auction?

 

[CometKeith]

Hey jrladd, you may want to go with an air pump going into an airstone about 6-10 inches below the surface. Last year I used one of those de-icers for the first few months of winter. Our electric bill went up $200/mo. Switching to the airstone it came right back down. I only had to plug my de-icer in twice after that for a few hours each when the bubbler couldn't keep a hole in the ice due to extreme cold weather. The airstone worked just fine 99% of the time. All the fish were happy in the Spring and so were we!

 

[DrCase]

Nice!! Ride

 

[jrladd]

Thanks cometkeith for the input. Its nice to see success stories from someone in the same area. I do have an air pump so I will most likely switch to using that and keep the de icer unplugged unless I need it.

 

[CometKeith]

I saw my fish swimming around today under the ice. They actually prefer to be under the ice rather than where the hole is. Also they recommend that you leave a little gap between the ice and the water (about 1-2") so the bad gases can rise from the water and go under the ice and come up out of the hole. You can do this by draining a little water out from the hole once the ice forms or with my pond natural evaporation does the trick. Good luck!

 

[Pondmaster]

I saw my fish swimming around today under the ice. They actually prefer to be under the ice rather than where the hole is. Also they recommend that you leave a little gap between the ice and the water (about 1-2") so the bad gases can rise from the water and go under the ice and come up out of the hole. You can do this by draining a little water out from the hole once the ice forms or with my pond natural evaporation does the trick. Good luck!

Thanks Keith, That's interesting, I'll do that if I ever have an ice covering.

 

[j.w]

Mine also seem to like it under the ice. Maybe it insulates that area better or they feel safe from hungry winter predators. I have never heard that about keeping the space between ice and water...........seems plausible tho

 

[rdk]

Last year my fish loved staying under the ice even if there was only 3 or 4 inches of water under the ice. RDK