Frozen Pump - Should I Panic?

[francesc0]

Hey guys, I have a pond that is 4ft wide and about 3ft deep. Within the last 24-48 hours I think that my pump froze. The pump is not making any noise, and no water is being pumped; I'm not sure if that means the pump is broken, or if the line is just frozen. If the line was frozen, would the pump still make noise?

I'm wondering how long the pond will maintain enough oxygen to keep my fish alive. I have 10 goldfish that are roughly 4 years old, and three Koi that are 14 years old. I spent about 15 minutes this evening hitting my pond with a hose to keep it oxygenated.

Am I OK to wait a few days until the ground thaws in order to see if the pump is actually broken vs the line being frozen? Or should I immediately call in an expert for a pump replacement?

 

[Lisak1]

Your fish don't need the pump for oxygen during the winter. Many, many people in cold climates turn their pumps off completely in the winter and their fish are fine come spring. More important is that you keep a hole open in the surface of the ice for gas exchange - an aerator or deicer will do the trick.

 

[Catfishnut]

frqancesc0,

Ultimately, the first thing you need to do is disconnect the power to the pump. If there is any damage it has already been done and it can only make it worse by keeping power to it. Allow everything to thaw out and then recheck it.

If you don't have open water on the pond, you might want to chop a hole through the ice and put a bubbler in, just to be safe, but the fish should probably be alright otherwise at least for a while.

Catfishnut

 

[Lisak1]

Don't "chop" a hole. The shock waves you will create by chopping or banging on the ice can kill your fish.

You can try melting a hole with hot water or set a deicer on the surface to melt through. But if you can't get a hole created, don't worry too much about it. Our pond froze over completely last year for almost a week - (the pump we set under water to create aeration actually formed an ice dome - pretty cool to look at, but not exactly what we had in mind!) and the fish were fine. It looks like the warmer weather is moving in here in the next few days - hopefully the same for you!

 

[francesc0]

Thanks for the excellent advice, I was getting worried that they would suffocate if I didn't act quickly. Do aerators and deicers displace the surface enough to oxygenate the pond, or do they simply allow the gasses to escape?

 

[Catfishnut]

Don't "chop" a hole. The shock waves you will create by chopping or banging on the ice can kill your fish.

Lisa,

I didn't know this. I have been doing this for many years, but I also do not keep the same type of fish in my ponds and tanks. I have native (wild) fishes and they do not seem affected.
But, it is good advice, thanks.

Gordy

 

[Catfishnut]

Thanks for the excellent advice, I was getting worried that they would suffocate if I didn't act quickly. Do aerators and deicers displace the surface enough to oxygenate the pond, or do they simply allow the gasses to escape?

The main concern is allowing the bad gases to escape. The cold water temp should slow the fishes metabolism down to the point that they will not require as much O2, so they should not suffocate. Of course that depends upon how many fish, how large they are and how much water they are in, so all of these can add up to a concern. I would act on the side of caution and put a bubbler in just to play it safe until you get the pump going again.

Catfishnut

 

[Dave 54]

frqancesc0,

Ultimately, the first thing you need to do is disconnect the power to the pump. If there is any damage it has already been done and it can only make it worse by keeping power to it. Allow everything to thaw out and then recheck it.

If you don't have open water on the pond, you might want to chop a hole through the ice and put a bubbler in, just to be safe, but the fish should probably be alright otherwise at least for a while.

Catfishnut

No no no dont chop the ice the shock waves can have a detremntal effect on your fish and can sometimes kill pour bioling water on the ice so that you get a hole open in the ice then keep it open by placinf a floating object in the hole to keep things open .
use a football or something like that .

Dave

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Hey Denver, welcome to the club!!! (I'm in Longmont) Like everyone said, relax, the fish are ok for awhile, and we're thawing out again over the next few days anyway.

Some questions about your pond setup...

What size are your water lines, and how deep are they buried? Smaller lines will freeze up faster, and you need the pipes buried at least a foot to be safe from the frost-line. If you have small pipes buried only a few inches deep, they will almost instantly freeze over this time of year if the pump stops (did you have any recent power outages?). Since the pump stopped pushing water, the line has almost certainly frozen up by now, and its going to take a lot of work to get them unfrozen. Make sure the sun can hit the ground where the pipes are buried, and in the afternoon you might try softening the ice in the pipes with some HOT water. It looks like we'll have good temperatures for the next week, so take your time trying to get it cleared out.

What is the capacity of your water pump? Is it an external style or a submersible? You probably want to disconnect the pump so you can work on the pipes anyway, so test the pump while it is disconnected and see if it is still working. Take it inside and look at it to see if it looks like water has frozen inside the pump -- if so, let it thaw for a few hours before plugging it in again.

Can we see some pics of your pond? Do you have a waterfall? How does the water come back into your pond from the pump? Some type of waterfall (even just a stream draining out of the filter) can do a good job of keeping an open hole in the ice.

Do you have a heater? If not, head over to Murdochs and get a floating stock-tank heater (costs about $25). For the size of your pond, you could put this heater on a timer and run it each night, and it would keep your pond ice-free. I have a much larger pond, and I still try not to run the heater when we have warmer weather because I don't want the fish thinking Spring is here and getting active again right before the next storm. However with the heater running, you can keep your pump going all year long.

 

[dieselplower]

Whether or not the fish will run out of oxygen soon or not depends on many things, including how many fish you have in how many gallons of water. It sounds like you have many large fish, which could be a problem. How many gallons is this pond?

 

[francesc0]

Thanks for the warm welcome Longmont! I'm not sure how deep my lines are buried (I'm a new homeowner), but the pond is fairly well built so I'm guessing they are a foot deep. However, I know that it is only a few inches deep at the point where the line comes out of the pump--so I'm guessing that is where it would freeze. The water level had decreased while I was away for the Holidays, and by the time I came home to fix it the temperature was too low for me to add water. I thought the pond would thaw before the water level dropped below the pump, but I was wrong and the water stopped moving causing the line to freeze (I think).

The pond runs up to a waterfall which is usually what keeps a small hole in the ice. I would guess that it is a submersible pump as it's in the water. I think my plan for next year will be to turn the pump off and run a deicer. Would it be possible to leave the pump in over the winter, or does it HAVE to be removed and brought indoors? I've attached a picture of the pond I took this summer.

dieselplower-I'm not sure how many gallons it holds, but it has a diameter of about six feet and is probably 3-4 feet deep in the center.

If the pond thaws tomorrow, would I be able to oxygenate the water by simply splashing the water around?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Splashing the water by hand won't make any significant difference in the oxygen level. Also I wouldn't hit the surface with the hose again... that can stress the fish! You need some kind of constant action to actually oxygenate the water. Many people use an air pump in the Winter -- it also helps keep an open hole in the ice. With the depth of your pond and our typical climate, there's no reason you can't keep the pump running constantly. When I had my smaller pond, the only time I had a problem was when we had a power outage for about an hour... the pump stopped and gave enough time for the lines to freeze up.

Like I said before, just grab a cheap floating heater from Murdochs. Plug it in, keep the pump running, and you shouldn't have any other problems. Over time you'll get a feel for how often the pond might ice up, and that will give you an idea of when the heater actually needs to run. When we had that freeze in December, I had 7 inches of ice on my pond before I finally decided to throw the heater in the water. You have enough depth that the fish will be fine (as long as you keep an open hole in the ice). Getting through the first Winter can be nerve-wracking, but hang in there and you'll have a better idea what to do next year.

 

[francesc0]

Thanks again for the great advice, I'll pour a some boiling water on it tonight to open it up and I'll pick up a heater on the way home from work tomorrow.

When your lines froze, did the pump still make noise even though it wasn't pumping? Or was it silent? The silence makes me worry that its completely shot.

 

[tenchi]

Go to a farm supply and buy a stock tank heater. I have a mostly above ground pond with a waterfall and in the 30 gallon waterfall reservoir I have two 1.5 kw submersible heaters. I have a pump at the deep end. If you can keep the water running , the system won't freeze. Sounds like your pump gave up. Might have to get a new one. Just as everyone said, keep a hole in the ice, but use hot water or a floating deicer to keep an opening for gas exchange. If you can afford the heaters and the electricity cost, do it. Even at the temps we have recently in Ohio -10F, my pond water is 50F. Your fish are tough, they can take cold water. Sounds like you need a new pump though.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Actually mine was completely silent when my pipes froze up. I couldn't even feel a hum from the coils. And even when I plugged it back in and got some life out of it, I thought it was shot because it didn't *seem* like it was pumping as much water. But it did come back to life, and survived the following Summer while I was building my new pond. Take it inside, stick it in a tub of warm water overnight, then plug it in for a second and see if you splash water everywhere. Worst case, you have to buy a new pump. This is actually the best time of year for such a failure, because your fish aren't absolutely dependant on the circulation so you have time for something to be shipped, and since its the off-season everyone has discount sales going.

tenchi - that sounds way too warm! You ought to let the temperatures go lower so the fish can hibernate in the Winter. Even if the water temps are up, I have a hard time believing any beneficial bacteria would grow well, it just seems like it would stress the fish? I'm guessing you must have a smaller pond... I have a 1000W heater and a 1500W heater, and even running both of them I can't keep the ice off my pond when the temps get below zero.