Should I discontinue my aerator/diffuser over next two winter months and put in my green deicer?

Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
242
Reaction score
190
Location
SE Michigan
Country
United States
After reading some comments regarding aerators I am now a little freaked out (again). It doesn't take much for me to panic about my fishes clearly, lol.
I am adding some photos or the pond over this week. The really snowy one is from few days ago and the other one is today. I understand that it has not gotten that cold yet for MI but when the temp drops (to 0F as I'm sure it will) then the aerator/air pump which is under the blue inverted rubbermaid looking tub on the other side of the pond will pump super cold water into the pond right? Is it better then to stop the aerator for Jan/Feb and just use a deicer? I have this industrial level deicer from years ago that our pond shop lady said NOT to use because it is too much.
What do you guys think? Is it OK to use or will it keep the whole pond too warm? Is 1250W too much? I could get one that is less wattage like the 300W tetrapond deicer or there are other (100-250W) ones also.
I measured the temp of the water close to the air spout today and it was 34F and went a little deeper away from the air and it was 33F.
 

Attachments

  • IMG-20201220-WA0001.jpg
    IMG-20201220-WA0001.jpg
    187.3 KB · Views: 133
  • IMG-20201220-WA0002.jpg
    IMG-20201220-WA0002.jpg
    144.2 KB · Views: 106
  • 16084836453608618294551452340113.jpg
    16084836453608618294551452340113.jpg
    242.5 KB · Views: 98
Joined
Jul 12, 2009
Messages
3,990
Reaction score
2,682
Location
Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania
Hardiness Zone
6a
1250 watts IS kind of high.

How many gallons is your pond?

I had a 750 watt unit years ago in my 1800 gallon pond. It kept a rather large area of open water here in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The basic idea of a pond deicer is to just keep a small hole in the ice for gas exchange.

I've been using a 250 watt deicer for many years.
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
13,070
Reaction score
13,394
Location
Northern IL
Showcase(s):
1
I'm going to offer one piece of advice that you didn't ask for - don't freak out. It doesn't change a thing except maybe muddle the brain!

Why would your aerator pump super cold water? It's pumping air. And the aerator itself stays warm, so the cooling will only come from the air passing through the tube on it's way to the pond. Is your tubing exposed? If so, that's one improvement you could make. Bury the line. (I mean next year, if you haven't already.) Once it does snow, that will insulate your air line as well.

Why are you so worried about your pond getting cold? What's your main concern?
 

sissy

sissy
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
33,086
Reaction score
15,702
Location
Axton virginia
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
7A
Country
United States
I think that may be the size of pond heater Colleen in Canada uses .I am glad all I need is my small pond heater .You also do not want to keep the water to warm because if you have a power outage it could be a problem because fish may go into shock from super cold water after they are used to the heaters keeping the water warmer .Power outages are the curse of all pond keepers .I have a solar back up .I bought the system from harbor freight and 2 batteries and it works pretty good .I originally bought it for my led driveway lights .I need to do a higher mounting system but no time since I have been redoing the inside of my house .
 

sissy

sissy
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
33,086
Reaction score
15,702
Location
Axton virginia
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
7A
Country
United States
better yet lisak do what I do I use that pipe insulation on my lines for my hoses and my airlines before they go into the water .Cheap stuff to buy but it works and also protects my hoses a little from chewing critters
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
13,070
Reaction score
13,394
Location
Northern IL
Showcase(s):
1
better yet lisak do what I do I use that pipe insulation on my lines for my hoses and my airlines before they go into the water .Cheap stuff to buy but it works and also protects my hoses a little from chewing critters

Good idea! I like to bury all my lines, but you can certainly wrap them before they go underground!
 

sissy

sissy
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
33,086
Reaction score
15,702
Location
Axton virginia
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
7A
Country
United States
those come in tubes of all sizes not just skiinny ones I got ones at MLC in Martinsville that fit my 1 1/2 inch sump pump hose and they were 25 cents each and 6 feet long ,They were not black they were white
 
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
242
Reaction score
190
Location
SE Michigan
Country
United States
I'm going to offer one piece of advice that you didn't ask for - don't freak out. It doesn't change a thing except maybe muddle the brain!

Why would your aerator pump super cold water? It's pumping air. And the aerator itself stays warm, so the cooling will only come from the air passing through the tube on it's way to the pond. Is your tubing exposed? If so, that's one improvement you could make. Bury the line. (I mean next year, if you haven't already.) Once it does snow, that will insulate your air line as well.

Why are you so worried about your pond getting cold? What's your main concern?
Thanks Lisa. Great advice: Don't freak out!
Also the pump super cold water was a typo. I meant super cold air. Anyway, like you said the air pump will warm up the air and the line (if you look at the pic above) is buried up to the point where it jumps into the pond so some exposure but like you said: does it matter? And yes who knows what my concern is. Just freaked out because its my first time. That being said we just took a long road trip and returned last Saturday (no contact with anyone, just stayed at airbnb house and did not eat out or anything!) and my neighbor watched the pond. We could see it with a camera we had set up so if the air pump stopped or something I could alert her immediately. Nature cooperated and most daytime temps were above freezing. Fish seem ok. They are mostly at bottom but do move around occasionally and sometimes they rise higher in the column for a bit but settle to the bottom soon.
 

callingcolleen1

mad hatter
Joined
May 1, 2012
Messages
9,431
Reaction score
8,128
Location
Medicine Hat Alberta, Canada (zone 2/3)
Hardiness Zone
4a
Country
Canada
I myself use big red 1500 watt heater, that one heater works good for all 4 connecting ponds that run together all the time. Then I have the ponds covered in plastic domes that I made, and that keeps ice away on all four connecting ponds, about 5000 gallons or so. Here in Canada it's going to -30 Celsius tonight, about (-22 F). That's how I keep my fish safe from ponds freezing
 
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
242
Reaction score
190
Location
SE Michigan
Country
United States
I myself use big red 1500 watt heater, that one heater works good for all 4 connecting ponds that run together all the time. Then I have the ponds covered in plastic domes that I made, and that keeps ice away on all four connecting ponds, about 5000 gallons or so. Here in Canada it's going to -30 Celsius tonight, about (-22 F). That's how I keep my fish safe from ponds freezing
Thank you so much for the info. Sorry for the late response. Guess I'm in hibernation.
Do you keep the pumps etc all running through winter? Can you post some pics of your setup? Thanks. I am assuming the heater does not actually heat the water to warmer (meaning above 40F/5C) temps right? Its just to keep some water surface open?
 
Joined
Aug 19, 2019
Messages
242
Reaction score
190
Location
SE Michigan
Country
United States
I myself use big red 1500 watt heater, that one heater works good for all 4 connecting ponds that run together all the time. Then I have the ponds covered in plastic domes that I made, and that keeps ice away on all four connecting ponds, about 5000 gallons or so. Here in Canada it's going to -30 Celsius tonight, about (-22 F). That's how I keep my fish safe from ponds freezing
I just went on your mega-thread and viewed some of the videos that you have posted. Pretty amazing that all of this is thriving in -30C!!!
Super impressive!
Have one question though. As your fish seem to be pretty active, do you feed them? I always thought that once the plants start dying out or going dormant in late fall, and as the temperatures fall further, you can't feed the fish. The reason being that my nitrogen cycle is off, right? So if I kept my pond running and kept it warmer and feed the fish then they will poop etc and otherwise generate ammonia which since there is diminished bacterial activity won't convert to nitrite/nitrate and even if they did then there are no plants sucking up nitrates, right?So isn't that a problem? Just curious.
 
Joined
Dec 16, 2017
Messages
13,380
Reaction score
10,480
Location
Ct
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
6b
Country
United States
In Michigan where temps can plummet and stay there for weeks. I would see things as such that a deicer will probably get over powered as they do not agitate the water. and have seen photos where the weather creates an igloo over the heater. I would take advantage of both worlds and use them both the agitation of the air stone along with a pond breather and you should be fine i got 20" of snow on a already frozen pond beside the air stone area and it was covered over by the snow but within 24 hours it had exposed it's self again even though temps had not risen above 20
 
Joined
Oct 28, 2013
Messages
13,070
Reaction score
13,394
Location
Northern IL
Showcase(s):
1
I've used a de-icer situated over an aerator - air stone about 8 inches below the surface, keeping the water agitated and the de-icer keeping it melted. That works UNTIL you get a massive amount of snow. Then the whole thing is just buried and you're back to square one. I've never used a pond breather, but the make good sense as the "breathing hole" would stay above the many inches of snow that are possible.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
30,780
Messages
508,553
Members
13,042
Latest member
lucaryan

Latest Threads

Top