Colleen, yes, I kept the stream running last winter. However, that stream does not actually connect the two ponds as far as sharing water. The stream is an optical illusion, making it look like the koi pond overflows into the stream, which flows into the goldfish pond. BUT, the ponds don't share water at all, only if I overflow the koi pond. The stream is fed by the skimmer in the goldfish pond, which has a line that runs along the side of the stream, to the top, then running to the bottom where it empties back into the goldfish pond. Hope that makes sense. So, I only had to run the floating heaters when the temps got cold really fast, to open a hole, then the air or water bubblers were enough to keep the hole open and usually kept half of the water surface open. It gets far colder where you are, so I understand why you have to keep your heater running more than I would have to. The only thing that froze solid and quit several times was the waterfall, but that was I think because the water line went outside of the pond, and ran on top of the ground up the waterfall edge to the top, and that was too long of a line even with water running to keep it open. Either that or the pump quit for some reason, and thus the lines froze. Anyhow, I've moved that line, it is now on the inside edge of the waterfall, and buried under some dirt and behind the waterfall wall. This way, if any connection breaks, it will empty back into the pond, and not empty the pond like I had happen last year! Also, I wrapped the water line with insulation like Sissy suggestions, so hoping that will help as well. I wrap the Skippy with insulation board to try to keep the warmth of the water in there, too. We shall see ... learning as I go, and trying new things each year to see what works and what doesn't. :banana:
