Zone 5 Wintering

[MitchM]

Mitch only has small minows.... I would not use breather for my big fish as I don't think its recommended for below minus 20 celsius. (We get below minus 40 here in Canada)
Should be ok for zone 5

My shubunkins are 10" now....
Both breathers function down to -40.
The 1500w floating heater froze over the winter before I got the breathers.

.

 

[callingcolleen1]

My shubunkins are 10" now....
Both breathers function down to -40.
The 1500w floating heater froze over the winter before I got the breathers.

.

Well they still are small and your pond is very large. I really don't think that breather would be suitable for very large koi like mine, or any koi, as they require lots of oxygen. I would not recommend that device for large fish or koi, especially as most people have smaller ponds and larger fish. Ice would most likely freeze way too deep, leaving larger fish with even less space under the ice.
You have to be careful recomending that device, and it would really not be suitable for most ponds in Canada as it is only recommended for tempertaures of only minus 20...

 

[callingcolleen1]

And I did once recommend a similar device many years back, when I worked selling pond equipment at this greenhouse. That poor lady was very mad that I sold her this energy efficient pond de icer. Her fish froze solid during a bad winter, using a similar device I still feel bad and that was 17 years ago.

 

[MitchM]

The first winter I had a pond, I tried your method (heater and pumps) and my 8" fish died because of a lack of gas exchange when everything froze over.

Remember, you are in a much more protected area than I am. You are surrounded by nice warm houses that radiate heat and protect your pond from the wind.

You and I are both using the same method to keep our fish alive - water movement and active gas exchange.
The difference is that you are protected from the wind and use 2000 watts, I am not protected from the wind and use 90 watts.
I receive no benefit from promoting the use of the Pond Breather, and I can cite real world experience where they work down to -40 with 2 feet of ice. What more do you want?

Quit dissing my breathers.

.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Sorry for dissing that device but still would not recomend it for Canada.

 

[MitchM]

... That pond breather also got covered in ice that you currently use..

Um, no...where did you get that?

 

[callingcolleen1]

I thought you had to dig it out one time ...

 

[callingcolleen1]

It works for your pond, and that's good. But I do get really cold here too. Just last couple years were mild. I remember we had minus 40 below for like a week straight one year, people's pipes were froze 6 feet down that year. It was very cold, dispite living in town. I fear this year will be very cold too. That year I ran my 1500w heater with good water flow, and never had any problems... You have to have good pre pump filters that won't clog during winter.
That year was rough for some of my friends, and many lost all there koi that year. Matter of fact I know many people in town who gave up wintering fish outside. Even our expert "pond guy" in town lost lots of fish two years ago...
I just am very careful not to "sugar coat" wintering ponds. Lots can go wrong when it is minus 40 below for weeks.

The only reason you think my weather is milder is cause you always see how my ponds de-ice quick, and you think I live in Banana belt (ha ha ha, maybe I do!) but lots of people here in town get lots more ice than my ponds, but that is just cause I have really good water flow all year round, and my ponds flow like a river, not a lake. Big difference, as rivers the ice breaks up a month or two before a lake will....

 

[MitchM]

Since I've had an outdoor pond, I've learned a lot about heat loss in ponds and my past construction experience taught me a lot about building heat loss.

Wind is the single biggest factor that removes heat from a pond. You live in a neighbourhood with closely situated older homes that have 2x4 construction that have at best R15 insulation plus basements that will radiate heat to the surrounding ground.
My pond has no such protections or close sources of heat.
You and I both experience similar temperatures but we both have experience of the difference wind can make going for a walk in -40. No wind, it's not so bad, but with even a bit of wind it can be dangerous.
I do kid you about living in a banana belt ( you do have banana trees...), but the presence of wind really does make a huge difference.

I'm not sure that you understand how the breathers work. They constantly pull water from about 3 feet deep and briefly expose it to the air above the ice then the water returns to below the ice.