Aerator and bottom heater?

[waynefrcan]

GOOD NEWS!

I noticed the heater has shut off, so that can be only good news. I checked the bottom temp and it's 36.4!! The auto shutoff happened at 35F. So now the heater will come on only when needed to warm the 4' deep spot. Great news is the heater won't be running 24/7 and still will keep the bottom temp a few degrees warmer. I think now with your guys help, I finally have a good balance for wintering.

Now I still have complete ice cover except for a 6inch hole at one aeration spot with outside temp at 20F. Wondering what -20F will do to the bottom temp with all that cold air pumped in? Some will circulate to the bottom.

Maybe I didn't give the aeration on the bottom a good chance as there still was lots of open water? Maybe it still will work with complete ice cover? Problem is, no time to fool around. Once ice is in, forget about moving things around.

 

[waynefrcan]

Ok one last thing that I was told is that with the aeration method, even if it ices over, gas exchange will still happen. It's because the domed area is clear thin ice and gas will penetrate through it. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I'm going to give zero maintenance a try. No aeration, no heater, no holes in the ice. I have a relatively low fish (turtle, frog) load, and a pretty deep (5 ft.) pond, and very little debris on the pond bottom, so I think they'll be fine to just let nature take it's course.
Pond temp reads about 4.5 C at the bottom.

 

[sissy]

just be prepared to act fast if you have to mucky .You never know what winter may bring .If you are 5 ft it may be fine but winters have been really weird .

 

[waynefrcan]

HI Mucky, I forgot, for your area how long is there surface ice? Yes keep the temps coming this winter please.

 

[brandonsdad02]

The ice should acutally help keep your pond a bit warmer on the bottom. The ice can act as a magnifying glass and make the heat from the sun a bit more intense which will shine into your water and heat it up a few tenths of a degree. I know it sounds crazy but I have seen it done on mythbusters and it was proven to be true.

 

[waynefrcan]

That reminds me of another one I saw on another show. That warm water freezes faster then cold water. It does, but only in a carefully controlled lab settings. IF we try it at home with the freezer or put samples outside in winter, won't work.

So magnifying won't work in reality with 2 ft of snow, but will help to insulate for sure.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

I'm not actually convinced that any extra heating is necessary. We typically get up to about 7-8" of ice on the pond for about 3 solid months, but the water under the ice always stays a few degrees above freezing and I think that's all they need, providing you have a low fish load, the water has enough oxygen and there isn't a lot of rotting vegetation producing toxic levels of hydrogen sulphide.
I could be wrong, I'll know for sure in the spring.

 

[brandonsdad02]

The warm water it true. If you take a cup of hot water and throw it up in the air when it's like minus 15 or so. It will turn to ice before it hits the ground. I have done this and it worked for me but it also must be very dry for this to work.

 

[waynefrcan]

Right, humidity control and the wind factor would have to be perfect.

 

[Craig58]

Mucky - I think you'll be fine as I still believe most winter kills are from decomposition gases from debris in the pond. With little debris I don't think you have anything to worry about. I would make sure you have a heater in place on the surface. You just need to open a hole every 2-3 weeks for about 24 hrs. I keep the heater right over my airstone which is very close to the surface.

Wayne.. glad to hear your seeing some differences. I hope it holds throughout the winter.

Craig

 

[callingcolleen1]

Mucky, I would be very nervous about freezing my big fish under so much ice for such a long time, don't think that would work for my two big foot and a half long koi, pond only three feet deep. I also would be nervous about only having one small hole open for long periods of time. I'll just keep my trusty red heater handy for very cold weather and sleep better!

 

[waynefrcan]

Hey check out my question and reply on that pond trade article. Under my spy name Walter :razz: , very end of comments section. This guy sticking to his story. I'm sure it works, but if I can give them 36F and it costs me $50 a month in electric, I'm happy to do it.

http://www.pondtrade...articles/ar-73/

 

[waynefrcan]

Thanks Craig, what you think about the gas exchange through thin clear ice of an aeration dome? I might have to get at least a 750 watt heater for the surface to open it up from time to time?

Charles, the boiling water in a pot method to melt ice, I can answer that for you already. IT SUCKS lol. To go through only 1/2 - 3/4 inch of uneven clear ice, took 3 pots of boiling water and 3 kettle fills at 20F outside temp and 45 minutes. -20F and many inches of ice, you would need almost a constant replenishment of hot water and a team effort and half the day. A pot with a handle would interfere with that and also uneven ice etc.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Checked out the article, it does seems like the guy knows what he is talking about, BUT he has a 10,000 gallon pond that is five and half feet deep. Then he is in central Iowa, they get only THREE months of winter and lows of minus 20f, we can get FIVE or more months of winter with lows of minus 40 to50 f here. Then he talks about "thining" the fish population out, which is very important, but most of us love all our koi and can't bear to give them away. My ponds hold only about 3,500 Gallons and that is divided into three ponds that are connected. So I would not risk it, and I do know of lots of Koi horror stories from this town. My friend had very large KOI and she moved and got rid of her pond, gave her fish to this golf course here and they have a really, really big koi pond, and one year they lost all the fish. I am not sure how they wintered their pond, or what went wrong, but they were experienced and did winter the koi for years. I have not used your method, so I can't really comment. It may work good here too, for people with very large ponds, but I would still be nervous. You may be fine if your fish load is low, and providing the fish are healthy going into winter. You will just have to try it and see to know for sure, and keep a close eye on things. Good luck!