frozen pond

[carmel]

i had a pond de-icer in my pond but it quit working..i have purchased a new one but we are at -18c here and the pond has frozen pretty good now. any tips on how to make a hole in the ice to put in the new de-icer??? i have though of boiling water...but i think the ice is too thick for that....an ice fishing auger....can i stand on the pond??? something drastic like a chain saw???

 

[DrCase]

You can boil water in a pan that is bigger then the heater and set the pan on the ice to melt a hole

 

[sissy]

how thick do you think the ice is .Maybe you can use a drill with a paddle bit in it to help make a hole .You can buy extended bits that are 12 inches long .

 

[pecan]

We have had record cold temps here and a few of my air stones (used to keep holes in the ice) quit working. Yesterday I hooked the garden hose up to the sink faucet and turned the water on hot. I ran the hose out to the pond and used it to melt the holes and get the air stones working again. It worked surprisingly fast on ice that is 4" thick. I first tried using a small torch which worked way to slow. Luckily we have tankless water heaters so I did not have to worry about running out of hot water.

 

[carmel]

the ice is probably 5-6 inches thick....i think a pot of hot water would cool too quickly today...still at -17 and now snowing too...going to try the auger later today....will have to make two or three holes with it to fit the heater in though....

 

[dieselplower]

The idea to run hot water from the sink inside to the pond is a good idea.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

the ice is probably 5-6 inches thick....i think a pot of hot water would cool too quickly today...still at -17 and now snowing too...going to try the auger later today....will have to make two or three holes with it to fit the heater in though....

Before I had a de-icer this winter, I filled a half gallon with hot, non-boiled water, slowly poured it in the exact same spot. With 3" of ice it usually took 1-2 half gallons, but only opened a hole maybe 4" wide. Maybe if you made a few extra trips in and out you could get it done.

 

[carmel]

well i didnt get out to it today so maybe tomorrow i will try the hot water technique first before i do anything else drastic....snowing too hard now to go out ...will have to shovel off a bit first tomorrow...the de-icer is about 8 inches wide so i need a fairly large hole... anyone know how long fish will last without a hole for them....

 

[Tula]

I would think they'd be fine for now, besides, what else can you do? Your weather sounds frigid and snowy….be safe yourself. Kim

 

[dieselplower]

It is hard to say how long they will last. It depends on many things, including the size of your pond and the stocking level, as well as your levels of things like ammonia and nitrate etc. There is a person on here who let their pond freeze over last Winter and it was the first Winter he lost any fish. So I wouldn't wait super long. I imagine a week would be no problem.

 

[HARO]

Place the de-icer where you want it and plug it in! Works like a charm. (I speak from experience; I wait too long every year!)
John

 

[Lisak1]

I was going to say the same thing - the de-icer that we have can be placed on the ice and it melts it's own hole! We tried the boiling water trick last year - didn't even make a dent!

 

[addy1]

my ice will be gone by saturday, we are heading back up to 60...........

 

[carmel]

i didnt know the de-icer would make its own hole.....i will remember that for next time...hopefully there isnt a next time....as for this time ...all is well...my son made three holes close together with the auger and chipped out the middle parts.....good to have fishermen in the family!..thanks for all the advice...