Hole in the Ice

[Kaniff]

It's hard to say without knowing how much organic matter you have that is going to decay, how many and what size fish you have, ect.
A simple open hole may not be enough either.
I use a pond breather to keep my pond well aerated during the winter. I have 2 breathers running in case one fails because my ice gets about 2 feet thick and I have 6 months of ice cover.
Pond beathers are low power and very efficient.

http://www.amazon.ca/Watt-Pond-Breather-Heated-Aerator/dp/B000HHM9U0


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Thanks, im going to order one now.

 

[Smaug]

Last year my pump failed and I had a frozen surface for at least 3 days. No problem. In the past I have had over 50% of my surface open even in minus 20f for over a week. I always ran my skimmer pump all winter in the past but with things getting colder I'm going to go to just a strong air pump.

 

[adavisus]

If you can melt a hole in the ice every couple of days that will vent toxic gases effectively. A saucepan of boiling water can melt its way through a few inches

Keeping a hole in the ice going continuous may not be practical long term, especially when a slow winter storm is hanging about, putting an over turned bucket over the usual place where you keep a hole will keep freezing temps off it longer

One of the best home made contraptions over the years was Bickals de icer design, basically an electric bulb in a weather proof enclosure which gives off enough warmth to keep a small area melted, its only vulnerability is the electrical supply. At least, if the bulb goes you can spot it after dark and go replace it the next day

Another effective design is any cold frame design which when the sun is on it, will melt ice within. Making it resilient to stormy conditions would be a good idea...

Regards, andy

 

[MitchM]

...

One of the best home made contraptions over the years was Bickals de icer design, basically an electric bulb in a weather proof enclosure which gives off enough warmth to keep a small area melted, its only vulnerability is the electrical supply. At least, if the bulb goes you can spot it after dark and go replace it the next day

...

I would not recommend a setup such as this.
Besides the electrical safety issue, in a strong winter storm, this device could become overwhelmed and fail, only to be frozen in place until the ice melted.
You would not want a splash of water to break the bulb, dropping broken glass into your pond.
A simple hole in the ice will only provide passive gas exchange, while for the same power consumption and greater saftey and more reliable performance during a storm, you could have active water aeration using a pond breather. Active aeration provides many thousand times more aeration than a simple hole in the ice.

In the event of a power outage, a pond breather has a heating strip that will thaw out it's breathing tube and get the unit working again, safely.

.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I have no idea but would think they'd be OK for a couple of days. I've also heard about putting a ball in the water [or a few, depending on how much surface area you have], or a ring made from a pool noodle. Then, if you needed to open a hole, pour some hot water on the ice. We have a lot of Canadians on GPF who I'm sure would have good "emergency" advice.

What are you planning to do to keep a hole open? There is something called a "Pond Breather" [I think] that a lot of folks were using and experimenting with this past winter, and it sounds like the opinions were pretty good.

@callingcolleen1 Can you comment on the original question?

A lot depends on how big the pond is, how big the koi are, and how thick the ice is. Minus 20 Celsius overnight not a big deal if ground is not Frozen deep and ice is thin sheet. However if the ground is frozen like 5 feet deep THEN minus 20 Celsius is much worse, as frozen ground freezes the pond even harder dispite a warm day.

Where are you located? How cold do you expect to get this winter?

 

[callingcolleen1]

Kaniff might be an idea to talk to @callingcolleen1, I know she lives in Canada and manages to keep her water from freezing by way of a cattl heater I believ.
Its not hard to keep a hole in the ice unless you have constant -20c then unless you are going to commit to a cattle heater or an inline heater you wont be able too.
I have a Canadian frind who gets -24c with a windchill of -54c who at my suggestion now brings her koi into her hubbies workshiop for the duration of winter and brings her filters in also so that the holding tanks are running with good mture pond water .
She maintains a constent temperature of 11c throughout .

Dave

I also keep the ice at bay by running all four connecting ponds, water never stops flowing and flowing water keeps better holes open than just a heater. I also don't plug in heater unless ponds are mostly iced over. I like to have a ice shell and then the heat stays in better and flowing water keeps fish healthy and ensures they don't run out of oxygen.

Also all my pumps and filters are below the ice and under water that way they don't tend to freeze up like external pumps and filters

 

[callingcolleen1]

And winter is not coming to my land apparently this year... so far no ice and no snow this year. Which is very strange cause some years the hardest part of winter is November to January.

 

[Kaniff]

And winter is not coming to my land apparently this year... so far no ice and no snow this year. Which is very strange cause some years the hardest part of winter is November to January.

Yes apparently most of the country is supposed to have a warmer winter. So far no ice at all.

 

[snoozer]

If you make one of the deicers using a light bulb, coat all of the glasss with clear silicone sealant. I used to buy light bulbs that had a similar coating but couldn't find them anymore. I used that type bulb in the clamp lights i would use. Half the time the cord on the light would get snagged and the light would end up getting yanked off of whatever it was clamped to and hitting the ground. I have coated quite a few bulbs and if it does break somehow the silicone keeps the glass from going anywhere.

 

[snoozer]

Forgot to mention that Farm and Fleet have the breathers for $59.99

 

[Kaniff]

F*&@k me looks like im about to find out a partial answer to a post I wrote a while ago.....Just got back from a good olde 4 day camping trip in Algonquin Park to find out that the electrical breaker to my pond faulted and my pond breather has been off for days. Soon as I noticed I flipped the breaker back on to get the breather running, opened a new hole and got a bubbler going... Guess we'll see who is alive in the spring.

 

[Faebinder]

F*&@k me looks like im about to find out a partial answer to a post I wrote a while ago.....Just got back from a good olde 4 day camping trip in Algonquin Park to find out that the electrical breaker to my pond faulted and my pond breather has been off for days. Soon as I noticed I flipped the breaker back on to get the breather running, opened a new hole and got a bubbler going... Guess we'll see who is alive in the spring.

Yikes...

Was all the pond iced over?

 

[Kaniff]

Yikes...

Was all the pond iced over?

Yup, completely. All I can do now is wait till the spring to see who made it.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Melt a hole in the ice with hot water and that will help. Good luck!