How long can my pond be iced over before the fish are in danger?

[charrold]

I was away for a couple of days and it got wicked cold here so when I came back my pond was completely iced over.

I am in the process of thawing out a hole now, but I wanted to know how long will the fish be OK before the water is too CO2 loaded for them? If anyone knows.

Thanks!

 

[koikeepr]

its not an instant event by any means...can take a few days or a few weeks depending on the fish load.

Don't you have an air pump and an air stone in your pond to prevent this? Read up on our most recent winterizing threads for lots of info on that.

Crack the ice to help things thaw faster.

 

[charrold]

I have the stuff, but the temperature fell and it iced over so fast I had not had time to put it in before the ice built up. I was going to use warm (not hot, just warm) water to melt a hole through and then fire up the air pump and stone and that should keep it clear.

It can not have been iced over for too long - the temps here last week were in the 50's and 60's so it has to be from the recent cold and snow over the last couple of days.

Thanks for putting my mind at ease - was definitely a little worried there!

 

[CliffandJoann]

Firstly, you must put a hole in the ice only using hot water.
...Then use an aquarium pump and stone to keep the hole open.
You can pick them up in wallmart or a pet store for a few bucks.

If you smash a hole in the ice, you'll probably kill your fish, as they
are very sensitive to the vibrations that will result from pounding on the ice.
what concerns me more -- is the size of your pond for your climate...
you may need a heater to keep the pond from freezing completely.

How deep is your pond at the deepest part?

edit
Ok, we posted at the same time, I see your pond is 3.5" deep, that's good.

 

[koiguy1969]

no doubt !....absolutely NO smashing a hole..the shockwaves from that will extremely stress the fish . put a pot of hot water on top of the ice and watch it till it melts thru. ideally you dont even want to pour it. you can use pond salt with or without the hot water as long as ponds not at max salinity already.

 

[charrold]

Thanks everyone - 5 buckets of hot water later and I have a hole. I poured it, but very very slowly and from close to the top of the water to make shock waves minimal.

My bubbler is in and a nice steady upwelling is occurring which should do the trick nicely.

I don't know about anywhere else, but this "winter" (which starts on the 21st officially) has been brutal here already. We almost never get this cold this early. We might get more snow on the ground than the high temperature outside today. (3-6in versus a high of 3).

 

[koikeepr]

just for the record, I never said smash. I said--crack. Meaning, just push lightly so that it separates. It my neck of the woods I just poke a finger through as it's usually no more than a thin cap of ice. Of course, if it's very thick and can't be easily broken through...the hot water method is what you have to do.

Agree with the others that once should not smash/hammer or hit thick ice in a pond. Aside from possibly harming the fish, you risk damaging your liner too.

Just didn't want anyone to take my comment incorrectly and yank out a sledge hammer or something...

 

[koiguy1969]

my ponds been frozen for a while, but as far as snow, suprisingly weve only had flurries so far. i wish it would snow. if its gonna be cold it might as well be white.. oh,, my dog already fell thru the ice this year... went to call her in and she was dripping and sitting at the door waiting to get in.. she hasnt gotten too close since...

 

[Airic]

That is interesting in regards to the statement of potentially killing your fish due to loud noises. I was planning on turning my pond into a ice rink when the ice gets thick enough Would you advise not to do this? Note: Mine is a mud pond. I would most definitely not advise this for a liner pond. My pond is around 6' deep in most areas.

 

[D&RW]

interesting about keeping the aerators going. that's easy. i knew about not smashing the ice from last year although i wouldn't have without this forum.

for next year, I'm going to set up dual thermometers to see if there's a bonafida thermocline and how much difference there is. I used to scuba dive up here a lot and it seems I remember that the warmer water was on top. But then we were in dry suits and it was so darn cold it all seemed just "cold". I should have taken temp readings as I decended.

 

[koiguy1969]

the warner water is on top during the warmer months but as the temps plummit the water table inverts and the warmer water sinks to the bottom.

 

[D&RW]

have you ever measured to see what the actual differences are?

 

[koikeepr]

It's just the way stratification works. The deeper the pond, the wider the three stratification bands are. Think of your pond in thirds, and that's rougly your bands. So, if you have a 24" deep pond, each level is roughly 8.33 inches wide. That's why it's so much better to have a deeper pond...the bands are bigger. BUT, the deeper the pond, it's also more important to aerate in the summer because that layer of oxygen poor water at the lowest region is also bigger.

 

[charrold]

My thermometer is the floating type and frozen into the top - if I can bust it out I might try that too. Incidentally with all the hot water I must have raised the temp in the pond because the Koi were active for a little bit too.

 

[D&RW]

Check this out. Very interesting reading. www.fishchannel.com/media/setups/ponds/seasons-of-the-pond.aspx.pdf http://faculty.gvsu.edu/videticp/stratification.htm