I am so bereft..........

[mondotomhead]

Hi Everyone,

This is just a venting post as nothing can be done at this point..

I live in Mass where the temp has not hit 10 degrees in close to 3 weeks. My pond and waterfall has frozen over and we had to shut off the pump this morning due to not enough water getting to the pump. I'm sure you all know that sucking sound! First time in 9 years. Somewhere in the waterfall I have a leak and every 2-3 days (sometimes less) I have to drag out 100 feet of hoses to add water to the pond. I just did it 2 days ago and the pond needs water again. I work and I am out of the house 13 hours and my SO had to be somewhere else today.

I'm pretty sure my goldfish have died. The pond is deep enough (3.5 feet) but there is no exchange of gases at this point. I had set up an aquarium to bring them in (there are 4) but I couldn't catch them and this makes me very sad I didn't try hard enough.

I've never experienced this much cold weather for this long. Its awful.

 

[Angel]

just had the same issue in s nj. get a deicer. use the hose to melt ice. add de icer when you have water and hope for the best.

i didn't lose water but my pumps and deicer stopped over nye in to nyd. had 1' thick ice and 1' gap of air to the water. not sure what my damage is atm will have to deal with it in the spring.

I was able to melt the ice with a de icer i purchased nyd and then get a bigger hole with a hose i bought today as the other one i had was frozen and not coming off the spigot. added water to the ice cap line and just hoping now.

I will be adding a small 158 gph fountain pump when i get more surface water to add it.

 

[mondotomhead]

Thanks, Angel for the advice but I just can't get a de icer today. I won't get home until after 6:30, my SO has cataract surgery tomorrow and a blizzard is coming Thursday.

I did try to use the hose to make a hole but it just froze over. That ice is thick. I'm hoping I can pull out the pump when I get home, in the dark, before that freezes too. My SO is not home to do this. I hate sitting here at work thinking about all this, hence, my venting..........

 

[Angel]

@mondotomhead

gonna need moving water to help the deicer work quicker.

wish you the best of luck

pics of what i had to deal with start to finish

 

[mondotomhead]

Angel: Ha! I actually gasped when I saw the first picture. I feel your pain. You managed to get a pretty big hole in that ice. I was out at my pond Saturday and even though I made a hose-sized hole that's all I could manage. That night that hole froze over. The ice is just so thick hose water just won't melt it even from the edges, I tried. Again, I appreciate your advice about the de icer. Looks like I should invest in one for next year.

 

[Angel]

Angel: Ha! I actually gasped when I saw the first picture. I feel your pain. You managed to get a pretty big hole in that ice. I was out at my pond Saturday and even though I made a hose-sized hole that's all I could manage. That night that hole froze over. The ice is just so thick hose water just won't melt it even from the edges, I tried. Again, I appreciate your advice about the de icer. Looks like I should invest in one for next year.

i used hot water till my 55 gallon hot water tank couldn't keep up and switch to cold. ( hose to utility sink in house ) combo with the de icer.

This fish mean just as much to me as my wife. as the 90% of the pond and 95% of the fish are my wife's grand fathers we transplanted from pa to nj.

I always wanted a pond. I got his pond liner rocks etc a pond.

My wife see's her grand father every day. keeping it going and surviving is been secretly more for her then me since his passing.

I try to keep it diy depression era mentality when i improve things.

 

[Tula]

Another idea to get a hole it the ice, is to take a hot pot and set it on the ice, tying something to the handle so you can retrieve the pot. If the ice is really thick, maybe you could try rotating multiple pots. Sorry this happened, it's been unseasonably cold ignominy areas!

 

[brokensword]

Your ice probably isn't as thick as you think as once it forms, the rate slows. Here's a table I found that might be interesting. If your pond is deep enough, you don't have to worry (24" minimum, 36 much better, and 48 is very good - depending on how far north you are, of course). Also, it takes time for the gasses to build and reach the toxic point. Depending on how high your fish load is, you're probably okay. I had my pond totally ice over for more than a month, after two months of being covered, and the fish (100, 4-8" gf in 2700 gallons) were okay upon melting (didn't see that my aerator had stopped bubbling the surface until it was too late. Needed to melt a hole with my cattle trough to re-establish and put a new aerator in).

 

[Lisak1]

Here's the thing - your goldfish are possibly just fine. Your pond is deep enough that they won't freeze. And gas exchange is important, but fish have survived in completely iced over ponds so it's maybe not as bad as you are worried it will be. Our pump plumbing failed last winter right in the midst of a similar cold snap/blizzard. We had to shut everything down and hope for the best. The pond was completely iced over for more than three weeks with no hole, no waterfall, nothing. It was too cold and snowy for even the de-icer to have an effect. Come spring, all was well. Everyone survived - and we have large koi. It's not ideal, but it's not necessarily a case of all is lost. So keep your fingers crossed and try not to worry - after all, as you said there's not much you can do now. Things happen.

Also, we had an old experienced pond guy tell us that even a completely iced over pond is still capable of gas exchange. If you have rocks or plants around the edges, you have the potential for small gaps or cracks where gas can escape. Again - not the best of all work

Let me share one other tip with you - we keep a short (just long enough to reach from the spigot to the pond) hose in the basement where it stays warm and pliable. When we need an emergency fill up, I have a hose that's warm and short - makes it so much easier! I just had to add water last week when it was below zero - not fun, but much better when you are prepared!

 

[Jhn]

Agree with Lisa, I keep an extra garden hose in the basement for emergencies as well( had one over the weekend). As was said fish are most likely still fine as it takes time for gases to build up to a toxic level.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Sorry to hear about the cold weather and pond freezing up. I live in Canada and last couple weeks we had temperatures in the minus 30 and 40 below zero. My ponds run all winter and I made easy to put up cattle panel cold frames as well I use a big 1500 watt heater most of the time. Water still flowing well but I know what to expect and have been wintering ponds up here since 1991. I feel bad as you are not used to harsh winters but will try to help if I can. I would use a big red cattle trough heater to get you though the worst winter. They use lots of energy those big heaters but if you had used it your pond would not freeze solid. It might be good to have one on hand and use it during the worst winters. Even if you only use it at night and unplug heater as soon as weather improves. I unplug my heater during the day if its nice and as soon as weather improves i will leave it unplugged. It cost me about an extra 100 per month to run during the worst winters up here but well worth the money as it saves me from lots of headaces and worry...

 

[sissy]

I have one of those little propane guns that you burn weeds with and been using that but any little propane fired things will work .Mine was for heating up pipes so i could bend them a little

 

[JamieB]

So long as they don’t freeze solid( I’ve heard, don’t know and don’t tryst it though, that some can survive even that!) and have water, they can survive. Years ago, the fish I have now were just feeders, and I put them in a pool, thinking my geese might eat them. No, my gander did try to kill them by draining off the water though. In just a few inches of water, they did survive a freeze of two weeks, I didn’t know I had any left. After it thawed, I went out to fix the pool and refill it for the geese, to find survivors! Totally shocked me, and that’s when they went from goose and turtle food to pets. They are now in a big pool with a frame so short of the side/ bottom being cut, they’ll never go through that again.