Pond in the foothills

[MitchM]

I bought mine at BassPro. I think they were $149.00 Canadian, each.

 

[addy1]

Yours has a sweet picture Mitch

 

[MitchM]

Thanks addy. My wife and I always remark how clear the pictures are every time we download the memory card.

 

[Mike in Vermont]

Truly awesome pics!

 

[MitchM]

Thanks Mike.
I wish the grizzly pic was one of the full bear, but the trail cam has a minimum delay of 5 seconds. Still, I'll take what I can get.

 

[MitchM]

Man, these Ruby Red minnows are prolific.
Even in 7C/44F water, I'm finding new fry.
2 scoops of my pool skimmer net brings up about 30 of them. I've put these in my aquaponics now for the winter.

 

[addy1]

Cute lil suckers, mine don't do as well, maybe the dragon fly larvae eat them up.

I have had them in the pond for 3 years, hardly ever see one.

 

[MitchM]

I've stopped counting, they have to be maintaining a population of at least 1000.
The backswimmers seem to get their fill plus the dragonfly larvae.
Maybe it's the colder weather and water temperature they like here.

 

[callingcolleen1]

If the conditions are good they sure can multiply. Having a really big pond with just them is really good breeding conditions!

 

[dieselplower]

Mitch Im sorry but Im not reading through all 44 pages LOL. How did the heater thing work?

One comment I did read was one along the lines that the US is too easy on gun control. I just wanted to say my personal opinion is that we have a ton of gun control laws, but not enough enforcement. People who legally own guns rarely use them in a crime Its the people with illegal guns that you have to worry about!

 

[addy1]

How did the heater thing work?

His ice melted, fish were alive === worked just fine!

 

[addy1]

Mitch's pond

 

[MitchM]

Mitch Im sorry but Im not reading through all 44 pages LOL. How did the heater thing work?

One comment I did read was one along the lines that the US is too easy on gun control. I just wanted to say my personal opinion is that we have a ton of gun control laws, but not enough enforcement. People who legally own guns rarely use them in a crime Its the people with illegal guns that you have to worry about!

Yep, like addy said, everything lived. Both pond breathers worked for the 6 1/2 months of ice cover.
Coldest it got was -40 with a -57 windchill (If I remember correctly)
At the coldest temperatures with wind, the top of the breathers started to freeze up, but that didn't last long.
I put in 2 in case one failed. There's no replacing one once it's iced in.

As far as gun control....Maybe I should clarify that - ACCESS to guns is a problem in both our countries, more so in your country than in mine though.

 

[dieselplower]

Would you say the 40 watt breather was more effective at keeping a hole open than the 1500 watt heater?

 

[MitchM]

No.
But it's not about keeping a hole open in the ice, it's about exposing pond water to air for gas exchange.
The pond breather acts like your method of pointing a pump at the surface, except the breather does it through a heated tube using 1/10 the electricity your method does.
Those 1500 watt trough heaters only keep open a small hole and the water isn't moving around them.
Plus I tried a 1500 watt heater and it froze over in my climate.