Snow drifts?

[ZmanArt007]

Hello,

Once I build my pond, I am thinking about keeping the fish outside all winter long, heating the water, and feeding the fish. (Is that ok?)
In the area I am going to build the pond, snowdrifts tend to become... big. My question is this: Will the snow drifts that will inevitally reach the pond hurt the water chem levels in any way? Remember, they are drifts, which means the snow will move from one place to another, touching the ground and possibly catching solids.

 

[koikeepr]

The problem will be that if you keep feeding them, how will you do partial water changes to deal with the poop and other detrius that will accumulate in the pond? If you heat the water high enough that you can still feed, you still need to do the normal changes.

Can you heat just high enough to keep the water from freezing (like 40 degrees) and not feed so you don't have to even worry about water changes?

 

[DrDave]

I personally think the object is to keep the ponds just above freezing, no need to feed or do water exchanges at this temperature.

 

[koikeepr]

exactly.

 

[oldmarine]

I agree with DrDave. I also leave my pump, filters, everything running with a heater in my pond just to keep the water above freezing. It worked well last winter without any problems with pumps, filters, or anything else going wrong.