Winter set up.

[rdk]

I live in southern New England. Get cold here too. I don't know how much colder it get up north, but I use the Thermo-Pond de-icer. 100watts floats, It give me a full 36" hole in the ice and snow, works great and you can get one at Foster and Smith Aquatics U.S.A for under $50.00. You might need a more powerful one up there. RDK

 

[oldmarine]

Due to the limited space that I have for a pond, I decided to put in a preformed 365 gallon pond as a starter pond. My first in ground. It's been up and running since September of 2008. So far, every winter I have used a submersible aquarium heater in line with the intake to the water pump. So far this heater has managed to keep the pond water well above freezing. On those nights that the temps have dropped down into the teens (F), the pond water stayed just above freezing.

 

[shane_sda]

I just purchased a K&H Thermo-Pond 3.0. 100 Watts. They claim is will work to -30 (at that temp C or F does not matter much ). Interesting little experiment. I hope it saves the koi. As for an air pump. Any suggestions?

 

[oldmarine]

Just an observation. With the submersible aquarium heater hooked up in line with the water flow to my water pump, it warms the whole pond. I was going to try one those floating heaters that just keeps one spot at the surface of the water from freezing. The system that I am using simply works well because of the size of my pond.

 

[Steve knight]

Just an observation. With the submersible aquarium heater hooked up in line with the water flow to my water pump, it warms the whole pond. I was going to try one those floating heaters that just keeps one spot at the surface of the water from freezing. The system that I am using simply works well because of the size of my pond.

how many watts are you using?

 

[oldmarine]

I forgot to mention that the submersible aquarium heater that I use is 150 watt. So far I haven't had go any higher watt. I do keep the pump and filter running all year, 24/7.

 

[Steve knight]

I have the 160 gal box pond in portland and I was not sure I was thinking 300 watts but I would rather use 150

 

[JoaniePA]

Koiguy is right. I ruined a good air pump last year when the warm moist air froze in the tube. This year it's going under a bin outside.

 

[oldmarine]

Koiguy is right. I ruined a good air pump last year when the warm moist air froze in the tube. This year it's going under a bin outside.

Good reason to go with a heater. Be creative.

 

[stroppy]

I forgot to mention that the submersible aquarium heater that I use is 150 watt. So far I haven't had go any higher watt. I do keep the pump and filter running all year, 24/7.

what type of aquarium heater do you use oldmarine ?

 

[oldmarine]

PetSmart or any of the big pet stores have this type of 'submersible aquarium heaters'. They come in a good variety of watts. 100 watt, 150 watt, 200 watt, and 300 watt. The 'submersible' type heater is the best heater for our application for smaller outdoor ponds.

The last two winters I just layed the heater on the bottom of my DIY filter tub. I got to thinking about how I could best maximize the circulation of heat, and came up with the cylinder/heater idea. This year I got creative and constructed a cylinder that attached to the front of the water pump intake. The heater is mounted in the center of the cylinder so that the water flows directly over and around the heater, into the pump, and back to the pond. I have been taking outdoor and pond water temps several times a day, and I believe that with this new DIY cylinder/heater the pond temps are more consistant throughout the whole pond.

I didn't take pictures of the construction of the heater cylinder, I wished I did.