Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?

--
Mike Barnes

"Mike Barnes" wrote in message
...
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?

--
Mike Barnes


I thought that floating a few small footballs was a recommended way of
introducing some flexibility.

On Nov 30, 11:57*am, "John" wrote:

I thought that floating a few small footballs was a recommended way of
introducing some flexibility.

I have some chunks of white polyethylene foam packing (not
polystyrene), carved into a school of Moby Dick lookalikes.

Tie them down to keep them central, otherwise they end up uselessly at
the side.

On Nov 30, 11:31*am, Mike Barnes wrote:
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

I let my pond freeze over before, didn't seem to do it any harm.
Usually I just leave the air pump running with the bubblers raised off
the bottom of the pond as well. The trouble with doing it by hand is
that
a. Its cold outside
b. It freezes over again.

Matt

On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:03:46 -0800 (PST), matthelliwell wrote:

I let my pond freeze over before, didn't seem to do it any harm.
Usually I just leave the air pump running with the bubblers raised off
the bottom of the pond as well.

Hum, not sure that is a good idea, it'll tend to make the water
circulate.

The OPs 6 x 4 x 1m deep pond is not very likely to freeze solid like
a small shallow one might. Part of the reason for this is that water
has it's highest density at about 4C so as the water cools it sinks
to the bottom and stays there, water below 4C is less dense so stays
on top of the relatively warmer water. This is why I'm not sure that
stiring the pond with an aerator is a good idea...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Nov 30, 3:35*pm, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:
On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:03:46 -0800 (PST), matthelliwell wrote:
I let my pond freeze over before, didn't seem to do it any harm.
Usually I just leave the air pump running with the bubblers raised off
the bottom of the pond as well.

Hum, not sure that is a good idea, it'll tend to make the water
circulate.

The OPs 6 x 4 x 1m deep pond is not very likely to freeze solid like
a small shallow one might. Part of the reason for this is that water
has it's highest density at about 4C so as the water cools it sinks
to the bottom and stays there, water below 4C is less dense so stays
on top of the relatively warmer water. This is why I'm not sure that
stiring the pond with an aerator is a good idea...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Our pond is about 12 feet across and 2 1/2 feet deep; it froze last
winter, though not all the way through. We made a few half hearted
attempts to make holes in the ice, using the tin can full of hot water
method, but they soon froze up again. Come the spring, I removed 11
dead fish (out of around 35), and three dead frogs.

Cheers
Richard

On Nov 30, 3:54 pm, geraldthehamster wrote:
On Nov 30, 3:35 pm, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:



On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:03:46 -0800 (PST), matthelliwell wrote:
I let my pond freeze over before, didn't seem to do it any harm.
Usually I just leave the air pump running with the bubblers raised off
the bottom of the pond as well.

Hum, not sure that is a good idea, it'll tend to make the water
circulate.

The OPs 6 x 4 x 1m deep pond is not very likely to freeze solid like
a small shallow one might. Part of the reason for this is that water
has it's highest density at about 4C so as the water cools it sinks
to the bottom and stays there, water below 4C is less dense so stays
on top of the relatively warmer water. This is why I'm not sure that
stiring the pond with an aerator is a good idea...

--
Cheers
Dave.

Our pond is about 12 feet across and 2 1/2 feet deep; it froze last
winter, though not all the way through. We made a few half hearted
attempts to make holes in the ice, using the tin can full of hot water
method, but they soon froze up again.

is that related to the "firelighter in a tin can" method?

Jim K

In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 04:03:46 -0800 (PST), matthelliwell wrote:

I let my pond freeze over before, didn't seem to do it any harm.
Usually I just leave the air pump running with the bubblers raised off
the bottom of the pond as well.

Hum, not sure that is a good idea, it'll tend to make the water
circulate.

The OPs 6 x 4 x 1m deep pond is not very likely to freeze solid like
a small shallow one might. Part of the reason for this is that water
has it's highest density at about 4C so as the water cools it sinks
to the bottom and stays there, water below 4C is less dense so stays
on top of the relatively warmer water. This is why I'm not sure that
stiring the pond with an aerator is a good idea...

Yes, a bit warmer at the bottom, keep it that way


--
geoff

On Nov 30, 3:35*pm, "Dave Liquorice"
wrote:

The OPs 6 x 4 x 1m deeppondis not very likely to freeze solid like
a small shallow one might. Part of the reason for this is that water
has it's highest density at about 4C so as the water cools it sinks
to the bottom and stays there, water below 4C is less dense so stays
on top of the relatively warmer water. This is why I'm not sure that
stiring thepondwith an aerator is a good idea...

I've got the aerators and the pumps raised nearer the surface in this
weather so it shouldn't be mixing up the lower layers of the pond. The
fish all seem happy enough in the trench at the bottom of the pond so
I think the water down there must still be the warmest.

Matt

On 30/11/2010 11:31, Mike Barnes wrote:
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?


We have a large pond and the ice was very thick (~4") back in the
January freeze.

We just left it and the fish life survived perfectly.

In article , Vortex7
writes
On 30/11/2010 11:31, Mike Barnes wrote:
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?


We have a large pond and the ice was very thick (~4") back in the
January freeze.

We just left it and the fish life survived perfectly.

Went ice fishing in Canada once. I caught the first fish with the auger,
frozen fresh in the ice. What odds I wonder?
--
fred
FIVE TV's superbright logo - not the DOG's, it's ********

Mike Barnes wrote:
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole
in the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an
electric heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?

Our waterfall runs 24/7/365 so there's always a decent 'hole' in the ice
there. Earlier this year though, in the 'big freeze' we had the house
rewired and the supply to the garage was off for 7 days. The ice over the
whole pond was 6" thick but the fish survived OK.

In message , Mike Barnes
writes
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?

I have a small pond and I don't bother breaking the ice. Fish are cold
blooded, their metabolism slows down, they don't require much oxygen


--
geoff

On Nov 30, 9:05*pm, geoff wrote:
In message , Mike Barnes
writesAdvice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?

I have a small pond and I don't bother breaking the ice. Fish are cold
blooded, their metabolism slows down, they don't require much oxygen

--
geoff

I have a small pond - 12ft one way 8 the other and nominally 3 ft
deep. This froze quite extensively last year (Edinburgh area) and I
expected the koi in it to 'hibernate' at the bottom. After about 4
weeks there was a bit of a thaw and the shallow end thawed out - the
fish all immediately appeared there despite the cold and I assumed
that the oxygen level in the main body of the water had sunk so low
they were surfacing to get 'air' and I put the system pump on the
circulate in some fresh water and air.

I'm probably going to have to do the same shortly this year as the ice
is pretty thick - mind you it won't be that easy as there's 15"+ of
snow now and that's only 10 miles from the sea. I keep on thinking
the pond water level has sunk but in fact it's the surrounding surface
level that has risen.

Rob

Mike Barnes wrote:
Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Your mileage may vary.

I have a pond that's on the order of that size, but twice as deep.

I had a little bubbler going under the water, several feet down.
This worked well.
Unfortunately, I was feeling crap, and diddn't check it was still working -
it wasn't - I'd forgotten to plug it in.

Lost quite a lot of nice goldfish and koi.
100% of them killed.

They were fine for the first snap that just lasted a week or so frozen.
Three weeks killed them dead though.

I recommend a bubbler or two under the ice - however ensure that it's actually
working - and site the inlet in some place cold but dry as much as you
can, to avoid icing on the pipe.

Fish as seen in http://www.mauve.plus.com/

And yes, it was heavily stocked.
Some would say overstocked, but water quality tested good every time I
tested it, and there were no health issues before they all died.

Chris Hogg :
On Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:31:32 +0000, Mike Barnes
wrote:

Advice that I've heard suggests that it's a good idea to make a hole in
the ice covering a fish pond, to relieve stress on the liner and to
allow the water to breathe (oxygen in, farts out). The wrong tool for
the job is a hammer; the right tool is a pan of hot water or an electric
heater.

I do this every year but I suspect that it's really only necessary for
small ponds with rigid liners or lots of fish. Our pond is quite large
(6m x 4m x 1m deep), with a flexible liner and not many fish (roughly
150 @ 8cm), so I suspect that I might be wasting my time and
electricity.

Comments?

There's a thread on this very topic on rec.ponds.moderated, started by
yours truly.

Uncannily similar posting. :-)

Kate Humble on Autumnwatch (BBC) says it's not necessary
to make a hole in the ice, fish will be OK, and two US subscribers
tended to agree, but cautioning that it rather depends on the size and
depth of the pond, implying that a small pond might freeze right
through in a really cold winter (such as they get over there).

That's what I thought but it's nice to have it confirmed, kind of. I
don't think our pond would ever freeze all the way through, and in any
event the fish aren't particularly valuable - I only got them to keep
the insect population down in summer.

I notice that a heron has been peering optimistically down the hole all
morning. They don't get fish even in summer, only frogs. How do they
survive prolonged cold spells?

--
Mike Barnes