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Thwart Winter Risk - Keep Your Pond Healthy!

 


To Quickly Create An Opening In Ice For Your Pond, Pour Warm Water On The Surface. Avoid Breaking Through The Ice Using Force Because You Can Harm Pond Life.


For pond owners with fish or other inhabitants, winter poses new challenges.  While you can move your creatures to a tank inside to wait out the weather, it's just as easy to leave them in their natural space and keep them healthy.  Ice itself is not an issue for Koi as long as your pond is deep enough to not become frozen completely.  Koi fish and many other inhabitants go dormant in the winter, which means they huddle to the very bottom where the water is warmer and use far less oxygen.

The most critical reason why you need to make sure your pond surface doesn't freeze over completely is because it keeps oxygen out and traps toxic gases that can kill your fish.

As long as there is a hole, or several, in your pond surface, your fish can ride out the cold weather just fine.  You can definitely add a pond heater or diffuser to increase comfort but the critical components will be an aerator and de-icer.  A de-icer can keep your pond from freezing solid, allowing ample liquid water to remain for your fish.  An aerator is crucial in keeping gases properly stirred up and exchanged.  It is also much more economical that running a pond heater and will even reduce ice buildup while it oxygenates water.

If you do happen to find yourself in a situation where the surface of your pond has frozen, do NOT attempt to break through the surface with force.  This produces shock waves that can hurt fish.  Your best bet is to keep an eye on the ventilation hole in your pond and remove any thin pieces of ice beginning to form before they get thicker and more solid.  To get through the ice and create a ventilation hole in the case of freeze over, pour warm water or place a very hot teakettle/coffee pot on a single area to melt the ice.

You want clear, open ventilation holes but don't concern yourself with ice and snow building up on the rest of the surface.  This helps insulate the pond from colder temps and keeps a warmer temp underneath.


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Location: Palos Heights, IL, USA

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