Well, I'm not writing off my fish just yet - as I said the one that was in
there survived last winter unassisted and the temps were just as cold here
and I'm certain the entire pond was frozen - almost *had* to be.....and
somehow it survived.....keeping fingers crossed - and **seriously**
considering a heater

Nicole

"John Bachman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 07:01:23 -0500, "Nicole Thompson"
wrote:

I live in Central PA - current temp - 5 degrees F - nighttime temps are
below zero.

My question is, I have a *raised* pond made of cinderblock (was here when
we
moved in) and the single goldfish that was here when we moved in survived
the winter last year just fine w/out any "assistance" - the pond was
already
frozen when we moved in, so we were delighted when we saw him alive and
well
in the spring.

We added some friends (I've posted here in the past about that) and for
the
winter, I bought bubbler stones - two long ones - which were working
pretty
well until this really cold snap. My concern is that the water
surrounding
the bubblers will freeze and burn up the pump (which is a cheap small
one,
but works well) - and my worst fear is it'll catch on fire or something -
since I have the pump inside the house (figuring the warm house air going
into the bubblers wouldn't be a bad thing).

So, my question is, should I unplug it altogether until warmer weather or
just let it keep going? The pond looks frozen solid and the pump doesn't
*sound* much louder than it did......but I'm still concerned. I thought
of
adding a de-icer, but I have no idea if that would really help or not -
we're talking about a 10' x 10' (roughly) water area that's 18" deep. Am
I
being overly-concerned about the fish since the one *did* survive w/out
anything last year?


If the pond is frozen solid then you may as well turn the bubbler off
as it is doing no good. The goldfish is also dead.

It seems to me that an 18-inch deep above ground pond is going to
freeze in any normal winter without a heater. So, heat it, bring your
fish inside or buy new fish every year.

JMHO

John