I have a steel pipe that lays across my pond and my airline is taped along
it to ~ half way across pond (~3-4') , then drops into pond so airstone is
~3" below surface (the airline has a slight, constant downhill slope so
moisture won't collect in the airline during thawing periods and then freeze
when it gets colder again (had that happen)
Gale :~)
"Nicole Thompson" wrote in message
...
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lightbulb
I tied my bubbler stones to bricks on the *bottom*.......that must be the
difference.......

How do you keep them that shallow?

Nicole

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Hi Nicole - your airstones shouldn't be more than 2-3" deep in your
pond,
so
you get a fizzing effect on the surface (makes it harder for water to
freeze) - saying that, I still check mine daily as when it is really
cold
(0
to 20 F) mine still makes a small "ice dome" over the open hole which I
break up by tapping on it with a broom handle (it's very thin if you
check
it daily or you can use hot water - DO NOT pound on the ice - you will
shock
or kill your fish - use a cordless drill with a spade bit instead if the
ice
is too thick
Gale :~)
"Nicole Thompson" wrote in message
...
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?

Thanks,
Nicole