John Bachman wrote:
On Sun, 26 Sep 2004 21:56:25 -0400, "Bill Stock"
wrote:


I'm going to leave the fishes in the pond this year, as their indoor cousins
are maxing out my tanks.

So the plan is to leave the pump going beneath the surface (1') and put one
of the 100 watt heaters within a couple of feet of the pump. I'm also
tempted to cover the pond with 2" of stryofoam sandwhiched between a couple
of sheets of plywood. Perhaps paint the plywood black for the solar heating.

Opinions please.

BTW: I'm in zone 5b, pond is roughly 4x6 and 30" deep.

You seem to be trying to warm the fish a bit, which isn't needed. Their
problem in freezing weather is dying from excessive gas which can't be
released through ice. If there is a hole in the ice, they will be fine
semi-hibernating away from the heat you provide. The hole can be
maintained with a small round rather flat heater, made for that purpose,
which only turns on below 32 degrees or by leaving the waterfall on. It
doesn't heat the water beyond a small circumference. That's just fine.
I assume you have goldfish, koi, or other coldwater, not tropical, fish.

Ruth Kazez