"Granny Grump" wrote in message
...

Can I keep a couple of regular goldfish in there with winter temps
typically at 45-50 F during the day and about 30 F at night? Of course,
we can get temps in the teens and twenties on the odd winter day, but it
wouldn't last long. I have a pump running a bubble fountain that I plan
to remove the fountain head from to make a fatter stream of water just
gurgling up from the pond to make it less freeze prone. Do you think
the fish will survive in such a shallow pond, or should I go invest in
an aquarium and bring them in?

Invest in a $35 floating tank heater, thermostatic controlled,
instead, and your fish will do fine.

Anyone in zone 7 that buys a pond heater/ deicer is wasting
their money. (IMHO)

I live in zone 5 maybe 4b (Northern Colorado) and have about
a 100 gallon pond. I only have goldfish in it, and use an aquarium
air pump and stone in the water to allow for there to be an air hole
in the ice. It works fine. The ice on the pond has gotten maybe
3 or 4 inches thick, but there has always been air escaping
somehow from the pond. It is often an open area, but when the
temps go below 0F for a few days, the air escapes through
some volcano looking buildups. Even when they close up, the
air escapes around the edges. I also scoop out any leaves that
might have sunk to the bottom, so that decaying material is
minimized some.

Applying watts to the solution is expensive, and the fish don't
care if it is 33F or 40F. I have not lost any fish during the winter
months yet.

Jerry