I have two koi and half a dozen goldfish in my pond, which is about
3 1/2 feet deep and about 8 ft x 4 ft. So it's larger than yours, but I
live in a colder climate - a couple of hundred miles north of Chicago, in
Wisconsin.

I was concerned about the cold spell too. We had a couple of weeks
when the temperature was below zero almost every morning, and did not go
above freezing for that whole time. Fortunately we had about 6 inches of
snow, so that provided a layer of insulation over the pond.

To heat the pond I have a small heater (25 watts?) that is intended
to keep a hole open. I also keep my submerged circulation pump running,
so that probably adds another 25 or 50 watts of heat flux.

I thought I lost all my fish because during one of our snow storm,
snow got into the electrical outlet and tripped the ground fault
interrupter. It was probably two days before I noticed that the surface
of the pond solidly froze over. Anyway, I reset the electrical outlet.
Then we had a thaw - daytime temperatures up to about 35 deg - and the
pond opened up. The fish I could see, 3 of them, looked okay. After I
finish typing this note, I'll go outside feed the rabbit, see if I can
find the cat, and check on the fish.

By the way, to cut through the ice I use a few gallons of boiling
hot water, not an auger.

As one egg benedict said to the other ... happy hollandaise!


Rich