"Peter Breed" wrote in message
...
After reading several websites that suggested covering a pond and keeping
the filter running during the winter I decided to give it a go. My first
attempt has used bigbubble bubble wrap covering about 70% of the pond area
and insulating the filter. This has been a spectacular success with the
water temperature increasing from 7 to 10 Celsius over 1 week. However its
a bit unsightly, doesn't look if it'll have much longeviety and its
difficult to check out whether the fish are enjoying their warmer home.

My latest plan is to take two layers of Plexiglas and attach a couple of
inches of polystyrene to the edges to float the glazing off the water
allowing air exchange.
The alternatives seem to be a temporary greenhouse/polytunnel, or a wood
based construction.
The advantages of my idea seemed to be ease of construction, better
aesthetic and easiness of storage when not in use.
I am basically putting this idea on here for people to shoot the idea down
before I spend my hard earned cash on materials.
Peter

PS I should say that I live in the middle of the UK and the winters are
long but don't get very cold. In the 2 winter's I've had my pond has had
no more than half an inch of ice, however there is quite a bit of wind
chill which I think is what the bubblewrap cover has helped with.

You don't say how big your pond is, so it's difficult to comment. Two years
ago I built an insulated wooden cover for my pond and put a small heater in
to keep the water above freezing. Everyone survived, but the cover was TOO
damn heavy. Last year the fish came in to a small stock pond with MH
lighting to keep the plants alive. This was also a success in that I had
lots (too many) Water Hyacinths early in the season and never had any String
Algae as a result. But it cost about $20 a month to run the lights and
condensation was an issue. I built a new cover this year using metal studs,
so it is much lighter than the old cover.

Next year I plan to dig the pond deeper so that I don't need a cover, except
for some kind of leaf cover in the fall.