the cooler you keep the fish, the less upkeep you will need to perform. the cooler,
the less feeding, the less waste.
that "blanket" should not be on top of the water, it can be above the pond and will
definitely keep the heat in. yes, it will stop aeration and maybe it is
bactericidal, you need to ask. I am sending DH for cheap bubble wrap from Uhaul
today for a second layer over the first layer of plastic. Ingrid

On Thu, 6 Dec 2007 22:01:24 CST, "Bill Stock" wrote:

I left the fish in their indoor pond after the outdoor pond renovations, as
it was too cool to move them back outdoors. But since the pond is in a cool
part of the basement (entryway), the water is down to 52° now. Making the
room warmer is not really an option, at least not in the short term. So I
plan to use their outdoor heater (newly replaced) to keep them at 68° or so.
But I was thinking that a hot tub blanket might make this more feasible and
reduce my heating costs.

I was looking at this one:
http://www.spadepot.com/shop/Floatin...kets-C637.aspx

But this presents a minor problem for filter return and feeding. If I leave
a large hole for the filter return to drain into will this be sufficient
aeration? Any chance these blankets are treated with bactericide?