On Thu, 7 Feb 2013 10:56:23 EST, Norminn wrote:

On 2/3/2013 1:59 PM, Phyllis and Jim wrote:
A month late, welcome! You seem in a good place. With winter, just let your koi sit and they will do fine.

Thank you.....we had a couple of very warm days that caused the ice on
pond (glorified bathtub) to open up....there was a lot of bird activity
around the pond at the time. It is now frozen over around the heater
with some snow cover...last time I checked, there were a few bird
footprints in the snow around the heater. Hoping the racoons stay away )

What state or location approximate, are you? I had one year I tried just a
bubbler in a stock tank (Zone 7 here) no fish (IIRC). Problem that it
didn't just freeze on top, it froze on the sides, and pretty soon air
caught under the ice and lifted not only the ice cap & sides, but the
baskets of plants that were frozen into it. A heater would definitely have
prevented that, but it was a sight to see. ~ jan
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Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us