Airstones can be used until the weather is really bad and then one can toss
in the heater. A cheaply made air stone can be had using drip system parts.
Tubing, connectors and leaky tubing are similar in size to aquarium hoses,
and even better suited to being outside. Also the leaking tubing is rubber
and won't vibrate a hole into your liner like an air stone could. Thus, if
using an airstone, keep it away from the sides or bottom of a liner pond.

Another alternative is just agitation the surface, I use a slow flow that
skims the surface and exits thru my skimmer to the filter. I reduce my
summer flow of 1500 gph to 300 gph in winter. ~ jan

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 10:36:32 -0500, "bjt" wrote:

Can you talk about heater / airstone alternatives? I live in New England,
have a 4 foot deep pond and have always battled ice. I'm tempted to get one
or more of the floating heaters but would like to benefit from the group's
experience. Thanks.

Brian Tarbox

"Gale Pearce" wrote in message
...
Sorry I never caught your question sooner - I am in SW Ont (35 mi from
Windsor/ Detroit) - 24" deep is ok in my area for leaving fish in pond -
mine is 17" in shallow end and 26" in deep end, although a bit larger ~
1000
US gals - my water iris sits on a shallow shelf - 6" of water and freezes
solid every year - no problem, always comes back (10 yrs) my hardy lilies
stay in the shallow end and don't freeze - I never get more than 6" - 7"
of
ice - the water hyancinths (floating type - is there any other?) I have
always disposed of - never heard you could leave them in the pond as is
mentioned farther down in this thread, but worth a try - don't know
anything
about pickerel rush
If you leave your fish outdoors, be sure to run an airstone, or heater
(I
prefer the airstone as it is much easier on hydro)
Gale :~)
"Scrapster1" wrote in message
.. .
Hi, I live in Ontario, Canada and it can get cold here in the
winter, -20.
I have a small pond around 200 gal, 24 inches deep. I have some goldfish
and
plants (hardy lily, pickeral rush, hyacinth, water iris). At what
temperature should I begin to bring the fish in. As for the plants,
which
will survive outdoors and which should I bring indoors. As for the pond
itself, how would I prepare it? Thanks.






See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website