I had a 1600 gallon pond. two shubunks total fish load. froze over. both died.

Kmart has double outlet wave castle air pumps.
get a big airstone and have that about 6 inches down.
at the LFS just get a100 watt aquarium heater and hang that right below the airstone
by a couple inches. this will work to below zero temps. INgrid

I'm not on edge at all, thanks. And my politics couldn't
be more "Right". :-)

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
I didn't have a problem with Bill's tone... You seem a bit on edge
though...
winter getting to you or is it the politics ?


"Nedra" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Claude, You are absolutely right in your deductions.
Bill is really off-base in his rather Demanding tone that
fish will be okay in an iced over pond - and for us
to Relax. Who in hell does he think he is?
I have only been
ponding since 1994 so I don't know everything. But one year we had a
prolonged period of horribly cold
weather. I lost several to many goldfish... about 3 inches long. The
bottom
of my pond was not all that clean either. I learned from
books and articles (before I stumbled on this group)
on the situation. All advice was to keep a hole open
in the pond - the advice was to use a pan of boiling
water to get a hole open in the pond and to maintain it.
I bought a De-Icer from a farm equipment
place - and cleaned the bottom of the pond. Then I found out about
CSA/BZT
powder. Kept up the maintenance doses. No more losses.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Nedra in Missouri
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Claude" wrote in message
...
I love the theory Bill, but wouldn't a big pond be a lot less affected
by
gases than our "making an assumption here" smaller, say 500 to 2000
gallon
ponds. I would love to think your right, and I'm not saying your
not,
just
going by what pretty much "assumption again" everyone here has said
post
after post. I guess the question here would be has anyone ever lost
any
fishies do to the pond freezing over, not solid, just frozen top layer
so
no
gases could escape........I am a rookie here at best, only a year or
so's
experience, not arguing here, if there's no need, cool sign me up.
Just

don't want my fishies mad at me......Claude

Your de-icer may not be dead. See my winterizing page on how to check
using your freezer and a simple test. My de-icers used to always reset
during high winds and stop working. They just had to be reset. Last
night, my waterfall and de-icer stopped running. The de-icer had a short.
I keep 2 brand new spares at all times and put in a new one at a different
spot. My falls are still running. The ice is 8 inches thick and our lows
have been from 5 to 18 the last month! Finally, it's getting warmer. If
you want to read about the hell I've gone through to keep my pond open
this winter from hell, sign up for my newsletter. The next issue comes
out Saturday. I will also put on 5 new photos of my totally frozen over
pond then on my winterizing page. I'm in Zone 6/7 (on the line). I just
KNOW I've lost plants and fish this year even though I can't see anything
down there yet. This is the worst winter since I've had ponds. It's
funny, my 153 gallon pond is half open! Just a de-icer and a bubbler. In
past years, before the bubbler, the de-icer would freeze in all the time
(I wasn't dead, just reset as I said above and on my site) and I lost
dozens of frogs in that pond. They suffocated. The falls on my big pond
see a lot of action, from bluebirds, squirrels, raccoons, and everyone
else since there is not a drop of melted water anywhere else!

Winterizing page = http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/winter.htm
Newsletter page = http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/news.htm

On Mon, 27 Jan 2003, D Kat wrote:

I don't suppose you have a link with instructions to the pond de-icer.....

Both of my water heaters (type for keeping outdoor watering hole open) died
and I'm fighting a losing battle trying to keep a hole in the ice open. I
cannot find an outdoor airbubbler (or whatever they are called) and I'm
looking for a temp fix until I do. It is really cold of late on Long Island
and pouring boiling water to open up the ice just doesn't make it with this
weather.


"MsNick1" wrote in message
...
Hi Pete,
I believe it's me you are trying to reach.
Christine and
Sadie, dalmatian,
Kahlua and her kids, Chip & Skye (chocolate labs),
Pete & Bones the Cats,
Bandit the parrot,
and the Reptile Critters!
http://members.aol.com/msnick1/index/index.html





-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chemist, preservationist, animal lover, aquarist, and ponder. -
Extensive web pages on animals, fish, and ponds. -
http://userpages.umbc.edu/~rrhudy1/ -
Free pond newsletter - sign up at my web site -
Finally! Buy Robyn's Pond Book at www.1stbooks.com -
-----------------------------------------------------------------
_ _
(o)____(o) ---ribbit
_/ oo \_
/ \----------/ \
\ | | | | /
ww ooo ooo ww

On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:43:09 -0700, "Howard"
(remove XYZ) wrote:

See
http://www.geocities.com/bickal2000/pond.htm
Left side De-icer Go to bottom of page to see instructions!

Thanks but no thanks. The aquarium pump is a lot less expensive
to operate.

"Walter P. Schlomer" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 14:43:09 -0700, "Howard"
(remove XYZ) wrote:

See
http://www.geocities.com/bickal2000/pond.htm
Left side De-icer Go to bottom of page to see instructions!

I couldn't have said it better myself!

"Nedra" wrote in message
ink.net...
I'm not on edge at all, thanks. And my politics couldn't
be more "Right". :-)

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"D Kat" wrote in message
...
I didn't have a problem with Bill's tone... You seem a bit on edge
though...
winter getting to you or is it the politics ?


"Nedra" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Claude, You are absolutely right in your deductions.
Bill is really off-base in his rather Demanding tone that
fish will be okay in an iced over pond - and for us
to Relax. Who in hell does he think he is?
I have only been
ponding since 1994 so I don't know everything. But one year we had a
prolonged period of horribly cold
weather. I lost several to many goldfish... about 3 inches long. The
bottom
of my pond was not all that clean either. I learned from
books and articles (before I stumbled on this group)
on the situation. All advice was to keep a hole open
in the pond - the advice was to use a pan of boiling
water to get a hole open in the pond and to maintain it.
I bought a De-Icer from a farm equipment
place - and cleaned the bottom of the pond. Then I found out about
CSA/BZT
powder. Kept up the maintenance doses. No more losses.

You can draw your own conclusions.

Nedra in Missouri
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Claude" wrote in message
...
I love the theory Bill, but wouldn't a big pond be a lot less
affected
by
gases than our "making an assumption here" smaller, say 500 to 2000
gallon
ponds. I would love to think your right, and I'm not saying your
not,
just
going by what pretty much "assumption again" everyone here has said
post
after post. I guess the question here would be has anyone ever lost
any
fishies do to the pond freezing over, not solid, just frozen top
layer
so
no
gases could escape........I am a rookie here at best, only a year or
so's
experience, not arguing here, if there's no need, cool sign me up.
Just

don't want my fishies mad at me......Claude

Hi all, I have that situation now. My bubbler setup developed a leak, the blue
tubing tore, and the pond froze solid. I can see the dead fish below the ice.
I spent yesterday drilling holes in the ice trying to get another bubbler down
there, but I couldn't get a hole big enough, even tried making several close to
each other and grozed it bigger. My arms and shoulders were so darn sore.
I'll try again today. Frustrating, especially since I think the entire pond is
dead.

Maureen in Phila

Mosfunland wrote:
Hi all, I have that situation now. My bubbler setup developed a leak, the blue
tubing tore, and the pond froze solid. I can see the dead fish below the ice.
I spent yesterday drilling holes in the ice trying to get another bubbler down
there, but I couldn't get a hole big enough, even tried making several close to
each other and grozed it bigger. My arms and shoulders were so darn sore.
I'll try again today. Frustrating, especially since I think the entire pond is
dead.

Maureen in Phila

Hi Maureen,
Try putting a tea kettle on the stove until the water is
boiling and then put this on the ice. Tie a string to the
handle - so you can retrieve it if it falls in. You may
have to reheat the kettle a few times, but it will
definitely work.
Hope it isn't to late to help the fish!
--
Bonnie
NJ

(Mosfunland) wrote:

Hello Mosfunland

M Hi all, I have that situation now. My bubbler setup
M developed a leak, the blue tubing tore, and the pond froze
M solid. I can see the dead fish below the ice. I spent
M yesterday drilling holes in the ice trying to get another
M bubbler down there, but I couldn't get a hole big enough,
M even tried making several close to each other and grozed it
M bigger. My arms and shoulders were so darn sore. I'll try
M again today. Frustrating, especially since I think the
M entire pond is dead.

What about the old boiling water trick? Or is the ice too thick for
that to work?

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/

Thanks Bonnie. I'll try the kettle tomorrow after work....should be
interesting. Might have to buy one of those deicer things.

Maureen

The ice is about 6 inches thick. I know it is frozen to the shelf, because I
can see fish that got trapped there, frozen. We have had some really swift
coldfronts move in over this winter. I figure I will go out tomorrow after
work and try and drill somemore holes. It works the best if the bit is moving
in the right direction......not a carpenter here....at all...

I guess I'll try the hot water, but I think it is a moot point by now.
Unfortunately....and sadly I think I have lost all my fish and frogs.

Maureen

Maureen, before this gets any worse, please buy a
De-Icer. Costs about $22!! Go to a farm equipment
store. My De-Icer is made by Farm Innovators,Inc.
Always keep a new one ready to go!

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Mosfunland" wrote in message
...
The ice is about 6 inches thick. I know it is frozen to the shelf,
because I
can see fish that got trapped there, frozen. We have had some really
swift
coldfronts move in over this winter. I figure I will go out tomorrow
after
work and try and drill somemore holes. It works the best if the bit is
moving
in the right direction......not a carpenter here....at all...

I guess I'll try the hot water, but I think it is a moot point by now.
Unfortunately....and sadly I think I have lost all my fish and frogs.

Maureen

Thanks maybe I can find one online.

Really hearthurting to see all my lovely but frozen fish....

Maureen

Call Lillypons Water Gardens or visit www.lillypons.com 800-999-5459. They
have water heaters and can ship to you in a day or two. They are in Maryland.