Advice for those with fish ponds

dawnie1972

A great piece of advice from my vets for those with fish ponds during this cold/freezing weather - float a ball (any size/type as long as it floats) on the top of your fish pond so that if the water freezes you can just remove the ball and the fish will be able to breath.

Froglet

The trouble is that as soon as you remove the ball,it will ice over after a time.

A better idea is to leave a pump running with a light fountain just above the surface so it keeps a decent enough area free.Providing there is enough depth to the pond,which should be a minimum of two and a half feet,more if poss,the fish will be fine.

I leave my pumps running all winter ,the only problem i have is with my nature pond,i tried the ball idea and it wasn't very successful.I find placing a saucepan with boiling water in first thing in the morning tends to thaw out a wider area,and this keeps the area free of ice all day then.

no1catman

I have had my pond with about two inches of ice, plus a couple of inches of snow on top for about two weeks - without any lasting problems. Even then also had heron footprints - fat chance!
The 'ball' idea can be usefull if you have a pond heater, it gives you an open area to put it into. Otherwise you need to improvise.
So far, the ice I've had hasn't lasted very long.