Post by madonplants on Jan 5, 2009 16:32:02 GMT 1
For those who have ice on their ponds...
The football on the pond is open to discussion if it works well or not. It started off as a liner protection exercise, so when the ice started forming, rather than push against the outer edges of a concrete or rigid liner, it pushed against the football, which gave it some resistance to fight against. If you do use one, when it all freezes over, you are supposed to take the football out and then take out enough water from the pond, so as to leave a gap of about 2 inches from water to ice. The ice then is supposed to act as an insulator to stop it happening again for a while. That's too much hassle for me, so I use one of these polystyrene domes with a hole in the top, that keeps a smallish hole free of ice permantly. Oase do one, quite cheaply, though my model I think is now obsolete.
www.watergardeningdirect.com/acatalog/Other_Accessories.html
If you have power to the pond, think about a floating pond heater, though check the fish aren't resting against it, so giving them burns.
Whatever you do, you must keep a bit free of ice, if you have any living life in the pond and that doesn't just mean fish, so bad gases can escape!
Waterfalls should be turned off, too. If you have a pump, raise it onto one of the shelves, so you are not mixing colder water, with the water down below. If you haven't done all this already!
Forgot to say, on no account if you do have a fully iced up pond, break the ice with a hammer. Shockwaves kill fish etc. Boil some water in a saucepan and leave it on the pond until it melts through. Prevention is always better than the cure, like it is with most things!
The football on the pond is open to discussion if it works well or not. It started off as a liner protection exercise, so when the ice started forming, rather than push against the outer edges of a concrete or rigid liner, it pushed against the football, which gave it some resistance to fight against. If you do use one, when it all freezes over, you are supposed to take the football out and then take out enough water from the pond, so as to leave a gap of about 2 inches from water to ice. The ice then is supposed to act as an insulator to stop it happening again for a while. That's too much hassle for me, so I use one of these polystyrene domes with a hole in the top, that keeps a smallish hole free of ice permantly. Oase do one, quite cheaply, though my model I think is now obsolete.
www.watergardeningdirect.com/acatalog/Other_Accessories.html
If you have power to the pond, think about a floating pond heater, though check the fish aren't resting against it, so giving them burns.
Whatever you do, you must keep a bit free of ice, if you have any living life in the pond and that doesn't just mean fish, so bad gases can escape!
Waterfalls should be turned off, too. If you have a pump, raise it onto one of the shelves, so you are not mixing colder water, with the water down below. If you haven't done all this already!
Forgot to say, on no account if you do have a fully iced up pond, break the ice with a hammer. Shockwaves kill fish etc. Boil some water in a saucepan and leave it on the pond until it melts through. Prevention is always better than the cure, like it is with most things!
Well I did say actually about the gassess! and not to run your pump so as not to take the cold water down to the bottom! 
Sleepy told me to give advice, so I did the thread.