Floating heater experience

[havefun]

This is my first winter for my 500g pond. I'm hoping I don't lose everything but I'm not sure. I started with a Laguna floating heater but turns out it was a bad design and leaked (I called and they said if I send it in they will send a new one back). So, I got a Farm Innovators heater. It did OK for a while, the ice eventually built up right around it and started to form underneath it. I kept it open by poking it with a screw driver every few days. Nobody told the fish they were supposed to be "hibernating" because they would always come right up and check out what I was doing.
Well, it's become extremely cold now - nights well below zero and days in single digits. I checked on it and the ice is several inches thick under the heater now.
I have plants and 7, 3 - 4 inch commets in there (I removed my oranda/fancy and fancy to my basement a long time ago).
What should it do? I'm assuming if I leave it I will have 7 dead fish next spring? Does anyone else rely solely on a floating heater to keep a hole open? What has been your experience?

Thanks for any help!

 

[piranha]

I use the Farm innovator ice chaser heater as well. My pond is smaller and haven't had this problem yet. Last winter here on Long Island,N.Y. was very cold and we had many storms. It is recommended if you might be threatened by a freeze over, to place a plywood board thick enough to support the weight of snow and ice, over a small section of the pond with the de-icer beneath it. This will better allow the de-icer to maintain a hole in the surface. The other suggestion, usually for larger ponds, is to use two de-icers. Sinking de-icers are for shallow ponds. The Farm Innovator works like any floater is suppose to and actually is a well made unit. I'm sure you will be satisfied with this method. I'm on my third winter with my commons.

 

[havefun]

Do you think the plywood alone would be enough to help the heater keep the hole open or do I also need a aerator or pump to keep the surface agitated?
Also, what should I do now that it is frozen over? I was thinking of using an ice fishing auger to dig several holes close together and then chipping away between them to make a hole big enough to put the heater back in.
Any other (easier) ideas?

 

[piranha]

The plywood will keep the snow from building up on the surface and will block some of the cold wind. This will help the heater. Avoid any chipping or breaking of the ice. Any kind of chipping or breaking of the ice sends shockwaves into the water causing a great deal of stress or shock to the fish. You might try using and very carefully, a small propane torch, just enough to melt an area that will be covered by the plywood and where the de-icer will be re-located. Careful not to singe the electrical wire. An aerator would be optional but you shouldn't need it. The air pump would need to be kept warm and dry( possibly indoors). Keep me posted.

 

[havefun]

Well, we got quite a bit more snow last night so school was canceled. We have a 15 year old and I told him to shovel the driveway. He also shoveled the back patio and swept the pond off with a broom (at first I thought he used a shovel on the pond which would have damaged the liner). Next, he got a hammer and started breaking the ice away. He went about 10 inches and gave up. I figured the damage was done so I got a large screwdriver and hammer and went the rest of the way (about another 3 or 4 inches.
We couldn't see any fish through the hole so we figured they had all died. My son went out about an hour later with a flashlight and found 2 of the 7 swimming under the hole!
Now I just have to find a heater that actually works

 

[piranha]

Have you tried melting the ice with a small propane torch? Have you put a piece of plywood over a section of pond? Once you get some surface area melted, and the plywood over it, the heater should do the job unless it is not working or malfunctioning. The Farm Innovators is 1250 watts, powerful enough to do up to 600 gallon ponds and with the help of the plywood under severe conditions. Other de-icers are less powerful. The Thermopond brand de-icer at 200 or 300 watts claims to work on even larger ponds. I have never used it and don't believe such a claim is true.

 

[Ravn]

My winter hasn't been near as cold as any of yours but I am a paranoid freak so...I used a pond de-icer, not sure which brand in my 3,000 gallon pond and I kept the fountain running except on really cold nights to keep the surface agitated as well as a pump inside a biofilter sitting on the bottom with a straight pipe reaching up just underneath the water's surface. This last pump 550 gph keeps the water well agitated and I haven't had any freezing of my pond except in the shallow end where the water is merely inches deep. I know your temps are much worse than mine so I don't know if any of my ideas will help but I wish you all the luck in the world and hope your fish are ok come spring.

 

[havefun]

Thank you Ravn, so do I.
I talked to a guy at an lfs who has a pond and he said he keeps a pump running all winter with a pipe just under the surface like you. I think I may try that next winter.
I did steal one of my kids's saucer sleds and put it upside down over the heater and since doing that it has kept a hole open now. The heater (both of them actually) are only 200W - obviously not enough for the temps we get here.