Hi Everyone! Just thought I would post a picture of the pond today. As you can see, SPRING is NOT HERE!!! The ice has melted some though. I can't seem to make myself feel sorry for Jess and her 69F degree weather, LOL, LOL :P Well my photos are kind of repetetive I guess, not much has changed here since October
:-( I wonder if the fish can even hibernate this long??? Elaine
P.S. The ice goes down into the water about another 9 inches (as of last measurement)

KK how many watts is your pond deicer. I have plans... for a DIY deicer thats suposed to be very easy on the electric. A plus is it should not sink like yours did once before. LOL Froggy

:D lord have mercy send me some of the snow!!! ha ha ha sorry to brag bout the weather i am paying for it now had a nice drop in temp so i wont brag but iwould appreciate you all to stop hogging all the snowi mean come on share it alrrady!!! we got 4 flakes cause you hogs have it all :D

KK

Thanks for the pictures!! :) :)

How is that tent supporting the weight of the snow on the side of it?
It looks like it should buckle. Is that about 3 or 4 feet high?


PG

Hi PG! The snow here is VERY light so the 4 feet that is piled up doesn't bother the tent at all. I should shovel it down a bit though, just haven't felt like wading out in it and getting snow down my boots!

Hey Jess! I would LOVE to send you ALL my snow, LOL, I am SO sick of the stuff!

Hi Froggy! The deicer is only 100 watts. It didn't do much to keep the ice open when it was -40F, neither did the aerator, lol, the only thing that worked was the swede saw and the axe, and going out there dilligently every morning and night to keep the hole open. Now that it has warmed up a bit, the aerator is keeping the hole open which is FINE with me. I have a 1500 watt stock tank heater but I was worried with the big aerator and it that it would blow the circuit so I didn't use it. This summer I am getting the pond wired so I will be ready to fight the elements next year. :ph43r:

Not happy today! Weather man depending on which one you listen too, says up to 12" snow starting friday am. Makes it a little tough to run electrical lines outside especialy since I have to instal it while standing on plywood laid over my existing preform pond. Not up for joining the fishes and frogs in their ice pond! And if that happens be assured their will be no photo's posted!!

FM3

KK, no one driving by would know what is inside your enclosure. :ph43r: It's very much incognito. :ph43r: I really like the way you did the installation. Well thought out!!

Looks like that 100 watt de-icer had it's work cut out for it with your winter's. It's going so say WHEW!! when your Spring finally arrives.
I can tell that the ice has melted a great deal. The ice itself looks more translucent then it did a couple of months ago.
The lights really give you peace of mind as to if the electrical is working or not.

Hang on KK Spring is around the corner!! :)

Tia

My gosh KK, been a long winter for you up there.

I'm proud of you though; good job keeping the hole open.

KK, I'm wondering about the tent over your pond. How important is it really? Reason I'm questioning is because I figured out something new this year with all our snow.

Fighting ice is normal in our -20 F temps; however I know you get colder than that, but may still work.

I learned this year with the above normal snowfall we had (I mean lots more snow). With all the snow, and it staying around, I found it actually acted like an insulator to the ice. During those -20 days, the ice didn't thicken like normal causing me the ice problems. I only know because normally the ice is so thick I can walk all over it (pond). This year I was standing in the snow, thinking I was outside the pond, just checking things out, when one foot broke through! Into the water it went!! I couldn't believe it.

I just wonder with all your snow, if snow wouldn't be a better protector for the pond than your temporary pond house. You might actually have less thick ice if it were covered with snow.

Of course you'd still have to worry about keeping a hole in it though.

KK I can't imagine dealing with that much ice. Not surprised a 100 watt deicer didn't work. Good thing you used a fairly large air pump or you would have needed a chain saw to reach open water. Sounds like the worst is past and you succeeded in keeping it open which is all that matters. The only thing resembling spring in Ohio this weekend will be setting the clocks ahead 1 hour. (spring forward)Unfortunately the weather man has been right on so far. Started snowing this morning 9 am with 25 mile winds so all the snow is blowing off the roofs on to the drive and walkways. It's not supposed to stop till tomorrow afternoon 12 inches total.

Froggy

Hey JB,

Glad you made it out of there!!
That's funny that you didn't even know that your pond was beneath you!
That's a lot of snow.
:blink:

PG

Snow is a pretty good insulator. The greenhouse though will always be warmer when it's sunny than if the pond were open to the outside even with snow cover because of the greenhouse affect (trapped gases and heat) and no wind factor. Now, if it's total darkness, and there's no wind, the greenhouse probably doesn't help much. The greenhouse also keeps wind and precipitation off of the opening in the ice (and off of KK!). If you don't protect your de-icer from wind, the wind will de-activate it (or it did mine so I have a cover over my 1800 gallon de-icer).

Also, snow will insulate both ways. That means on cold days it will keep warmth in the pond but, on warm, sunny days, it will keep the pond from warming as quickly. In other words, once spring finally arrives, the entire pond will take longer to thaw out if there's a lot of snow.

Poor Froggy! That's A LOT of snow they're calling for! Seems like quite a few of you are getting hit with the Spring snow right now. It is an amazing 70F here right now in the sun......YIIIIPPPPPEEEEEE!!!! It is 74F in the pond tent....even better. I checked the pond water temp. FINALLY today...it is 32F It was so nice in there that I sat on the edge and called the fish, but.............nothing of course :-(

To answer JB's and Robyn's theory about the pond tent.....well we really don't ever get much snow here. We had 2 feet tops this winter and the wind blows so hard that in some places it stays bare all winter..........my luck that would be on top of the pond, LOL. So anyways, wether or not it really does much good or not........it makes me feel 100% better that I have tried to do my best for them. Plus when I need to go out there twice a day when it is -50F and howling wind it makes ME feel better, LOL. It is so sunny and warm in the tent right now, I half expected to see big ol' Navel swim up from the depths, but I guess he is sulking with the rest of them down below. I was ready to come back in and get a beer and enjoy the fish, LOL, but ah ya.....I think I am at least 6 weeks to early for that fun!

Heard on the radio tonight that we have gotten 12 feet of snow this winter, and expecting another foot Sunday. :angry:

We've had 16 inches of rain this year so far. Doubt that it is a record, but it's a heck of a lot more than we've had for a long time.

The amount of snow I keep hearing about is amazing too.

The global warming circles don't have much to talk about lately. :)

PG