Well it hasn't taken much for my pond to thaw almost completely. I had been worried about my fish (especially the Koi) during the NY deep freeze. I am happy to report that today that I saw my Koi and some of the Comets and Shubunkin alive and well :D

The odd thing is that they were all at the shallow end of the pond which is only about 14" deep. However, this is also the calm end. My pump has been pumping at 2200gph. directly from the skimmer box all winter and I wonder if they went over there to escape the water turbulance?

So much for my worrying. Although I am still thinking about an electric pond re-circulating heater.

Hurry up Spring!!

It got up to 50 degrees F today. A few days ago, my pond was still totally covered in ice and snow except where the waterfall splashed in. Today, a big area, maybe 5' x 2' is open in the deep end. But, I see no fish! They must be in the shallows too to avoid being seen. I sure hope none froze in the ice this year. There's still snow over ice on most of the pond. I was able to hammer the ice sculpture around the main waterfall. With one hit, it fell like a big iceburg.