Pond Ice

We've got a very small pond with 2 gold fish in it. The last few days it's been totally covered with ice. We (the other half, that water's freezing!) has been gently breaking bits off to create a clear patch of water about a foot square. Do we need to bother? I've read that you should clear a hole to stop methane building up under the ice. Then I've read that you should leave the ice and not worry about making a hole at all.

What to do?

Jo

 

my ex husband kept koi in our pond and durring the winnter he always placed a couple of balls in it saying that thier movement prevented total ice coverage, as to whether it is needed or not i am sorry i dont have a clue

 

Agree with the tennis ball idea.

 

A floating ball will freeze they don't move, but the idea is that once it has frozen you pull it out leaving a hole in the ice for any gas to escape and oxygen to get in.

Never use a tennis ball as they are too small and are not easy to free from the ice. You should use a child's football (Looks like a foot ball but is made from plastic)

The problem with this is when you go to put the ball back if its very cold you will find the area has frozen over too.

You can also use a pan of boiling water. You stand it on the ice and it melts a hole, i have never had any success with it, but it does work.

Ideally you should do as ARMANDII suggested, a pond surface heater

just like this one. The blue circle is a float that keeps the heater on the surface and it keep a small area clear from ice.

Under no circumstances should you ever hit the ice, as the shock wave created can kill the fish.

 

Thanks for all the advice. We haven't got any leccy outside, so I think the boiling water in a pot, or gently by hand are our options. I have done that in the past, and it works ok on our pond. It's fairly sheltered in our garden so the ice doesn't get ridiculously thick. It was just a question of whether to bother making the hole or not. And the answer seems to be yes.

Ta.

Jo

 

I've always thought the floating ball idea was more to do with stopping the ice cracking the sides of a concrete pond, particularly the raised above ground type.
I've always found the best method is boiling water in a saucepan layed on top of the ice, I just empty it and add more boiling water until it forms a hole.

Some farm shops have those polystyrene boxes that cooled veg are delivered in.
I find one of them is ideal for covering the hole at night, once you have made it.
It stops it refreezing to any great depth.