Winter Advice
So Winter Has Arrived... Well winter begins officially in just a few days even though it has definitely already felt like winter. Here's a few thoughts to help you get through the cold winter months with your water feature... If you have fish, you must keep a hole in the ice for gas exchange. Of course you know that fish need oxygen but more importantly, just like us, they need to expel carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is also produced by any decaying organic materials in your pond -- leaves, dead plants, muck in the pond bottom. Often times if there's a fish kill it's because of the carbon dioxide build up more than the lack of oxygen. So how to keep this hole in the ice? Use an Aerator -- An aerator with air stones placed just under the surface of the water will agitate the water enough to keep an opening most of the winter. There may be times when the temperature is in the single digits for an extended period of time that it will ice over, but this is rare. ...
