Hi Sue!
Dan?
Hi Dan ~ I wouldn't chance it ~ why not wait to turn on the diffuser until after you are finished clearing the dam?
Well, that was going to be my plan as soon as the ice was safe but every day the snow stays on the ice I get more concerned about a fish-kill, and although I could clear the snow off with a shovel once it's safe, the water wasn't very clear prior to freezing due to the phytoplankon (greenish color, not at all brownish) and clarity at 12-18". So I don't know how much light penetration it would get.
You shouldn't run into DO problems until later in the winter anyway....
My pond is pretty shallow overall, I worry (too much about everything ponds) about a plankton die-off, having a very nutrient-rich BOW and a DO Sag/crash to go along with it and losing my fish which were stocked just last year and seemingly doing very well. I'm sure I'm being overly paranoid but I just think about how far I've come and the time and $$ spent to have to possibly start over/re-stock.
I know there are too many variables to hold you to the statement "
You shouldn't run into DO problems until later in the winter anyway....", but I'll do everything I can to get out there this weekend to clear the dam. I just don't want to get on the ice alone and it's sometimes hard to find help with this kind of work, in this kind of weather
Cecil, thanks for your input as well!
*edit* TJ, in between work distractions and finally posting my response, you got yours in there. Believe me, I'll be tied off, PFD on, DIY ice claws and spiked shoes (still thinking on that one), and I have no idea what a spud bar is
