Originally Posted By: Bluegillerkiller
Originally Posted By: catmandoo
Aeration will actually cool a pond this time of year. It will be pulling the 40 degree (heaviest/warmest) water from the bottom of a frozen, or near frozen pond, and replacing it with the colder water from near the surface. Thus, the warmest water will then be subjected to the cold surface air or ice. So, the overall effect is cooling, not heating.


I think alot of factors play into it it's not quite that cut and dry.. It could be timed to run a certain amount of time to in fact not get to super cooling stage yet still warm the water..

Could be said... Thus, the coolest water will then be subjected to the warm lower colum., so the overall effect is warming not cooling..


I gotta go with Catmandoo on this one , BGK. I don't think aeration is going to do anything but cool a pond right now. That's one reason that those running aeration have to be cautious about the depth of their diffusers in the winter - supercooling will occur and likely lead to winterkill. Remember, too, that there is a LOT of water that will still be cold and any heating method is likely to be overwhelmed by the mass of remaining cold water if there is any water movement at all.

All that aside, since he is trying to heat the pond to a sufficient level to spark early fish activity, I think the scope of the idea may be just too darn large to be done in a feasible, cost effective manner. Short of moving to the deep south, that is!

Todd La Neve

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1.5 & .5 ac ponds - LMB, BG, RES, YP, GC, HSB