Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations freezing water

I am a little concerned about the amount of ice (about 2 inches) and the length of time ( 5 weeks) the lake has been frozen. I have about a 5 acre lake in Missouri two years old very deep generally a very healthy lake so far. I have herd that you can have fish kills during long periods of frozen water. I do not have one of those big fountains or anything yet, I really did not want one because I like how natural and quiet everything is. Do I need to worry about dead fish when all this ice melts??

Thanks for any info. Vince

If your pond is fairly deep you should be fine at least that far south. The deeper your pond is in the winter the more time it takes to use of oxygen reserves. Do you have any snow on the ice? How thick is the ice and how long has the pond been frozen over? How fertile is the pond? Do you have a major algae bloom most of the year?

vincent, you may want to consider (after thaw out) an aerator. you can't really see it like a fountain, but depending on where it is you may hear it...but you could always turn it off if you are sitting outside, enjoying silence. cheaper than fountains and do a better job at aeration..and can keep an area on your pond free of ice. mark

vince, there is a lot of good info on this site regarding aerating an ice covered northern pond. do a search and i think you will find answers too all your questions. jb

Cecil - once he answers your questions we can give him more specific advice. I can't imagine that he has much snow cover for very long at his latitude. Eutrophication and or BOD will be the major problems for that fairly new pond. We'll see what very deep is.

Vince,

In a two year old pond you should have no problem (key word should). Older ponds have more decay, so they usually need little more oxygen. Deeper ponds do really well in the winter time because they have a bigger air reservoir in them, but be very careful about deeper ponds stratifying on you in the summer.

Have you looked at the diffuser/ bubbler aeration systems? You hardly see it working. Even better it gives you air in the winter, by keeping the ice off, and keeps your pond from stratifying in the summer. At my hatchery, I just dig a hole in the ice and plop the diffuser in. When I come back, 24hrs later, there is a hole dug out about 15ft in diameter.

You also can look at directional aeration systems, (simply a nozzeless fountain that sits parallel with the bottom.) These work well if you have a cove. If you have an oval pond you can put two of them down and they will give you a natural current. (Theses are great for species that like a moving water.)

If you need some help finding these systems get in contact with me via email.(hit rate member icon) I have done my homework, and I can show you some quality aeration systems at great price.

Vincent,

Now that you have edited your post and added the 2 inches I would not even worry about it. At your lattitude I would not be surprised if you loose you ice with the first rain which could come as early as this week. It's long winters with lots of snow on the ice where you should be worried.

As far as a diffuser I'm not sure you even need one there for winter, but if you do set one up in the future for winter, I would set one up on a shallow edge so as not to mix the water column too much and run only about 6 hours per day. (But with this large a pond it may be difficult to mix the water column too much anyway) Bill Cody should chime in on this one.

As far as summer bottom aeration with a 5 acre pond I would think you would need several diffusers and the size compressor and electricity you need could get expensive.