Originally Posted by Commander
I have a 1 acre 16 ft deep pond that I run a bottom aerator in the center of year round. We had a recent very cold spell and the aeration line coming out of the compressor sprung a leak, and before I could catch it the water above the aerator froze over. So now I don't know how thick the ice is there and whether or not I should continue running the aerator underneath it. I do have a dock and I'm wondering if I should just go out on it and poke some holes in the ice and if that would be enough to vent the pond. I'm guessing continuing to run aeration underneath a totally frozen pond is not good for the fish.. We are not expecting any relatively warm weather in the near future.

I don't recommend running it in the deepest part of the pond during the winter, it should only be about 1/4 the total pond depth.

Get another diffuser and more self-sink airline. Poke a hole close to the compressor in 4' of water, drop the diffuser to the bottom there, let the airline stay on top of the ice and fire up the compressor, leaving the deep diffuser off for the winter.

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