Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Types of fish to choose On Mutt Pond

One of the things folks are concerned about when aerating during the winter is super chilling the water. I only aerate during the winter when we have snow cover or thick opaque ice and then I still try to do it only on "warm" days. In the spirit of Mutt Pond, I decided I would try something a little different this year in an effort to mitigate the potential for super chilling the water. Just thought I would share the experience in case others can benefit.

Our winter diffuser is in 3 to 4 feet of water now as the pond is roughly 3 feet below full pool. It is located such that it's in the path where water from the well enters the pond. My idea is to add the "warm" (50 F 35 gpm) well water while running the diffuser. The goal is to minimize the drop in temperature of the pond, in the absence of the insulating ice layer, while the pond surface water is exposed to the frigid air during aeration. We had a one day heat wave today (got to 14) so I gave it a try before the temps drop back to below zero. Although I did not measure water temps, I can report that the hole opened by the diffuser was significantly larger than in the past and, as the water rose from the well input, it came out on top of the ice and cleared a much larger area of snow.

My concern is that I'm adding essentially zero DO water from the well which seems counterproductive to the goal of winter aeration but hopefully as the water enters over a 4 cfm diffuser that is insignificant.