This morning I walked through the snow, in the dark, to make sure no ice dams were forming on my running waterfall....

i too shall watch for ice dams next few days, projected lows in teens (F, -12-8 C). shutdown filter 3 weeks ago and now just circulating water. fish living in slow motion, plants dead. Thinking about spring and can't wait. shuffled seeds yesterday during garage cleanup, may try a small greenhouse for an early start in 2010.

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Today I must drain some water from "wife's pond" (swimming pool) before freeze.

forgot to respond to your question. i have in past used plastic "milk" or "egg crates" - a little larger than 1/3 meter on each side. but these are heavy duty as grocers use these for heavy loads on daily basis. upside down makes a sturdy plant base and hiding place for smaller fish. in US we can find light weight versions at discount stores among others. i do not recall where i got the two i had.

I shoveled some fresh snow Today.
My aquarium air pump bubblier is doing a fine job at maintaining a hole in the surface ice of my pond. My waterfall is shut down, so I don't loose any sleep at night worrying about an ice dam draining my pond in below freezing temperatures.

Happy New Year!

Worked all day, but was dreaming about spring....
This is what I got now....aerator hard at work...
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But this is definately what I'm dreaming about.....

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flora

I froze my butt off feeding the birds and trampling through over a foot of snow to check on my little "tented" pond. Fishies are slow, bubblers are working, there is not to much of an ice build up yet. There have been years that it was frozen 4" thick with just a plate size hole. COME ON SPRING!

I went running out this morning to pull the local jack rabbit out of the pond before he tore the liner. Never saw a rabbit dog paddle before

Today I mastered posting pictures!
Last week I got a remote thermometer for under the pond cover. (11' x 14' - 6' high) I pulled up enough plastic so I could shimmy under the edge (not a pretty sight) and set it up. So far the min. temp inside has been 23*F and it gets up in the 40's during the day. There is a string of C-7 Christmas lights inside- I don't know how much heat they produce but they are very cheerful at night. One pump circulates water so it bubbles up. The water never freezes over inside.
Last year the cover was over the east end. The stepping stones weren't covered and they chipped a little so from now on they have to be covered because they are too big to move!

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I didn't do anything of interest on 12-31. However, I did use my new Xmas show shoes on New Year's day (yesterday) and had a wonderful time tromping through the woods and along the Feeder Canal. We had another 6 or so inches last night so I will go out again today. I posted this picture over in the gallery, but will post here too:
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Anne

You guys are killing me. For some reason DH is bugging me to turn off the waterfall. This is the longest it has ever been unfrozen and other than to gripe he has never displayed an interest in the pond. I am not sure I managed to hide my pique since the pond deicer is one of the many things of mine he dumped in the garage in a pile of "unnecessary" things.
Anne, you have a joyful heart. Sandy

squirlette- that must have been one big rabbitsicle!

sleepless- who can ever know what goes on in the DHs' minds?

min

I turned off my pump/waterfall cause too much water had turned to ice and it was sucking in more air than water. My bubbler has been up and running for a couple months now so I didn't have to worry about that. Almost 3" of ice as of Sun afternoon - probably be close to 5" by the end of the week. Joy.

- Mike

my tent looks much like yours frugalgardener, just smaller to cover my 600 gal pond. I miss my fishies and frogs .. COME ON SPRING! Sadly we have at least 3 more months of winter and many more feet of snow yet to come uuuuuggggg

I have kept watch for ice dams also. This is the one of the longest and coldest stretches of cold weather we have experienced in a while, even set new records. Naturally, it happens during the first winter with my pond. Surface of pond is a solid sheet of ice, only have an opening underneath waterfall, as I am still running the pump. I also have bubblers working under ice, but too cold to keep ice open in that spot. Keeping my fingers crossed. I keep pacing in front of the window, keeping watch and keeping warm. Hurry Spring, we need you and want you to come back.

Lisa,

No!!!! I can't wait 3 months for spring! I'm in Michigan, too. I count March as spring so only 50 days to go! Even if we still have snow then, the days will be longer and the sun brighter. I think it's time we had an early spring anyway.

The thermometer under my pond cover says it's 51* in there with the sun shining. I wish I had a web cam in there.
This is the new improved pond cover. Last year it was 6 x 11 ft. This one has new boards and bolts so it can be put together in place by one crazy lady (me) without much help.

Lisa, do you have anything under your cover to provide heat? You run air bubblers to keep the ice open? Do you run a pump?

Today I am going to go stand outside the pond cover and listen to the water run and wait for spring...
sam

Sam, I have a dual bubbler going. The pond has only frozen completely over a couple times in the 6 yrs I have been here. Nothing a 5 gal bucket of hot water wouldn't fix. I would love the plans to your tent. Ours is in one piec and it's very heavy. We have to haul it up and down the hill on the back of the tractor. I have to get it up the hill before the first snowfall or the tractor just spins it's tires on the hill. It's always so sad to shut my pond down for the winter. I am careful to "tuck them in" tight. Your design may allow me to keep it running a little longer and maybe open it up sooner. YEA! Where in Michigan are you that you get SUN in March? LOL