Keeping a Hole Open In Your Pond Ice

Many pond owners are looking for ways to keep an area of their pond open during the winter months. The following are the two main purposes of doing so;

Pond Water Quality Reasons

To keep ponds healthy and clean – it is recommended that pond areas be kept open during the winter months so that the pond can vent off gases that could otherwise be toxic to the aquatic life. A non-frozen surface area also provides needed sunlight to the aquatic vegetation that produce oxygen for the water.

Hunting Reasons

Many duck hunters try to keep areas of their ponds open so that they can attract ducks to their ponds. Fishing becomes more convenient when you have an open area already on the pond instead of always having to drill a hole into the ice. Elk and deer hunters are always looking for ways to attract animals to their property and pond watering holes seems to work well.

Ways to Keep Your Pond Open

There are many ways to keep an area of your pond open. One way is to chop holes in your pond ice on a frequent basis during the winter months. Another way is to circulate the water with a water circulation system. The best and most cost effective way is to aerate your pond. Pond aeration systems have been on the market for decades but its only in the last several years that pond owners have started to realize this other benefit of aeration aside from providing oxygen to the pond water in order to keep it healthy and clean.

What bottom up aeration systems do is generate oxygen bubbles up from the bottom of the pond to the surface. This is warmer air that bubbles away at the surface and can keep areas up to 20 ft in diameter open during the winter months.

Windmill aeration systems are a well know method of pond aeration and they work well 365 days a year in the very hot summers right through the extremely cold winters. For a price of less than $2,000 US – and barely any maintenance and no cost of operation – you can’t go wrong.

© 2006, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com

Pond Aeration or Circulation

Many Pond owners seem to be confused with the benefits of pond aeration and water circulation. Most pond owners are advised to circulate their pond water to prevent it from stagnating. So a pond owner goes out and looks for a pond circulation system that is expensive, costly to operate and not nearly as effective as a pond aeration system.

Many pond owners are adamant that they require a pond circulation system and when asked why they are not looking at pond aeration systems they usually respond by saying they need to move their water around to get it oxygenated.

Well, for those of you that are facing this situation – you are in for a pleasant surprise. Go out and buy an aeration system that has bottom up aeration – air diffusers that are located at the bottom of the ponds. This approach does not only add additional levels of oxygen to your pond – it also circulates your water. As the oxygen bubbles rise up the water column they enlarge and as they do this they create a water flow that helps circulate the water.

Pond aeration is 8-10 times more effective at keeping your pond healthy and clean and eliminating the phosphates and other organic matter that enters your pond. If you are looking for environmentally friendly ways to prevent pond stagnation and pond algae then consider pond aeration before circulation. It ends up doing both for you in an extremely cost effective way.

Take a look at Superior Windmills and Koenders Windmills for environmentally friendly ways to keep your ponds healthy and clean. Pond Care Packs from Outdoor Water Solutions are offering a 100% complete pond care maintenance program that includes pond conditioners and aerations systems that when combined are an unbeatable solution to keep your pond healthy and clean.

© 2006, Pond Owner Magazine.
www.pondowner.com