What's your pond temp?

[raganwald]

Not sure about water temps, but hail(!) moved into Hogtown last night and it snowed all day. Air temps outside the greenhouse were -2C (28.4F) but it held steady at +2.8C inside the greenhouse all day (37F).

[Peg]

Our pond temps been sitting around 50 with the cover on and small heater. Heater will be turned off to day if spot looks to be on the mend. It has slowly started to drop with the snow and wind we have had. Suns out so that will help a bit.

[raganwald]

Small heater, that's great. You have very lucky Koi, I hope they appreciate it :-) I'm going without a heater, crossing my fingers...

Temps in the greenhouse were -0.3C this morning, compared to -6C outside. So it's doing something right...

[Peg]

Heaters only going to keep the chill out untill I decide if spot will be pulled and come in for the winter to heal with one other lucky fish. Then its off.

[Koidaddy]

I haven't taken my water temp, but it ain't steamy, I can tell you that! I've decided this year to add a 1500w sinking deicer. If I've done my calculations correctly it should run me about $75.00 a month to run. I figure I'll run it from December to end of February... so, three months will be about $225.00. Koi keeping can be an expensive hobby, and I figure if I had to replace one of my larger koi it would cost waaaaaaaay more than the $225.

I"ll keep you posted on the heater's effect.

KD

[clm]

I don't know what the temp is but there's ice on it this morning. I so hate winter. The puppies love it though.

[Jackie Ramo]

KD post a link for the sinking heater, never heard of it before.

Cindy my dog Skip wanted to come home after a block, Buddy wanted to go 12 miles :lol:

[Koidaddy]

Here you go Glammy:

This Sinking De-icer will sink to the bottom of the tank / pond, and is thermostatically controlled with an automatic shut-off.
Since it operates at the bottom of the tank /pond, it is less likely to be disturbed by livestock. Each unit comes with a galvanized wire Guard/Stand. With the guard in place, the Sinking De-icer may be used in plastic tanks.
Patented

1500 watts, 120 volts

[Koidaddy]

Question:

Should I be worried about my koi getting too close to the element?
KD

[raganwald]

If I've done my calculations correctly it should run me about $75.00 a month to run.

I have considered going all out and heating the entire pond. But the costs were daunting!

Here is a product that claims to use 1,800 KW for each heater element. One element provides a 10F or 5.5C difference in temperature per 1,000 gallons.

http://www.heatingyourpond.com/submersible-heaters.html

So taking my pond as an example, I have 1,800 gallons. I can expect approximately 3C of temperature difference per unit. So, If I would like to maintain feeding temperatures of 15C, and the temperature in my greenhouse is -3C, I need six units at $250 each to do the job.

And after spending $1,500 on the units, I have to come up with 66 cents per hour, $16.84 per day, or $475 a month to run them.

Whoa.

Now a single heater is an interesting idea. The overall pond temperature is unlikely to change that much. But do you think you can create a localized warm area for them? If so, will it warm them enough to really help?

[Koidaddy]

I have considered going all out and heating the entire pond. But the costs were daunting!

Here is a product that claims to use 1,800 KW for each heater element. One element provides a 10F or 5.5C difference in temperature per 1,000 gallons.

http://www.heatingyourpond.com/submersible-heaters.html

So taking my pond as an example, I have 1,800 gallons. I can expect approximately 3C of temperature difference per unit. So, If I would like to maintain feeding temperatures of 15C, and the temperature in my greenhouse is -3C, I need six units at $250 each to do the job.

And after spending $1,500 on the units, I have to come up with 66 cents per hour, $16.84 per day, or $475 a month to run them.

Whoa.

Now a single heater is an interesting idea. The overall pond temperature is unlikely to change that much. But do you think you can create a localized warm area for them? If so, will it warm them enough to really help?


Not expecting much in the way of overall area heating - just offering something to gravitate toward on those cold nights.... psychologically I'll sleep better! :yup:

KD

[clm]

I've been thinking about getting a couple of the sinking heaters for the bogs. Just to make sure they don't freeze and block up. I'm going to cover them this weekend, but that's not going to stop them from freezing up if it gets cold enough for a long stretch. Just don't want the pond to drain if they damm up a little.

[Peg]

Hi KD.
Can't say it will make a diff one way or another, but I can tell you that the heater in the cover running did make quite a diff to the air temp which in turn kept the water temp up higher as well. Even when we hit - 9 this week the pond temp only went down 3 degrees over 3 days. With your pond being covered this year it might help a little. It may also keep the temp up for a longer time frame. Our pond stayed at 50 well over a six week time frame longer this year then last. If you could find big rolls of clear bubble wrap and have it just off the top of the water it may keep more heat in as well. Like a pool cover but clear to let light in. Keep us up dated as time goes on. will be interesting to see how it works. Myself I would cover it with nylon screen all the way around just to be safe for the first winter and watch to see how close they get to it.
Peg

[Koidaddy]

Thanks Peg!

[Jackie Ramo]

my pond is covered, with ice this morning.

Thanks for the link KD.

[clm]

My pond was covered last winter and only around the very edges ever formed any ice at all, and that was only during prolonged periods of it being really cold, no heaters and I even had to shut down the pumps last winter once I discovered I had a leak. Amazing how much the cover helped to keep it ice free.

Cindy

[Jackie Ramo]

I looked at the site's heat exchangers - out of my budget - but they seem to be little more than tankless waterheaters and cost about the same.

One submersible would heat the inside pond nicely but otoh, two 1000 watt aquarium heaters do that easily for a lot less money. Especially since I already have a couple. Not suitable for the outside pond though.