Frances Whited wrote in message ...
I must be going through something all new ponders do. When we first put
the pond in, my attitude about the two goldfish was, "What the heck. If
they die, $4 will get us two more." Now, as we're looking at our first
night with temps in the teens (!), I'm thinking, "My poor darlings! I
must protect them!" :-)

I've seen several references to using aquarium airstones and heaters.

When you use an airstone, you need an air pump too, right? Where do you
locate the air pump so it is protected from the elements?

With an aquarium heater, is the goal just to keep the water temp above
freezing? I've got a 90-gal. pond. Should I look for a heater for a
90-gal. aquarium?

I have a birdbath heater that I was planning to use. It consists
basically of a heating element between two thin, flexible sheets of
aluminum. It did a great job last year on the shallow birdbath, but I'm
not sure it would be effective in a large volume container.

Please forgive these really stupid questions -- but the lives of my
darlings are at stake! Thanks!

Frances (Zone 5, Wooster, OH)

I am in Zone 6 (Colorado) and use a Rubbermaid 300 gal. stock tank for
a pond liner. The pond is about 6 ft in diameter and around 2 ft
deep. My 30 (+ or -) goldfish have done fine over the past 10 years
with an airstone (or two). Also, I leave the filter running
(disconnected from the waterfall supply line) to create a disturbance
on the top of the water. These measures keep my pond from totally
freezing over for most of the winter. I do get about 8-12 inches of
ice on top during colder spells, but the movement of the water usually
keeps a couple of holes open in the ice. Once in a while, I have to
put a pan of hot water on the ice to melt out a hole if we get a week
or so of colder weather with high temps still below freezing.
I keep the pumps out of the weather in a plastic container with a lid
on it, disguised under a pile of rocks. One of my airstones plugged
up, so I just use the tubing without a stone attached. I did tie a
small rock to the end of the tubing to keep it straight so it won't
freeze up, per John's advice. I've never tried using any of the
heaters on the market, but I have heard that people have good success
with stock pond heaters - they recommend getting the kind that is
caged so that the heating element won't come in contact with the
liner. That might be a better option for Zone 5 where you have colder
winters.
Gary