Greenhouse pond?

[risingeaglefarm]

Hi, I'm planning on building a small bluegill pond in the backyard, but I live in zone 3 so the winters are extremely cold here and we were told that the pond would freeze solid. I heard that building a greenhouse over it would keep it warmer, does anybody know about this?

 

[wyoDreamer]

You say "small pond" - how small? 10 foot diameter- 3 feet deep small OR 1 acre surface area/ 8 feet deep small?

Can you make a tank in the greenhouse where it won't freeze and pull them out of the pond for the winter?

I had a friend who had a beautiful koi pond in her backyard. She would float a couple of empty milk jugs and cover it with a sheet of greenhouse plastic during the winter. The milk jugs kept a layer of air over the pond. She then covered the plastic with a thick layer of leaves. the koi survived winter in zone 5. I kinda remember her talking about putting a livestock tank heater in the filter system, but I don't think she ever did.

 

[risingeaglefarm]

20 foot diameter 3-4 feet deep.

That's a really interesting idea!

I'm sure there's a lot of different techniques I could experiment with... maybe I should just try out a few things. If nothing else, I could always have ducks in the pond.

 

[Tiller]

I would assume a greenhouse that could cover a pond that large would be quite expensive, if the pond is 20 foot diameter yo'd need a greenhouse that was almost 30 feet diameter. Another alternative would be adding heavy duty bublers (aeration) / pumps / or a fountain. Moving water has a lot harder time freezing, and if you could keep it circulating heavy enough it would not freeze the full depth of 3-4 feet.

 

[wyoDreamer]

In zone 3, without some protection from the cold air, a bubbler would just make a really pretty ice sculpture sitting on the frozen pond. I have seen it many times. Snow makes the water slushy and then the bubbler pushes it above the surface and whammo - the -20 degree air instantly freezes it into a blob, and that blob keeps growing.

 

[Tiller]

I've also seen that, but I have seen ponds, docks and boats kept de-iced in the northern parts of New York State, and know that they use some de-icing systems in parts of Canada. When I was talking about bublers / pumps I was talking about industrial grade systems such as a kasco aerators, and industrial bubblers, not smaller aquariums grade equipment. The systems can be a little on the expensive though. I've used Kasco's before and they cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 depending on what size / setup you want.

 

[risingeaglefarm]

I don't think circulating the water would do much. Even the rivers freeze solid here.
I was actually thinking of building a greenhouse, using some tent rods and greenhouse plastic

 

[politicalcenter]

I don't think circulating the water would do much. Even the rivers freeze solid here.
I was actually thinking of building a greenhouse, using some tent rods and greenhouse plastic

Have you thought about a stock tank heater for the pond?


It will use electricity but it should keep your pond from freezing solid. And you will have a clear space for gas exchange.

When I lived up north we used one to pump water out of the lake in front of the house and it worked at -30f.