Preventing frozen stock tank

Stoney Meadow Maple

Crowing
5 Years
Mar 26, 2020
1,468
2,869
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Southern Vermont
Other than a 1500 watt stock heater, which would get very expensive, what can be done about freezing stock tanks, i have one of them and a kiddie pool for my birds, i was wondering about some sort of recirculating pump, or an aerator? We certainly get below zero here but I would say the average is 15-20 degrees during the day at worst. Somewhere I saw some kind of heated recirculating pump device but i cant find it now., any suggestions?
 
Here are a few suggestions you can look at and see which, if any, of them will work in your situation.

Moving water freezes slower than still water so simply recirculating it will help. You could put an aquarium heater in there, not sure how much power they draw though.

A more long term solution that I have seen is that if you dig a hole 6-8 feet deep, then fill the hole with PVC pipes all pointing up (no caps) and then put the tank on top of the pipes so that the warmer air from the bottom of the hole will rise up the pipes and heat the bottom of the tank naturally.

You can also build up a compost pile around the tank or at least part of it to help generate heat or at the very least insulate the sides from the cold air.

I would also if possible float some foam rubber on top over part of it to limit the amount of surface that is being touched by the air but I understand you want a good bit open for the ducks so not sure if you could block any of it or not and still get what you want out of it.
 

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