Ice on Ponds

[Tringa]

The ice on the pond has been joined by snow now, but still the couple of areas of open water.

Dave

[robje29]

Ah man you got snow, imo you are lucky we rarely get it here, well fingers crossed we get some

Rob

[suffolk]

My pond is completely frozen over except for the part where the pump is keeping the water moving.

I tried to melt with kettles but all it did was make the ice covering thicker!

Any other ways of trying to melt the pond?

[nightshade]

I would not bother you have one ice free area but if you must, use a battery drill (NOT MAINS) drill a hole then pour your hot water to enlarge it

[froggy]

The pond has about 2cm of ice on it today, but it is now thawing rapidly as the air temperature is now at four degrees. There are a pair of frogs in amplexus under the ice, and so far this winter i have only had one dead frog. The dead one was a male who had been by the pond since the start of January. He was on the rocks next to the pond and i think the cold weather got to him as there was no sign of disease nor signs of predation. Last year the spawning began on valentines day so i expect it to begin very soon here if the weather stays warmer.

[froggy]

A pic of the frogs under the ice.

[gerard Le Saffre]

Since I live about 4 miles N-W of LIlle in Northern France, I am not sure I qualify for the survey, but here goes.
The pond was dug in July 2010. It is about 9 ft long and 7 ft wide, about 21/2 ft deep (max) in places. All the trees are on the South side of the pond so it is in the shade half the time. There is no pump, the water is changed whenever it rains, off the roof.
The weather turned nippy about two weeks ago. Nary a frost-free night in a fortnight and down to - 10, 11 and 12 these last few days. They say the temperature is about to rise above freezing this week.
The ice started forming as soon as the temperature dropped below 0°, as is usual in this area.( A housing estate in the country)
The ice is now at least 10 inches thick. There must be quite a bit of chemical activity going on at the bottom of the pool because the gas bubbles get trapped in the ice as they rise and they go down a long way. In some places, the silt on the bottom of the shelves is caught up in the ice, and I know that some shelves are 25 cm under the level of the water. I have stopped the children making a hole in the ice with a sledge-hammer, which might have given the fish a terminal headache. The three fish were seen swimming around before the frost but no other wildlife could be seen. Fingers crossed. We had two frogs in the pond last year (see "pond creatures" if you can find it.) but not at the same period and I cannot tell a male frog from a female. I did see large numbers of clusters of what I think were eggs but nothing came of them. Not fertilized ? Maybe this year the beasties will synchronise better ! I am digging another pond nearer the house to which I intend to transfer the fish so that the pool can revert to what it was meant to be before the children had their way with the fish. I am looking forward to reading more about temperatures here and in England. On a personal note, we go to Canterbury every other month for shopping and are invariably made aware of the fact that the south of England is a lot warmer than the North of France. And yet, as the crow flies, we live no further than 80 miles from Canterbury, if that. (A "South coast / North coast" phenomenon ?)
Regards,
Gerard

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by suffolk

My pond is completely frozen over except for the part where the pump is keeping the water moving.

I tried to melt with kettles but all it did was make the ice covering thicker!

Any other ways of trying to melt the pond?

Originally Posted by nightshade

I would not bother you have one ice free area but if you must, use a battery drill (NOT MAINS) drill a hole then pour your hot water to enlarge it

I think the best bit of advice is to clear the snow off the ice and leave the ice alone. Making a whole wont allow much area for oxygen to diffuse into the water but letting the light in by clearing the snow off will allow the plants in the pond to give off oxygen from photosynthesis.

[nightshade]

Well I lost a lot of water, the filter box froze but the pump still ran, it found its own level and has remained steady with no further loss. Ice was about 1.5cm thick at any one time but free around the area of flowing water. I had filled the pond full at the start of the hard weather and then dropped the level back to normal leaving an airgap of about 2" between the main ice covering and the later thinner surface ice. I seem to have one small fish casualty but can see no amphibians

[jaelen]

Today the ice has gone lumpy looking, and water has started to appear on top of it. The hole I've struggled to keep open all week has stayed melted today, (not sure if this was any good to the frogs or not, but I discovered that some of the larger birds preferred drinking from this rather than the frying pan I use as a bird bath. )

This morning I put my foot on it and pushed, and felt it give under the pressure- (what must the neighbours think if they look out: there I am, refilled birdfeeders clutched in both hands, dressing gown, woolie hat, wellies... and looking like I'm about to stand on the pond?? )

By this afternoon when I took this photo it had started to recede away from the edges.