Fish Pond De-icers; Questions and Links to De-Icers

Winter - Frozen fish pond, resized image 1

Winter - Frozen fish pond, resized image 2

Winter - Frozen fish pond, resized image 3

Each of the questions below has been asked by visitors of Aqua-Fish.Net in the past. In order to share the knowledge and experience, I decided to publish and answer them within this article. You may be also interested in visiting another article devoted to fish pond de-icers, which is here: aqua-fish.net/articles/pond-deicer-information.

What is the purpose of a pond de-icer? (or what a de-icer does)

To melt the the ice in a fish pond. This helps to keep the fish healthy since dangerous gases can get out from water (these gases are a result of excrements for instance). It also helps to avoid fishes from suffocate.

How do I choose a fish pond de-icer?

Firstly compare a few products (you can compare products listed at the bottom of this page too) and based on your requirements, select one. The requirements are: How big is your pond? How much do you want to spend on the de-icer itself, and how much are you willing to spend on electricity bills? What are the lowest temperatures in your garden pond during Winter? How many days are temperatures so low that a de-icer is needed?

Wattage of de-icers usually vary between 800 and 1200 Watts, however there are some which require 300 Watts only. Basically a 300 Watt de-icer sounds like a better investment than a 1500 Watt one since you’ll save a lot of money if you need it to operate say 50-100 days per year. On the other hand, if Winter is short (say that really low temperatures last only 5-10 days per year), then it won’t make a big difference.

Bear in mind that:

Big ponds could need more de-icers
A thermostat is necessary to cut the bills for electricity and to lengthen the life-cycle of used de-icer
A backup de-icer is a good idea

Also compare these aspects: Depth and diameter of working radius. The price isn’t very important as many reliable de-icers can be bought for approximately $40-$50 (at the time when I wrote this article). And don’t forget to select between submersible or floating one. Some de-icers may be used as both, submersible and floating.

The last note applies to ability from preventing melting or burning the pond liner. Besides energy consumption, this is the most important factor in my opinion.

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Which fish pond de-icer is the best one?

Since I don’t want to prefer this or that manufacturer, I’ll put my answer into the following description: The best pond de-icer is that which doesn’t need more than 1000 Watts (although I’d prefer 500 Watts or less) per hour, which won’t melt or burn the pond liner, which has a thermostat.

Which de-icer is the best for small ponds?

If your pond is up to 300 Gallons, then I recommend you to buy Thermo-Pond Submersible Pond De-Icer.

Is a de-icer capable to heat a pond?

Unless you bought a de-icer and heater in one, it is very unlikely. I haven’t seen a de-icer combined with a heater in one yet, however there may be such products available on the market. In general, de-icers cannot be used as heaters.

How to install a de-icer?

Floating ones are easy to install since you just have to plug into the electrical outlet and let the de-icer float on the surface. It’s also easy with submersible de-icers. The most important thing is to install them before ice forms on the water surface. Bear in mind that it is good to hide all cables (dig them into ground) from pets or animals in general. Sometimes animals may bite on these cables and electricity can kill these animals. It isn’t very often, but it happens occasionally.

Will fish survive with a pond de-icer only?

Yes. Although this depends on the species that you raise. But generally every fish which can survive in rivers and which is suitable for ponds, can also survive in a pond equipped with a de-icer. Feeding or water changes are a subject of each species’ needs.

Links to products

Since Aqua-Fish.Net is not related to the destination websites, I take no responsibility for what’s there. However, on 30/October/2008 there were various pond de-icers offered on these pages.

You will surely find suitable de-icers for small ponds, big ponds on the websites mentioned above.