Quote:
Originally Posted by reefme
best and reliable outdoor pond heater for 8' x 10' x 2' deep?
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I don't recommend trying to heat your pond over the winter. What sort of fish do you have in there? Koi, Comets, goldfish? All you should need is good water movement to keep the pond from freezing solid. I just run a pump that circulates the top 1' of water so that it is moving vigorously. The fish hang out at the bottom and slow their metabolisms down to a hibernation state.
There will be times in the deep if winter where your surface will freeze over, which is still OK so long as you have a
deicer to allow gas to escape your pond.
Finally, you can also throw a hoop-house over your pond to help keep it warmer. It isn't necessary but does help a lot.
Anyway, running a pond heater all winter long would be extremely costly and doesn't really help that much at all.
My pond is more or less the same size as yours and I have successfully overwintered all my fish for 3 winters now. The first two winters with a hoop house over it, the last one without. I do plan on using the hoop house again this year as it does help the fish come out of winter sooner in the spring.