min

Now if this was fron the US, the only thing missing would be that the charity was given a million dollar grant to fund their study.
sam -- just sitting here watching it snow...

In the middle pool, we have the majority of the fish about 40, some as long as 8", this pool is about 600 gallons and about 20" deep.

We have mature trees around the pond and try as you will you can not avoid having leaves in the bottom of the pond.

We live in Indiana and the pond freezes over every winter. Based on the thickness when it breaks up in the spring the ice gets about 6" thick. In the seven years we have had the pond, we have not lost a fish in any of the three pools. We do nothing special, no holes in the ice or remove the snow cover.

In nature fish have lived for millions of years with no one to break the ice in their ponds and they have survived.

Unfortunately, try as we may, we cannot re-create nature in our man-made ponds. So each of us do what we can, or are willing, or are able to do to help minimize unpredictable Mother Nature's effects.

"So if you have a clean shallow pond with lots of plants but no leaves in the botton, no fish and there is no snow cover on the ice - it's OK not to keep a hole open in the ice."

This isn't ever gonna happen in my pond... :)

Keep in mind also that over in the UK they are having an exceptionally cold winter this time around. Normally their garden ponds, even the natural ponds, would have no more than an inch of ice on them for a day or two over a winter. It is not the norm for them over there to have the prolonged extremely cold winters we can have in N. America. The UK is warmed (or at least were, before the climate upset)and the temperatures kept mild by the flow of the Gulf Stream crossing the Atlantic ocean. So long cold winters do not happen too often, though there are exceptions from time to time.

From what I have read on this pond forum and my own experiences, over many years concerning this subject, is that there have been more loses of fish and frogs in unvented ponds, than in ponds that were vented, by either the the use of an air pump bubbling or a water pump roiling the surface water or an electric trough de-icer.

Sleepless points out the fact that some natural and even man/woman made garden ponds, having the capability to allow for venting of gases by their design and structure.

Sheepco points out that there are also fish losses reported about, even in natural ponds, that become frozen over. Whereas Knuttle and Rosesecretgarden do not choose to vent their ponds and all is well in their situation.

I once had an 18 inch deep pond that was debris free starting off the winter but because of a loose hose connection on my bubbler system, it froze solid,leaving only about about four inches of water at the bottom of the pond.
There were three or four fish frozen dead into the ice halfway down. In the bottom few inches of water were the rest of the fish, hale and hearty, just waiting for the spring sunshine to thaw out their icy covering.

Who can really say what is the best or safest way to go for the fish and frogs?

My thoughts are, why take the chance on losing fish (unless you don't really care)! I go with doing a clean-out of the junk and leaves in the late fall. Installing an air bubbler or a water moving pump or an electric de-icer ( you choose) then cover or net the pond over to keep the debris and leaves out and that should do the trick.
I would hate to see all my fish floating dead in the springtime because I took a gamble on whether or not to vent the pond.
Just my opinion.
"Horton"