One of the worst pond disasters I've had was a winter problem. I generally used a floating heater to keep a space in the ice and nothing else. Well..being it was the only warm spot outdoors..it attracted mice to nest. Well, they chewed through the line of the heater and tripped the GFI. The way I found it was not running was when we had 2 feet of snow, and I noticed my space in the ice was buried. I tried to dig it out...and use a hot water hose. This was like a joke with 2 feet of snow on 6 inches(or so) of ice. I was a newbie...and figured I wasn't overstocked, so they would be fine...no rush. Well, by the time I melted and dug through...they were all dead. It was horrible, I felt like I was pulling corpses out of the water.
Now...If I use a floating heater..I put in 3 of them last season..and covered the wire with hosing and duct tape(in case mice try again). I plugged in 1 heater and have the other 2 in the water..on standbye, to plug in if needed.
In my new pond this year, I have 2 air pumps with airstones running. The laguna styrofoam thing..with a small water pump running. I also have 2 floating heaters in the water, but not plugged in...just in case everything else fails to keep the ice open.
My advice.....wear a belt and suspenders when it comes to winter ponding!!!!
