We are asked this all the time by our customers and new pond and waterfall owners in the Morris, Hunterdon, and Sussex County New Jersey areas.  Keeping your pond and waterfall running in New Jersey during the frozen months of December through March  will allow you to enjoy the beautiful ice sculptures that form in the stream and waterfall, especially if you have LED Lighting.

Although beautiful, it’s possible that the ice buildup can form dams that could divert your pond or pondless basin water out of the pond. Check on the waterfall and stream and monitor the water level periodically in your pond and pondless basin throughout the winter. If you see an ice dam forming or the water level dropping at a high rate, your pond or pondless basin might be losing water because of the frozen sculpture or ice dams and it might be time to turn off the pump for the winter. If you decide to leave the pond running until warmer weather however, your main concern is to ensure there is enough water for the pump(s) to operate properly.

It's fall, you're getting the pond netted before the leaves fall and thinking about what you need to get your pond winterized the best way for your fish.  All over the internet and even us pond nerds (that would be me) may suggest using a pond aerator and pond deicer or just one of them.  I know it sounds confusing, why in the world would you need both?

Here is what we do and suggest:
We use an aerator as our main source for de-icing during the winter, to keep that hole in the ice.   We will then add a "true" pond de-icer as a back-up floating in the pond but not plugged in.  We only plug it in unless it gets really cold and our hole in the ice is closing up.  It's also great to have a back-up de-icing device in the pond in case another decides its too tired and stops working. ​