API 8PB Pond Breather Heated Aerator, 40 Watts

This product worked as advertised during the harshest winter in decades here in Centreville MD. Ice on our 2500 gallon pond was 6-8 inches deep for weeks, but the koi survived the winter with no problems. It is a little hard to clean, but a bottle brush does the trick!.Update 4.27.2015 We had another unseasonble cold winter again, worse then last winter with sub-freezing temps for over a month. The pond breather worked great for a second season, even when it was totally covered in snow. All the fish survived again,and grew significantly larger in their dormant state. Be sure to clean it well before it is put away for the summer. Hopefully I can get a third winter from this product, but I am going to purchase another for a back up soon.Update 09/032017. Forgot to update in the spring. The product worked well last winter too, but the winter was fairly mild. The unit did clog with debris, but it was easy to see that it was clogged because the bubbler is in a clear acrylic tube. The unit had stopped bubbling. I could see this from my second story window. I simply removed the unit from the water, removed the pre filter and cleaned the pump. Then replaced the pre filter and put the unit back in the water. The unit does not freeze in the water because it has a small heater built into it.Oh, at the end of the season one of the acrylic tubes broke/ detached at a seam when I was cleaning it. I think it was my fault for being to rough with it. I simply glued it back on with gorilla super glue. Seemed to fix it fine.Update. It worked well over the 2019-2020 winter too. This think keeps going, just keep it clean and it will keep working.PS Other folks I know lost ALL their koi a few winters back. Be smart and get a heater like this that also aerates the pond

I debated quite a bit before making this purchase. I wasn't sure whether to go with the full-blown heater coil and aerator combination or pick up this other inexpensive solution. The good reviews I read on this Pond Breather pushed me to purchase this. Not only was it cheaper than the heater/aerator combo, it also ran on a fraction of the power (40 Watts vs. a 250 – 1000 Watt solution). I couldn’t be happier with this purchase.This simple solution was a much more efficient answer to the winter aeration and gas build-up problems and is a very smart design. Rather than providing heat to keep an 8 inch hole in the ice to allow for outgassing, it combined the pump and heater to provide both aeration and out-gassing in one step. By heating the water line only, it requires just a minimal amount of heat to keep the water flowing. By lifting the water up and out of the pond, and pumping it from a few feet below the surface, the water is aerated and the toxic gasses are able to escape.So far, this pump has worked flawlessly though several stretches of 0 degree days this Colorado winter. I finally had to shut the waterfall off due to ice reducing the water flow to my pond skimmer, but with the pond breather running, I still feel confident my fish are having their oxygen needs met. I won’t know absolutely about the success of the breather until spring, but if, for some reason, I end up with a lifeless pond, I’ll be back to modify my review…

Was unsure about this aerator for awhile, especially re: the price, since when I put it into the water it kept wanting to tip over, even though it was floating freely. Moved it around several times, played with it for a few days and finally gave up, wondering if it would have to be returned. It was bubbling nicely, but that leaning bothered me. Well, lo and behold, after about a week I went down to the pond and the silly thing had decided to stand upright!Since the water is cold but not freezing, will have to wait until Spring until I have more input, but for right now the fish have adjusted to it being in the water and they seem to like the heat. I do have another of those round heaters, but it just barely keeps the ice open and doesn't aerate at all.Thanks to those who answered my question, and for those who find that their aerator is also leaning to one side, just give it a week or so :-)

keep in mind that this only creates a hole in the ice that is the same diameter of the red piece.. the picture is misleading where it looks like it thaws a large area of your pond. i live in PA and had an unusually cold winter last year. i had 20 out of 100 koi die. the fish were certainly drawn to the heater, but i don't think it was a big help on its own.

This will NOT keep a giant hole in your pond's ice, if you want that, you need to stick to the trough heaters. So far, even after the arctic blast most of the US faced (and I'm in CO), this has done quite well. Water continues to flow through the gas exchanger, and its faced -8 F nights and several days continuous well below freezing. I can still see my goldfish lazing about below the surface of my roughly 1500 gallon pond.So far no problems with clogging, although I placed it in my pond when I began to see ice form on the surface, so the water was probably a little cool for crazy algae growth at that point.I feel a lot more comfortable using this than the trough heaters (pretty much any other "pond heater") as it does not have exposed elements, and its energy use is much lower. It also aerates water, something a trough heater by itself will not do.I would knock half a star off for the somewhat loose fitting gray pipe that extends below the surface. I'll superglue it on for next year, so not a big deal.I'm a little surprised this isn't more popular given what it does and its price point.

Bought one last year, 2014. Worked well in Minnesota for a few months and then started to trip the circuit breaker. Ran it this year for less than a month before it tripped again. Tried calling the company today Jan 8th using the numbers online 630 365 0340 & 800 627 6179 but both numbers are no longer in service. I don't believe Amazon should be marketing products that fail like this & customers are then unable to contact the manufacturer.