Over wintering goldfish?

[toletiquesbysam]

One year we drained the pond and thought we had all the fish out and the next spring we found a black goldfish still alive! Survived all winter in just a small portion of our pond that is deep but it still froze over! You just never know with them!! But better to bring them in or make sure the pond doesn't freeze cause you don't want to lose them all!

 

[thebritt]

Quote:
It's true - they are amazing critters! My friend didn't know there were goldfish in the horse trough out on their property (no horses - previous owners probably put them in there to get rid of mosquito larva). She had lived there for 2 years before she found them! It doesn't freeze here on the Pacific coast, and I guess the trough never dried up completely. Go figure!

 

[Chickn chick 46]

I'm glad I found this thread, I have a goldfish in a garbage barrel that we move into our unheated greenhouse for the winter. It survived last winter much to our amazement. What I didn't know was that I shouldn't be feeding it when its cold. That expalins why it hasn't been eating lately.

Thanks for the info

 

[Nyrial]

My dad has had a pond for years. 3 foot at the deepest, and then shelves up. He lives in Southwest Michigan, so it gets very cold. He lets one side of the pond do what it's going to do, and on the other end he puts a livestock tank heater so that it doesn't freeze over all the way. Oxygen maybe?

For reference, the pond is about as big (across and long) as an oval swimming pool.

Anyway, he's only ever lost one or 2 fish each winter, and they're always the huge older ones. Goldfish are resilient little buggers. He loses more to the herons in the summer, boy does he get

What everyone else is saying is true, stop feeding when the temps get lower.

 

[chickbea]

If you live in an area where you get a hard freeze for months on end (like me!), they do need to come inside unless your pond is deep enough not to freeze at the bottom. I usually bring mine inside the end of November or so, but I'm already getting the aquarium ready this year as it has been so unseasonably nippy!

 

[kagedgoddess]

my science teacher told me this in college. well me and ex dh did it one winter in hagerstown md and ... all the fish died. we had a warm up and apparently what i had thought were floating leaves were floating goldfish. it makes me happy to know that some ppl out there have luck with this. i dont think i ll ever do it again tho. (mine were wally world fish too.) good luck!

 

[seramas]

We have had the same 18 Koi fish for 23 years. They have moved with us 3 times. Their pond is 6.5' deep in the center and 40’ across. No pump, no aerator. Cut back on feeding in fall by time water temperatures are in the 40s F stop feeding altogether.

In spring when it thaws start feeding lightly until water temperatures are in mid 50s F.

Each year we net out hundreds of young Koi in June and sell them to a Distributor we know. It’s usually enough to pay for their food for the next year.

Last time we measured and weighed them was 5 years ago (our last move). The smallest weighed 34 pounds and 27 inches long, the largest weighed 56 lbs and 33 inches long, he was the largest.

They love to nibble on you hands if you put them in the water.

 

[michickenwrangler]

They need oxygen in the water--hence the advice for aeration and pumps.

Our pond is 20' x 80' (approx) and spring fed. It is 9 feet deep and you can see all the way to the bottom. We don't feed our fish and our pond freezes over pretty solid--we live in a valley so it gets -20 to -30 here in the winter but the spring keeps fresh water coming in all winter. We only lose one or two to natural causes every winter (herons, kingfishers, osprey, eagles and cats claim some in warmer months)

Some friends of ours also have a pond but theirs does not have a spring. At the end of a long winter, they find quite a few dead fish in theirs. They poke holes in the ice in early and late winter and it seems to help. Like everyone else in N. MI, they have ice fishing equipment and use borers for that.

 

[goobhen]

Per the outdoor pond store that I go to the water needs to be at least 18 inches deep in Indiana. My DH built a pond years ago and the fish lasted over the winter for over 6 years. Last year for some reason the pond dried up! Now it is only a home to turtles and frogs (may be a snake or two) It only retains water from September to May..... who knows why! (PS DH never had to feed the fish! )

 

[ilroost]

i bring mine in for the winter,but only have 3 so it makes it easy