Fish swimming under ice

[Batmann]

I can see some of my fish swimming around under the ice, is this a problem? for some reason I thought they just chill out (no pun intended) deep in the water until spring.


I am running my filter all winter rather than shutting it down, is this bad? Im not sure I can correct it now since there is ice covering the pond. I am keeping a close eye on water levels and adding water as nescessary. is there anything else to look out for?

This pond is driving me crazy. My wife and I had twins in may and then just bought this house in September (our one bedroom condo wasn't cutting it with 2 babies), and I have been a little short on time to spend on maintnence. I have been backwashing/checking ph levels pretty regularly and all of that seems ok. Im just really worried that in the spring i am going to have a pond full of dead fish. that would really bum me out. My two main concerns are:
1) that I wasn't great about keeping leaves out of the pond when they are falling. so I am paranoid that the leaves in the pond are going to poison the fish - I am prepared to clean the pond in the spring, but there was no way for me to appropriatly address the issue this fall
2) that somehow I am going to kill the fish by freezing them to death this winter. to that end I have been trying to make sure that the water level stays up.

any advice is more than welcome.

 

[DrDave]

They should be fine. You might want to put a pot of boiling water on it when the hole freezes over to keep an opening. If you don't, as long as it doesn't freeze solid, they will survive.

 

[Batmann]

there hole hasnt closed because the waterfall is keeping it open. thanks for the reasurance

 

[addy1]

Fish can be pretty tough. What kind do you have? koi or goldies They will do fine.

Congratulations on your twins. One of each or boys or girls?

 

[Batmann]

I think it is Koi and Goldies - but im not really sure. the dude who owned the house before me loved to live flashy, so whichever is more expensive is probably the answer.

1 boy 1 girl - DONE!

 

[Rbritt]

Hi Batmann! Where are you in NJ? I'm in Flemington/Hunterdon County and it's our first year with the pond too. Hoping our fish aren't frozen solid by Spring but they seem to be doing well so far. I've gotten lots of good advice from the kind pond experts here on this site. Good luck with your pond & fish!
Beth

 

[addy1]

I think it is Koi and Goldies - but im not really sure. the dude who owned the house before me loved to live flashy, so whichever is more expensive is probably the answer.

1 boy 1 girl - DONE!

My parents had boy/girl twins, but only after having 6 girls before them!

Great for you!

 

[j.w]

Batmann

 

[j.w]

My parents had boy/girl twins, but only after having 6 girls before them!

Great for you!

My your parents were brave taking on all those kids..........guess they really wanted a boy badly or they just love kids

 

[addy1]

My your parents were brave taking on all those kids..........guess they really wanted a boy badly or they just love kids

Depression post war family's tended to be big. My parents had the six of us, my granddad died, my dad said lets have one more............well it turned out to be two. Being the second oldest..........I have none, raised enough kids already!

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Batmann, You are right about the leaves. They can cause a big problem. In the spring clean your pond as best as you can, but don't scrub the liner. Add some salt as this will help the fish fight infection when they are most susceptible. Don't rush to feed the fish until the temps are consistently over 50 degrees and your pond has built up some beneficial bacteria to process the ammonia and nitrites. The spring can be harder on your fish then the winter.

 

[digginponds]

If your waterfall freezes over and won't keep the water moving,a good choice is using a fountian pump, locating it @ the bottom of the pond.........least it works for me to keep a 10inch or bigger hole in the water,even below freezing temps.
As I always say moving water can't freeze.

Don't rush to feed the fish until the temps are consistently over 50 degrees

I like to use a food source high in wheat germ in the winter and early spring.It is easy to digest and efficiently to digest.
good luck!