How did the winter treat your fishes

waynefrcan

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HEllo, sad to say I see 2 of my large Koi dead and 1 small 4" goldfish. I fear more as the ice snow melts away. Water chem is good and our winter was not very cold for any length of time. And more then enough aeration. Last year lost no Koi. I see many of the smaller fish alive at the bottom.

How your fishes survive the winter?
 

JohnHuff

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One dead. I leave the pumps off until Spring usually. And usually they make it through unscathed. Even the small ones (feeders) were OK, but one of the bigger ones didn't make it. My son insisted on a burial so we did the whole thing including prayers and a cross.
 

morewater

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I'm a little paranoid with how life is wit da fishes this year.

As my pond is 3.5' deep, and as when I'm not slurping cocktails in Mexico, this has been the most brutal winter that Southern Ontario has seen in about 30 years.

Ice fishing on Lake Simcoe last weekend I measured 30" of ice. Translate that 30" into a 3.5' deep pond, and I'm wondering if all my fish will end up as floaters, or looking like halibut.

No considerable warm-up for at least the next 10-14 days, so pond(er) their fate, and their appearance, I shall.
 

JBtheExplorer

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My fish are in the basement so they're doing good. The frogs are what I'm worried about. We have 3 of them in the pond and I'm doubting they survived.
 
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All of mine made it through this horrible cold, icy, wet, freezing Winter. I turned off the bog in the Fall and just left the Bio running. The other day it got a little warm, Dr. Phil came up to greet me with a large open mouth. I did not feed him. I have a few babies, they are all okay. Hope the bad weather is behind us.
 
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Pond is not fully thawed out yet but I see most of the fish and they look good. I seen a couple of larger tadpoles moving a bit also. I did find one tiny fish in the ice, about a 1" long dead. I also found the baby snapping turtle dead in the shallow planting area of the pond. I was disappointed in the turtle, it was our first turtle to come to the pond. Hopefully all will be good from here. It is still cold. I bet another 2 weeks before the pump and stream is running. I had the most red wing blackbirds at the pond this year then we ever had.
 

waynefrcan

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Mitch yes 50% ice and snow off the pond. At the aeration spots, is open water 1/3 of the winter and when frozen over only a few inches.

Body count - 2 - 12" koi
- 2 - 4" goldfish, 1 is a shubukin
- 1 - 1" goldfish baby from last year pond
 

waynefrcan

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I'm a little paranoid with how life is wit da fishes this year.

As my pond is 3.5' deep, and as when I'm not slurping cocktails in Mexico, this has been the most brutal winter that Southern Ontario has seen in about 30 years.

Ice fishing on Lake Simcoe last weekend I measured 30" of ice. Translate that 30" into a 3.5' deep pond, and I'm wondering if all my fish will end up as floaters, or looking like halibut.

No considerable warm-up for at least the next 10-14 days, so pond(er) their fate, and their appearance, I shall.

You guys really got hit with the snow, but how much colder this winter then the average?
 

waynefrcan

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I mistakenly plugged the aerator into a powered off receptacle for about 10 days. I sure hope that didn't kill the big guys?
 
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My pond has been open most of the winter cause of my pump. All thirteen fish have made it :). The pond isn't to clear right now. Checked ammonia , nitrite , nitrate, ph and all tested good.
 

mrsclem

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Both ponds partially froze over this winter with temps below 10* with is very unusual for this area. Heaters run to keep ice open and had one pump running in each pond all winter which was a first. The only casualty was a frog that got into the pond and could not get out because of low water level. I even have tadpoles that have wintered over in a holding pond that froze solid. The water was tested this week and everything tested good. Won't run my pumps next year as my filters partially froze and were damaged.
 

morewater

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You guys really got hit with the snow, but how much colder this winter then the average?

Well, around this time of year it should be about +4C, but it sits around -4C. Last year I was golfing by April 10th, this year I don't see the snow cover disappearing any time soon. It's been an endless winter this year, and I came back from Mexico way too early.

Last year I had my boat in the water walleye fishing on the Bay of Quinte on January 10th, this year all the bays were frozen (no boat launches) by December 1st.

Throw in an ice storm, record snowfalls.......................now I also hate groundhogs.
 

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