How did the winter treat your fishes

[Dave 54]

Val and I are pleased to report that when we took the coves off the pond forthe recent sunny spell we had after our bad of storms , that all the koi ae in imaculate condition and looked quite well fed consideing they havent been fed in month s ( we concluded looking at the algae on the sides and bottom of the pond that they had been snacking when the temperature allowed bcauseit was cropped very close.
Weve since started them on wheatgerm and garlic to protect against parasites but only a handful every three hours for the time being .
The last ime we took the covers off was on the Sunday of last week until a cold snap late into that afternoon.
My constant partial water changes and filter(votrex maintenance paid off 100% ).
Admittedly we didnt have it as cold as ur US/Canadian counterparts but we did get down to -10c on two occaisions (these I canceled the maintenance and water changes on), as it was just too cold leaving them to their own devices for weeks on each occaision.

Dave

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Well my new pond liner didn't make it through the winter but all my fish DID

I'm still not sure what happened but I lost a lot of water from the pond after getting days and lot's of rain. The water turned muddy looking and I lost almost half of the volume. I refilled it but the water level went down again. Soooo I had to net all the fish out of the pond (luckily there are only eight goldies) And the hubby had to go shopping for some supplies so I could set them up in one of the troughs. I was really worried that they wouldn't make it especially since the winter was so harsh.

I took a peak at them under the cover last week and they are all alive and seemed to be looking at me as to say where's my food?! lol I should be able to take the cover off soon and get a water change done and set up a filter (right now just an aerator and stock tank heater) They are going to have to stay in the stock tank until we get the new pond liner in and everything up and going again.

Still not sure what happened.....Can't wait for the weather to warm and stay that way so I can get to work.

 

[Dave 54]

Glad to hear that they all made it through Maria , I'm just wondering did you get any ice this winter perhaps thats what caused the leaking problem that you have now?

Dave

 

[bettasngoldfish]

thanks Dave

And, yes we had a pretty bad winter here. Very cold and lot's of snow and ice

 

[callingcolleen1]

Maria, The heavy rain must have made the liner move and slip down low, you will have to check the edges around the pond and see where the water is leaking out of.

Was twice as cold this year than last year, and I had twice as much ice, and the bottom pond had at least a foot of ice at one point! Ice all gone and happy to report all fish appear to be looking alive and well, water is crystal clear and still continues to flow nicely from pond to pond.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Glad to hear your fish friends are doing well Colleen I so enjoy your pictures and videos.

thanks for the tip on my liner. I was really thinking I need to replace it (even though we just put it in last summer) But maybe I should take a closer look around the edges like you mentioned and save myself some time and money. I am almost certain the edges were not done properly

 

[koiguy1969]

litle to no effect on them... they may not have even noticed it!!

 

[brandonsdad02]

I lost one at the very beginning of winter. It got sucked into the skimmer box and was caught in the pump cage. It was still alive when I found it so I tossed it back in the pond. The next day it was floating in the skimmer box again. I tossed it out so the fish wouldn't feed on it over the winter.

 

[haver79]

They want some warm water and sunshine!
So far so good. We had a few upper 50s days and the fish were swimming around a little. Then we got colder and now they are mostly hanging near a bunch of sunken parrots feather on the bottom. As best as I can tell they all are looking ok.

 

[brokensword]

Here in Michigan, winter is very reluctant to leave, despite a couple of balmy 40 degree days recently. With addy's friend's problem of a possible winter fish kill, I've wondered how my own fish are doing as I use only an aerator during the winter. I've checked twice this winter and despite very low temps and extra snow, the hole was open. That was mid February. Checking again yesterday, I didn't see any opening and no bubbles, so went sleuthing after melting a hole (I have a floating heater, just in case, but haven't used it in two years, until now) in the ice again. Seems the aerator got separated from its hose though still no bubbles. I suspect the hose ruptured somewhere under the snow and before entry into the pond (can't find the original hose as there's still snow and ice holding/hiding it). I cut the hose and placed tube sans stone back into the pond. The nice part is that I saw a couple of fish--one smaller and one larger as the warmer water near the hole must have attracted them. Soooo, maybe when I finally see the rest of the pond, the rest of the fish will also be just as healthy.

Hard for me to tell exactly how deep the ice was but near the hole, it couldn't have been more than 4 inches. The rest of the pond still has probably 18" of snow still on it, though it's melting with this burst of summer weather. j/k

 

[Troutredds]

Our rainbow trout have spawned for the first time ever this week! They dug a nest (redd) in the gravel, the big female laid tons of eggs and covered them up after a small male fertilized them. The first picture shows them on the nest - if you zoom in you'll see the female in the foreground along the shore, with the male behind her. The second pic is the male closer up. Sorry about the poor picture quality - these fish spook easily and are camera shy!

 

[waynefrcan]

That's cool!

 

[Dave 54]

Wow weve never of heard anyone keeping eainbow trout before now , are they harder to keep than other fish , do they have specific needs ovr other fish such a a free flowing strean over that of a pond ?

Dave

 

[Troutredds]

Trout prefer a high flow rate and cool, well oxygenated water. We keep them in a 5000+ gallon

 

[Troutredds]

...we keep our trout in a 5000 gallon pond with a stream and waterfall. Our pump, shown below, runs at 14000 cfs to provide a constant, well oxygenated flow rate. They are much more energetic feeders then our koi and readily accept food between 43-75 F (6-23 C).