How soon can I add fish?

[lovinglife]

Our pond has finally become ice free, our days are usually in the 40 - 50 with the odd 60's, my question is when is it safe to put fish in? Is the water still too cold for fish that did not stay there all winter?

Thanks!
Michele

 

[koiguy1969]

i dont know that its necessary. but, i dont put my fish back outside until the outdoor water is 55*f or more.

 

[RSFish1]

I would agree about waiting until the water temp is 55 or higher. To me, and I have nothing scientific to back it up, I never want to move fish between water temperature extremes. If they are in water below 55 degrees, then I would only move them to other water under 55. And the same for above 55. Of course there are times you have to for treatment or when emergencies occur.

If you do decide to put fish in from warmer water to cooler, make sure you slowly lower the water temperatures on them and cut back on feeding. I do not know exactly what time period would be correct. But I know I would do it slowly over a couple of days.

 

[addy1]

I won't put any more fish into the water until it stabilizes in temperature. Mine is swinging between 60 and this am 44 and it is a deep large pond.

 

[fishin4cars]

Michele, Koi and Goldfish can live in waters below 32 degees as long as there is a hole in the ice for gas exchange and as long as ALL the water doesn't freeze. But that being said, Now that your fish are being held in a different holding facility it's best to try and get the tempatures in the pond and the indoor holding tank as close as possible. The larger the difference the more the stress for the move.
Hint of the day; If your pond needs a spring cleaning it is best to do that before putting the fish back in the pond. It's less stress on them, It gives you the advantage and option to remove and replace more water if needed and if you have to stir the bottom up to remove leaves and such it's a lot less stressful for the fish. Just be sure and check all your water conditions before putting the fish back in. Also use a good declorinator and bacterial supplement when doing a large cleaning, I usually will wait one to two weeks after a major cleaning before reintroducing fish, this gives the pond a chance to balance back out before the fish are added back. Also, If you have more than four or five fish it is best to add a few (less favorites-FIRST) If something should go wrong you want to have the least favorites in the pond or holding area you are most concerned with. Don't add all your fish at once, a few at first wait a few days add a few more, etc. this also puts less stress on the fish and the bio,system.
LESS STRESS=Healthier fish!

 

[addy1]

good info fishin.
Mine stayed out all winter. Our weather is just swinging between hot and cold, I would like to add a few new fish, but am going to wait until it gets more stable.

 

[lovinglife]

Thanks for the info. We have well water so no need de-clor. My pond is around 8-10,000 gallons so it is probably pretty stable as far as temp, just not sure it is warm enough yet. Thanks for all your replys.
Michele

 

[addy1]

Mine is around 9-10000 gallons, the floating thermometer shows temperature from 60 degrees a few days ago to 44 degrees this am. And we had ice on my little ponds, the big pond was ice free, now they are calling for snow. I need to have a deep thermometer to see what the temp in near the bottom. I am sure it is not swinging like the surface temp is.

 

[fishin4cars]

Just personal thought here as I have rarely had to deal much with frozen ponds, I do have a de-icer in case I get a solid freeze over but in the ten years I have lived here I have only seen that twice. My pond is realativly shallow. Only two feet deep. So that pre-caution was a cheap choice for my fish. I think your correct 8-10,000 gallons should not change drastically very fast, The deeper the pond by far the more stable the Temp. will be.. I would how-ever for the purpose of less stress in the fish, Recommend waiting until the water has reached 50-60 degrees and has stayed in that range for at least a week. This will be a far closer safe range for the fish in the house to adjust to the temp of the pond.

 

[lovinglife]

Ok, I will wait some more, spring fever SOOOO bad! Thanks for all the good advice!

 

[addy1]

Mine dropped to 42 now, it will be a month or so before I even attempt to add a few more goldies, our temperature is doing the swing, and not the dance step