Iowa goldfish pond

[Kuli48]

I have a small goldfish pond. We take the fish out for the winter. This year they all (22) fish dissapeared in the mud on the bottom. We need to get them out or they will die. How do we find them or what can we do to protect them from the cold winter. We have been taking them out for 8 years with no problem.

 

[brokensword]

I have a small goldfish pond. We take the fish out for the winter. This year they all (22) fish dissapeared in the mud on the bottom. We need to get them out or they will die. How do we find them or what can we do to protect them from the cold winter. We have been taking them out for 8 years with no problem.

you'll need to lower the water level or, wait until the mud clears. If you have that much, you may experience water issues in the near future. If your pond is at least 18" deep (24 is better, imo) your fish should survive. Unless you live where polar bears roam and/or Canada.

 

[j.w]

@Kuli48
Can't you put a cattle heater in there to keep the ice from freezing over the whole pond?

 

[Kuli48]

We may have to put in a heater.

 

[j.w]

Do you ever get a power outage cuz if you do then hope you have a generator to run that heater.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! How “small” is your pond?

 

[Kuli48]

7’ x 10’ not very deep 16” at the deepest.

 

[Kuli48]

It’s a plastic lined pond with several water plants. Some of the fish are 6 years old.

 

[j.w]

How deep does it freeze there?

 

[brokensword]

How deep does it freeze there?

I'm sure the frost line is deeper than 16" in Iowa; this pond is perilously shallow for any over wintering, imo. I'd definitely think about a new pond that is deeper so you don't have to move the fish in every year. Goldfish can withstand some pretty cold water (even being frozen) but I'd never tempt fate like that.

 

[Kuli48]

How deep does it freeze there?

We have to run water lines 4’.

 

[Kuli48]

I'm sure the frost line is deeper than 16" in Iowa; this pond is perilously shallow for any over wintering, imo. I'd definitely think about a new pond that is deeper so you don't have to move the fish in every year. Goldfish can withstand some pretty cold water (even being frozen) but I'd never tempt fate like that.

 

[j.w]

No way then can you leave those fish out there I would think. Hope you can catch them somehow. Maybe w/a net, just reach around down in there and do sweeps and pull out what you can. I think your are going to have to lower the water to do all this so you can see better. Might mess up your plants but they will regrow next Spring. You might have to take out all the plants too. Big job but I don't see how else you can do it.

 

[brokensword]

a good method is to use 2 nets; one to gently steer the fish toward and into the second net. Don't move the 'catch' net until the fish are inside. You want suprise on your side. Too, I'm talking large fishing nets, the kind that can pull a lake fish onto the boat.

As noted earlier and by j.w, lowering the pond will help immensely. Good Luck!

 

[j.w]

Yep just as @brokensword said, the bigger the nets then the less places for them to run away. Course the holes will need to be small enough for the fish not to get out of but then we all know that already right? If you are gonna be doing this every year then I would suggest you come up w/a seine net idea. a net that hangs across the water and stops the fish from going anywhere and then another one on the other end and you bring the one net closer and closer to the other net so all the fish are right there in one spot and all you have to do then is pick them out w/a hand net. You could use just one seine net like below. This is gonna be a 2 to 4 person job depending on how many nets you use. The idea is to trap them all in one spot.
https://njseagrant.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/How_to_Construct_Seine_Net.pdf