pond fish and freezing winter

rdk

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Can my 3" pond fish survive a cold winter with just a hole in the ice and my water pump running 24/7 all year round? Please let me know
 

oldmarine

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Yes, I have had goldfish make it all winter under ice. The sides, bottom, and surface was frozen solid for over a month. It was a above ground cement pond that eventually cracked from the expanding ice.

Goldfish are hadrier than most will give them credit for. I'm not sure if koi could weather well under ice for long.
 

stroppy

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if your pump is on the bottom it would be better to lift it on bricks as it will desturb the warmer water where your fish will be ... are you running the pump to keep a whole free from ice ?... most i think run an airstone and shut the pump down for the winter
 

rdk

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Yes: That was my plan. Do you think I could first try to run the pump to free the ice. watch it carefully and if it does not work try something else?
 

koiguy1969

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just run an air pump and stone, have the stone 1/2 the depth of your deepest area in the pond. do not disturb the bottom 1/3 of water... that will be where the fish and warmest water will be !!
P.S. and you should read threads before asking questions this question is asked quite often.. you could of found the answer a few times.. aleast!!! ...just use the search function at top of page...
 

DrDave

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I realize that everyone is trying to help and that some ideas may be very good advice. That said.

Why doesn't everyone state what they did, rather than give advice as to what they think might work. I realize that some of you have done it but you are not stating it. I would rather take advice from someone who has a proven method if I was in a freezing zone.

And if you had a mild winter, your advice based on experience may not be the best. No one knows how cold this one will be. So provide information on the lowest temperatures your methods worked on.

If you have no direct experience in this please yield to those who do. A fellow ponder is counting on proven advice to protect their pond population from a frozen death.
 

migsly

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My pond is an above ground stock tank. I have 5 goldfish in it. I live in the panhandle of Florida. We have cold fronts in the wintertime and sometimes it gets to below freezing. The lowest I can remember was 21˚ but that's really rare. I want to know at what temperature I should cover the pond.
 

oldmarine

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My last pond was a small 80 gallon stock tank. In the winter months I put a 150 watt submersible aquarium heater in the filter reservor near the filter and water pump. Even with the temps down in the teens, it kept the water temps from dropping lower than about mid 40's F. Despite the fact that it was above ground, the water never froze over.

I have since adoped the same idea for my 365 gallon inground pond, and I'm getting the same results.
 

oldmarine

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Any tropical fish supply store has submersible aquarium heaters, and yes, you can order most anything online.

I have a 300 watt heater in my 365 gallon pond this year.
 

migsly

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I read that goldfish can stand water that is as cold as 40˚F. But when the water gets colder than 50˚F, my fish act frightened. They don't swim up to me like they do when the water is warm. They scatter and hide. It's only when the water gets cold they do that. Why is that?
 

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