Questions re: winterizing pond vs. moving indoors

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I have a 1200 gallon outdoor pond containing 14 fish-- mostly koi. My pond was filtered with a 300 gallon planted bog, as well as a small tetra mechanical filter/fountain. I have had to disconnect the pump which goes to the bog due to a leak in the hose. My tetra pump is still going, but isn't large enough to filter the entire pond. So, I am in the process of making a 'skippy-type' filter to go outside next to the pond in lieu of the bog for the winter months. Hope to have that done and running by this weekend. I am running a de-icer which is regulated for 1500 gallon pond. In our "neck of the woods" in PA, we are rated zone 5, and our temps can get pretty cold, but usually we don't go below teens or twenties in a typical winter. We are in the Lake Effect snow area, which means we can get really dumped on with snow. Not as bad as Buffalo, NY, but still pretty bad. This year, they are predicting that we should get somewhere between 120-160 inches total snowfall. Most I think we've had is 200 inches.

So, here's my dilemma-- my husband thinks we should move the our beloved fish inside for the winter months with both of our filters (Tetra and homemade). He has a great plan to put a homemade 1200 gallon pond into one of our basement corners, and then we would move the filters to the pond, and move the goldfish first, and then the koi gradually, so as not to overwhelm the pond all at once. We have some tropical plants that we have moved inside (into buckets currently) to put in the indoor pond. My dilemma is this-- have we waited too long to begin moving the fish at this point? We do have snow, but our pond is staying totally ice free with the de-icer. Would we stress out the fish by moving them at this point? Are we just better with leaving them outside with the de-icer? If we leave them outside, should we cover the pond with some type of homemade shelter to keep out the snow?

Koi experts-- please help!
 

koiguy1969

GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
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I NAVE A POND FOR WINTERING MY FISH IN MY BASEMENT ..I DO IT EVERY YEAR.. MYSELF, I PUMP THE WATER FROM OUTSIDE INTO MY BASEMENT POND, AND MOVE FILTER MEDIA INTO BASEMENT FILTER...THIS MEANS NO ACCLIMATION, NO FILTER BACTERIA LAPSE, ETC...SAME THING IN THE SPRING PUMP WATER BACK OUT TO OUTDOOR POND ETC...
[ame]
THIS POND IS 800 GALS........
 
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Thanks for your quick reply pondguy!

I see you're in the same zone as I am. What month (or temperature) do you usually move them? I'm assuming you've probably done so already.

What do you think about moving them inside at this point? Do you think it's too late? Will I stress them out by trying to catch them when it's so cold-- forcing them to move around more than they normally would when pond is around 40ish?

And- do you have any tips for moving fish? Should I do all at once? a few at a time? I will be moving just the filters, not the actual water to the basement.
 

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