several over wintering questions

[haver79]

This will be my first winter with my pond so I am a little nervous about what to expect.
Pond is close to 3000 gal. 3 1/2' deep. Surface water temp today was 50 degrees. I do have a low fish load. 9 goldies approx. 5 to 6", 1 even smaller fantail and a 1 1/2' fry.



I ordered a net to help keep leaves out of the pond and will be putting that up this weekend. (Very few leaves in the pond right now.) I have used a fine net to get out some of the mulm on the bottom.

My plan is to get a fairly large aquarium pump which I will put in some kind of tote to protect from the weather. An airstone which I will hang approx. 1' down from the surface. And I have a floating heater which I will use if needed.

My questions are these.

Is it important to do a water change before shutting down for the winter? To be honest I haven't done any water changes this summer. I have only topped off the pond. During really hot spells I was adding approx. 100 to 150 gal a week. (Im sure I have a small leak in my falls somewhere but let it go because I plan on redoing the falls in the spring.)

And should I be shutting down my skippy soon? I will pull my pump as well, but then will have no water circulation other than the air stone movement.

And is there a point where water is just too cold for goldfish to survive? (without freezing solid of course) Our Iowa winters can get pretty nasty.

 

[JohnHuff]

At 3.5ft deep, your fish will survive no problem. I personally switch my pump and filter off when it gets very cold. Fish metabolism really slows down during the cold so you won't have to worry about waste products. And all the bacteria in the Skippy will die anyway. You can do a water change if you want.

 

[addy1]

My husband bought a foreclosure, it was abandoned for about a year. In the front yard was a small preform covered with plywood, when he removed the plywood he found goldfish. The winter was cold that year so I sure the water froze over. Goldfish are pretty tough little fish.

I still keep a hole in our ice with an aerator.

 

[dieselplower]

I would test the water and see what the test says and then decide if a water change is needed. Yes, it can got too cold for goldfish but people in much colder places than you Winter them successfully. Believe it or not, goldfish can live for a short time completely frozen in ice.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

haver, love your picture. your pond is beautiful. I'm leaving my fish outside for the winter for the first time this year too. Still trying to work everything out and hoping for the best

addy, what is wrong with people? Who just up and leaves their fish (or other pets for that matter) :disappointed_anim: What ended up happening to the fish?

 

[addy1]

haver, love your picture. your pond is beautiful. I'm leaving my fish outside for the winter for the first time this year too. Still trying to work everything out and hoping for the best

addy, what is wrong with people? Who just up and leaves their fish (or other pets for that matter) :disappointed_anim: What ended up happening to the fish?

He cleaned the pond, put in a small filter, the fish still live there with a renter in the house. It is a small preform, maybe 2x 1.5 or so. Last time we were over there, the three fish looked fishy happy.
They are comets, nothing fancy, but still doing fine. Make it through our winters without any special care.

 

[JohnHuff]

addy, what is wrong with people? Who just up and leaves their fish (or other pets for that matter) :disappointed_anim:

Ya, there are people like that.
My brother in law bought a house which had a beautiful 2 inter-connected pond arrangement in the backyard. In the whole time they lived there, which was about 5 years, they didn't do anything to the pond at all. Just let it sit there without even turning on the pump. There were even a couple of fish there the whole time.
Another time someone gave them a couple of fish in a bowl. I don't know what the story was, but the fish were about 2 inches long in a 1 gallon bowl. They didn't want them, so they just put the bowl to one side without feeding them or anything and let them die and then threw them away.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Wow, That's just awful I hate hearing stories like that......

 

[koshki]

My husband bought a foreclosure, it was abandoned for about a year. In the front yard was a small preform covered with plywood, when he removed the plywood he found goldfish. The winter was cold that year so I sure the water froze over. Goldfish are pretty tough little fish.

I still keep a hole in our ice with an aerator.

I have become unexpectedly attached to the 29-cent comets in my itty bitty pond (if you could even call it that!) I don't want to let them freeze, and was wondering if a pond heater would be enough to try to get them through the winter. I have been successful keeping birdbaths open with a small heater.

 

[haver79]

Dr John thanks for the reassurance. I know that my fish should be ok, but I will worry all winter anyway.

Diesel I will test my water tomorrow and see if all is well before I decide to do a water change. Will probably top it off again before I put the net over it anyway.

Addy, Glad to hear that the forgotten fish survived! I guess if those little fish could survive in that situation my should do ok. I hope all goes well. I would feel better if it was a little deeper though. My real concern is how clean to get the pond bottom before I shut down the pump and filter.

 

[haver79]

BnG Thanks for the kind words. I have been tinkering with it all summer. Still a lot to do.

First winter for your pond also? I see you are also in zone 5. So we will both be worrying about our ponds this winter. Hoping we don't have to harsh a winter since we are learning as we go right? Break us newbies in gently ol man winter!


Koshki I too have become quite attached to my goldies. Previously wintered them in the basement before we dug the bigger pond this summer.
Would hate to loose them.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Haver79 your pond looks really good! You did a outstanding job and the rocks in and all around pond look just fabulous!

I think you should be fine with a bubble and heater when very cold. I see many others in zone 5 make out very well doing just that.

I am sick of winter and wish I lived in a warmer zone, but another cold Canadian winter is coming! There are others even further north than me in even colder weather keeping fish outdoors. I like to keep most of the main pumps working as that keeps all three connecting ponds running together. (no waterfall or skippy to worry about) I also use a big 1500 watt Heater when very cold, and I place the heater by the flowing water coming out of the top pond, that way the ponds get heated more evenly.

 

[addy1]

Dr John thanks for the reassurance. I know that my fish should be ok, but I will worry all winter anyway.

Diesel I will test my water tomorrow and see if all is well before I decide to do a water change. Will probably top it off again before I put the net over it anyway.

Addy, Glad to hear that the forgotten fish survived! I guess if those little fish could survive in that situation my should do ok. I hope all goes well. I would feel better if it was a little deeper though. My real concern is how clean to get the pond bottom before I shut down the pump and filter.

Get a swimming pool net and pole, just net the bottom of the pond. I don't worry about getting mine too clean, just any large amount of vegetation, leaves, lily parts. I leave stuff for the frogs and pond critters to survive in. I don't get many leaves in my pond, the maple, right next to it drops a ton, but our prevailing wind sends them away from the pond. The new shubbie tank, right under the apples is getting apple leaves, those I will net out.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

BnG Thanks for the kind words. I have been tinkering with it all summer. Still a lot to do.

First winter for your pond also? I see you are also in zone 5. So we will both be worrying about our ponds this winter. Hoping we don't have to harsh a winter since we are learning as we go right? Break us newbies in gently ol man winter!


Koshki I too have become quite attached to my goldies. Previously wintered them in the basement before we dug the bigger pond this summer.
Would hate to loose them.

Yes, We put a small (165 gallon preform) in about 4 years ago. I always brought the fish in and kept them in a water trough in the utility room over the winter (the pond was only 18" deep) We pulled it this summer and dug a deeper hole which brought us to about 450 gallons so we could leave the fish outside all year. So while I'm happy the fish get to stay outside longer and have more room than they did in the house I'm scared for them being outside during the cold I'm sure they will be okay, I guess I just tend to worry about things. Would hate to lose them after having them for a while now :goldfish:

We have had such mild winters the last two years I'm afraid our luck may have run out!

 

[pecan]

I do one large water change in fall and one in the spring, then small water changes from spring to fall. I am going to do my large water change today. 20% - 40% of the water.