soldieroffortune1974

We have had bizarre weather too, although it is perfectly normal for us in this part of the world. Rain one day, snow and blizzard the next, with the added thrill of the rain freezing into black ice under the fresh snow ...

sounds lovely..........brrrrrrr

betta-cat

Update again ... I checked the temps and we're still at 48F/9C and the fish came up to the surface looking for food. I fed them very lightly and have been offering food every few days. We had 2 weeks of bitterly cold weather, down to almost -40F/C, mostly between -20 to -30C and still the top is not iced up. I think the tarp was a grand idea. I'm thinking I should start up a blog ...

Wichita Falls? I have relatives in BurkBurnett and they report some cold weather there. Snow?

soldieroffortune1974

No snow so far,last night it rained pretty good,got a little nippy,but no snow.

Glad to see the goldfish are doing well.

I lived in Burkburnett for 20 years before moving to Wichita Falls,chances are I know your relatives.EVERYONE and I do mean everyone knows me around here.

TedsTank

I leave the pump running during the winter....then ice won't form in that area and all is well. (and have an old backup pump in the garage. MY pond is above ground is has been fine with occasional temps to -5 F for short periods. Goldfish and Koi go dormant for the winter.

betta-cat

Hi all, its a wonderfully beautiful April day. Here's my latest update on my patio pond. I did not lose a single fish outside over winter. All stayed healthy. My brother found a remote temperature probe that I could sink into the water and read inside. The coldest temp it recorded in the pond was 8.5C. We are now up to 12.5C. I started feeding the fish once a week or so. I've moved the pond pump back outside, got the biofilter primed and going.

I have absolutely no idea if my pond de-icer ever kicked in. I didn't notice a difference in the power bill. It was only supposed to turn on if the water started to freeze, and it never got cold enough under the tarp to do that. We went through several weeks of -30 - -40C, with no ice formation at all.

I've now moved most of my inside vacationing fish outside and they are happy as can be. I took several weeks to do this, moving two at a time.

I'm feeding daily now, and cover the pond with a tarp at night. If I don't, the temperature drops 2 degrees or so. If I cover it, it drops 0.5 degree only.



The last two denizens that have to be moved out are my two albino channel cats. This might be their last winter inside, they are getting awfully big!

The overwintering outside was a huge success and I'm delighted with the results. Instead of having a short and lots-of-work ponding season (May - Sept), I now am enjoying the fish fulltime already and plan to leave most out next winter. The big old ones might want to move in, I'll see.

soldieroffortune1974

Glad to hear everything is going smoothly.

MeGustaUnaPez926

Thats great, I'm so glad to hear they made it.

Red1313

Wouldn't the bigger fish have better success over wintering due to their size?...

Congrats

gremlin

It's more the depth of the pond than the size of the goldfish. The deeper water stays a more stable temperature.

Red1313

Ah ok.

betta-cat

So far so good on the outdoor pond. I haven't lost a single fish from the overwintering group or the indoor group. One baby got caught in the filter so that has been re-inforced. I also inherited a couple of oversized/overfed old goldfish from a local nursing home. They are having a blast out there, slimming down and all the redness gone from their fins.

The fish are getting awfully friendly with each other now so I anticipate grand-fish soon.

Regarding the amount of water, I found that the temps stayed very stable throughout the winter, possibly due to the tarp and the outside trim forming a dead air space. The temps never got below 8C for sure, and usually stayed between 9 and 10C. It dipped below 8C in the spring during some cold weather after the tarp was off.

gremlin

Sounds like you would be able to keep them outside year round then. The air space would definitely act as an insulator and help to stabilize the temp. The tarp over the top would help to hold the heat in and keep it from frost.