Fancy goldfish in pond during winter?

Hello,

I have two small fancy goldfish in my pond and at the moment it is winter. It is -2 outside at night and I don't want to goldfish to freeze to death. Will they be ok? They are staying away from the common goldfish and koi and are staying near the surface which is strange as they should be near the bottom. Are they ok. Should I bring them in for winter? The only tank I can put them in is a 300l tropical tank or will the temp change shock them?

 

IMO, you should bring them in. I believe fancy goldfish can't tolerate the really cold temperatures unlike the common, comet, and koi fish

 

Will the temp of the tropical tank shock them?

 

It won't be good for them. How big is the pond?

 

About 7 ft long and 4ft deep. I have got them in a bucket now should I slowly warm them up or put them back in the pond. They are so slow I could catch them with my hands and I don't want them to get eaten. Is there a way I can slowly warm them up?

 

I wouldn't add them to your tropical tank at all. Can you get a stock tank or trough that you can keep inside or in a garage to put them in during the winter?

 

Well I could put them in a tub at room temperature in my room. How can I get them to room temperature without shocking them

 

I would bring the bucket inside and let it slowly warm up to room temp on its own.

 

Ok will do thanks for the help!

 

Would they be alright in this bucket for the winter?

 

How many gallons does it hold?

 

About 6

 

No, they won't be since they won't be dormant. You will need a filter and a larger tank

 

Well it says on the side 45litres

 

And I am guessing that is about 6gals but not shure?

 

What is the minimum that they need?

 

46 liters is around 12 gal, but that's still not big enough. Since they're still small, a 29 gal (30x12 inch footprint) should be fine for overwintering this year, and a 40 breeder would be fine for overwintering 2 fancies when they're adults (36x18 in footprint).

 

Agree! I suggest going to a department store like Target and getting one of those storage containers! I know that the really big long ones are about the size of a 40 breeder since I got one for my hamster Make sure you get one that has strong plastic since you don't want the tank to bow a lot

 

I have a 12 year old fancy and 6 year old that has spent every year wintered and I live in northern Canada. So to set things straight they can winter in the right environment setup. A stable pond should be no issue for fancies. We get minus 40 celsius up here and winter can last 5 months of the year and is normal to see them at the surface if the water is not frozen over from time to time. Even my koi will come to the surface slowly at times. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

I think it is to late to put them back in the pond now. Also if I could just catch them in my hand easily then they would be an easy dinner for a cat or a heron. I have a un-cycled 300litre tank that they could go in if I do lots of water changes?

 

Is there anything else in the tank now?

 

No no other fish

 

That should be fine then! Keep up on water changes to keep ammonia and nitrites down. Do you have Seachem Prime? You can use that to detoxify the ammonia and nitrites.

 

I have never heard of seachem prime but will get some. What temp should I set the heater as I don't want to keep them at room temperature because in is in my garage and it gets cold in there. Would 22c be ok or will it shock them?

 

How cold does it get to? I would leave it without a heater unless the water will freeze.

 

It will get to about 4c

 

I think that would still be fine for them, based on Dadio 's experience.

 

Yep!

 

I'm coming in on the tail end of this thread but wanted to mention an alternative to bringing them in is to buy a pond de-icer. It will keep your pond from freezing and should not go below 4degrees celcius. I have this one:



For cover I have some fake Lilly leaves floating on the surface along with some fake bamboo leaves. I also turned a plastic planter sideways and sunk it to the bottom.

 

My current pond setting is around 4000g and I use two 750w deicer. One I sink at deepest part and one I float. I also run an aerator. The one at lowest is just u case it drops in a dead cold. The idea for the deicer is to allow bad gas release. The aerator keeps water moving as well. I stop feeding when it hits 10 Celsius or when they lose interest. Climate is really screwed this year as my pond is usually frozen over and it's wide open. Even a patch of kale is still growing.

 

Yeah its been crazy warm here this fall also. I had removed my pump and fountain for a few days to clean them up but ended up hooking the pump back up to the filter and just leaving the return on the bottom to circulate the water and keep filtration going. I'm still feeding them once a day with a Fall formula because they seem fairly eager to eat.

 

Help after a few days of them being in the tank I noticed that there scales are starting to lift and stick out!! It is only slightly and is hard to notice but it happened after I feed them some freeze dried blood worms. What should I do before it progresses into something that is untreatable!! They don't seem to be swollen in any way just scales sticking out ever so slightly. Cant be dropsy because they are not swollen

 

What are the water parameters of the bucket?

If the scales are sticking out, it could be dropsy (which is a symptom, not a disease).

When you feed the freeze dried blood worms, are you soaking them in water first? You should be doing that.

Also, don't feed them too many bloodworms. Goldfish need herbivorous material in their diet more than bloodworms.

 

They are no longer in the bucket but water conditions are good

 

Can you list the specific parameters of where they are now?

 

PH =8
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 40
The tank is not yet cycled

 

What about ammonia? What makes you say it's not cycled? Just wondering

 

How deep is your outdoor pond and how low does the temperature dip where you are? I kept fancies in a 6 foot deep pond in a very cold area of Ontario and they did fine. Last time I saw one it was the size of a softball!

 

The test strips that I use don't test for ammonia don't know why. Also the dropy has gone now and the goldfish look healthy and happy. Will add them back to the pond in spring and leave them in there whole life. Do fancy goldfish get as big as common goldfish if in a pond because I'm interested to see how big they get. Aquaphobia. What are you feeding them to make them get that big?? The size of a soft ball is huge for fancy goldfish!! Mine are only about 3 inches long. They are sharing the tank with a 6 inch common goldfish that I rescued from my LFS. He was in a tiny tank and looked depressed. Now he is happy. I will add the 3 goldfish next spring and leave them in there. I am located in the uk so quite cold in winter. My pond is only 3 to 4 ft deep. The reason I think my tank is not cycled is because it has only been running for a week. I have been adding filter start to my sump every two days.