Inside for winter

[Chachi]

Hi Folks, I inherited a pond with 10 fish this summer ( one big koi and 9 big goldfish) and was worried about how to winter them over so I bought a big tank and brought most of the pond water and fish into my living room.
Now I'm learning about ammonia and nitrates and getting a little worried. The fish seem ok but the water is not very clear.
Any advice?

[mistersprinkles]

Originally Posted by Chachi

Hi Folks, I inherited a pond with 10 fish this summer ( one big koi and 9 big goldfish) and was worried about how to winter them over so I bought a big tank and brought most of the pond water and fish into my living room.
Now I'm learning about ammonia and nitrates and getting a little worried. The fish seem ok but the water is not very clear.
Any advice?

The amount of ammonia that many large fish is going to produce is, in any aquarium, going to be incredibly torturous for them to endure. They may survive but they'll be worse for the wear.

Is there a filter on the pond? Open the filter up, take the media out, and put it in the aquarium's filter. You can also put some on the substrate in the aquarium.

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. We are glad you found us here at AA.

[Andy Sager]

Originally Posted by Chachi

Hi Folks, I inherited a pond with 10 fish this summer ( one big koi and 9 big goldfish) and was worried about how to winter them over so I bought a big tank and brought most of the pond water and fish into my living room.
Now I'm learning about ammonia and nitrates and getting a little worried. The fish seem ok but the water is not very clear.
Any advice?

Unless the whole pond freezes solid, you can overwinter Koi and goldfish in the pond. In fact, most Goldfish prepare for spawning once there is ice over their heads. The spring thaw spurs them to spawn.
Since you don;t use exact sizes for either the fish or the tank, you may be doing more harm than good by having them in the tank. Would need more specifics to say "yay" or "nay" . You may also be able to use a "thermal blanket" over the pond during the peak cold months if it would make you more at ease. This can be done with some framework and thick plastic to form a greenhouse type effect to save you from the work involved in keeping large goldfish in an aquarium. Many fish farmers use this methods on their ponds.

Just some food for thought. Hope this helps

[bshenanagins]

Originally Posted by Andy Sager

Unless the whole pond freezes solid, you can overwinter Koi and goldfish in the pond. In fact, most Goldfish prepare for spawning once there is ice over their heads. The spring thaw spurs them to spawn.
Since you don;t use exact sizes for either the fish or the tank, you may be doing more harm than good by having them in the tank. Would need more specifics to say "yay" or "nay" . You may also be able to use a "thermal blanket" over the pond during the peak cold months if it would make you more at ease. This can be done with some framework and thick plastic to form a greenhouse type effect to save you from the work involved in keeping large goldfish in an aquarium. Many fish farmers use this methods on their ponds.

Just some food for thought. Hope this helps

I'd have to agree with this. Most people that have outside ponds keep their stock in the pond over winter. I don't see why a couple of heaters couldn't help you keep the temps from getting too cold. I'm not familiar with the blanket method mentioned above but I'd look into it if it's the way other hobbyists are tending to this

[mistersprinkles]

You can use water heaters and pond de-icers in concert in your pond over the winter if you're concerned.

I was under the impression that this was an above-ground pond (which would freeze through completely) and that was why you took the fish indoors.

[sheilak]

I live in fl so I had an outdoor pond and just left empty milk jugs floating on top with a small anchor to keep them below surface so it would take pressure off the walls also they sell pond deicers so that it want freeze solid also the framed up plastic sounds ok but not too tight there are still gases that need to escape but I know you get much much colder there

[Chachi]

Hi folks, thanks for the replys. The pond is quite shallow only 18 inches deep in the middle and we are having a bit of trouble with the electricity tripping out so I was worried it might freeze completly.

We can can get -25*c here in Toronto and I'd hate to loose a fish that has lived so long to get so big.
I plan to make a bigger deeper pond maybe next summer.

I did bring in the filter media and have only had the filter running for one week so maybe it will take control in a few days.

[Andy Sager]

Then it sounds like you did the right thing bringing them in. 18" is kinda shallow to chance with erratic electricity. Go for a deeper pool for sure and you can eliminate this situation next year

[Andrew McFadden]

Yes it does sound like you did the right thing. It also sounds like you may need a bigger pond for these fish next year. 18" is the standard depth of the plastic inserts and will freeze over if you don't use a pond heater. Where I live it gets down to 0F easily every year. Everything gets shut off, plants get cut back and the heater goes in to keep from freezing.