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I have heard about this being possible, but didn't know if it was true. If you were to have and were maintaining a small, man-made pond in a place such as the upper Midwest in the United States, is it possible for fish to survive over the winter while remaining in the pond? I mean, if it's possible, what do they do? Hibernate?
Does the pond have to be a certain depth? Cubby holes? Types of fish? Certain conditions that need to be met?
Just curious, because I have thought constructing an outdoor pond in which I would like to put some fish. Thank you!
Gold fish (not round bellies) and koi are the only ones that would survive because they are cold water fish.
In winter their metabolism slows down and they just chill out until spring - not really moving to much.
Most people where I live have at least 24 inches of water, but most are deeper than that.
You would just winterize the pond - kinda like you do a swimming pool.
The air pump is left on, but the filters are shut down, and a screen to keep leaves and debris out is put over the top of it.
They are fed very, very little - a small amount once a week.
If you are in really cold weather where the surface will freeze, there is a device that you'd have to have which gives a breathing hole -
I don't know what it's called though.
We had a really cold winter about 10 years ago where the surface water froze.
My mom put a basket ball in the pond at night and took it out in the morning...it did the trick.
It could get as low as 20 below zero or even colder. But, that would be a rare thing. Usually in recent years, not down to lower than the teens and some single digits.
Thats pretty cold - LOL
I don't know about the subzero temps
but with teens and single digits, if the water is deep enough, it shouldn't freeze solid.
The fish will just sink to the bottom where it's not frozen - they look lifeless, but they're fine.
If you have a cave or cubby in your pond, they will wonder in there from time to time,
but I doubt they would stay the whole winter in there.
They still move and swim around (at least the areas I'm familiar with)
You have a different climate than I do so things could be totally different...Thats something I'd be interested in knowing as well ...
Well, obviously fish live in wild ponds that freeze over. If the water is deep enough, there will be a layer of ice over a layer of unfrozen water. As I understand it, the cold water decreases the fishes metabolism and thus they can survive on much less food than they need in the warmer months.
Well, obviously fish live in wild ponds that freeze over. If the water is deep enough, there will be a layer of ice over a layer of unfrozen water. As I understand it, the cold water decreases the fishes metabolism and thus they can survive on much less food than they need in the warmer months.
You are right about the metabolism slowing down and how they eat less.
However, we cannot compare wild fish to goldfish and koi or lakes and natural ponds to the ponds we keep in our back yards.
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