# Ponds



## fishly (Jan 25, 2011)

Do any of you have ponds? How are you keeping your fish warm during the wintertime?


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## Bettawhisperer (Oct 1, 2010)

WARM? if they are goldies or koi they hibernate. I have a pond with Koi and all types of goldfish and I don't worry about the winter time they do what comes natural.


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## fishly (Jan 25, 2011)

Oh. I thought when they sank to the bottom and didn't move they were cold. I guess they were trying to hibernate. Thanks.


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## funlad3 (Oct 9, 2010)

Just don't let the pond freeze through. The fish will be sleeping with themselves and your yard will smell for weeks in springtime.


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## fishly (Jan 25, 2011)

Thanks.


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## PostShawn (Dec 22, 2009)

My father has a pond and he's in upstate NY. He covers the pond with a tarp. It's next to a wooded deck in the backyard so he just attaches the tarp to the deck and then to stakes on the other side of the pond. He also runs a surface heater during the winter in the pond. It floats and just prevents the water from freezing. His is that usual kidney shaped preformed pond. So maybe 2 feet deep at the most. You never see the fish in the winter. They always stay at the bottom. He throws some food in about once a week just in case. But as soon as winter is over they all come back to the surface. It must just be their natural hibernation. They are just feeder goldfish though. Too many animals in the area taking swipes at them to risk more expensive koi type fish.


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## cossie (Dec 19, 2010)

i have a large koi pond and we dont feed them at-all in the winter as the food can rot away inside them.

basically if you guys were nearer we breed and sell the koi for sometimes £1000's


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## Bettawhisperer (Oct 1, 2010)

Cossie you beat me to it. LOL I was going to say the same thing. You should NEVER feed in the winter time. They need heat to digest the food. In the fall and spring they should not be fed if the water temp goes below 52 degrees. I have a floating thermometer in my pond so I can check it. 52 is the absolute cut off point for feeding.


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## MizzMinNM (Aug 24, 2011)

Hi, I'm new here. I live in NM and put in a pond (about 800 gallons) in my backyard with a pump and waterfall to help circulate the water. It is about 3 feet deep, 8 feet across and 4 feet wide, but those are the measurements at the widest points (I designed it to be "rustic" and natural-looking and have ledges built in all-around for plants, decreasing swim area.) I have 3 large koi (about a foot long) and 5 goldfish (about 6 inches long), and now I have at least a dozen baby fish that I think must have come from the calico koi, as 3-4 of them have orange, white, and black speckles (the rest are solid black.) I am battling algae since my pond is in full sun (I added a ramada and sun shade and lots of water lilies to help "shade" the pond, but it's an ongoing battle.) With all of the plants and the size of the koi (who have grown 3 inches since they moved in), I know the pond can't support all of the "new additions." They are about an inch and a half long right now, but they have doubled in size since I first noticed them about a month ago. Do you think I can safely keep them through the winter and then find new homes for them in the spring? Or would it be better for me to part with them now? They are obviously thriving in my murky, algae-ridden pond in 100 degree weather, so I think they are pretty hardy, but I would hate to give them away too soon and have them perish.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I can't answer your question but I would love a picture of the pond. It sounds quite nice!


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## MizzMinNM (Aug 24, 2011)

*The Story of My Pond (with pictures)*

http://supercalifragilistic-blondie.blogspot.com/2011/08/money-pit.html


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Where you at in new Mexico? I live in El Paso right on the border of new Mexico


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## MizzMinNM (Aug 24, 2011)

I am in Rio Rancho, west and a little north of Albuquerque.


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