If I have a backyard pond, will the gold fish freeze to death in the winter?

Answer 1

It depends on where you live. I live in the midwest and have a gold fish pond, it freezes every winter. My pond is probably about 18" deep and we've at times had 2-3" of solid ice covering the pond. I'm always surprised when spring arrives and the fish are still alive. The water lilies I actually remove from the pond in the fall and place in a 5 gal bucket in the garage. But, as for the fish, they seem completely unaffected by the cold.

Answer 2

I dont think that they would freeze to death. Fish are suppose to be in the water right. Think about this. What do the fish in the ocean or a lake do? They stay there when it is winter. Even if the water is frozen, doesnt mean that the fish are. But since the pond is only 2 ft. deep then I dont know. I am no fish expert. Maybe someone else on here can give you better advice than I can. Sorry. Good Luck to you and your fishies.

Answer 3

As the others have said, it will depend on the pond depth - usually 18" in a below-ground pond will be enough, but this will depend on where you're located and how cold it gets. And the entire bottom doesn't have to be that deep - just a portion.

If you go the pond heater route, there's a device similar to a timer that you can plug the heater into - it'll turn the heater off based on temperature so it doesn't overheat the water (and saves you money by not having the heater run when you don't need it). I'll see if I can find a link to post.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/info/23557/category.web

Answer 4

This depends on where you live and the depth of the pond. Florida: they'll never freeze, Chicago: a pond depth of 4' and you should be fine, Northern Canada: at about 20' I would think you'll be fine. Check garden information and they usually know how deep the ground freezes in various areas.

Answer 5

As long as the pond is about 18-24 inches deep and have a mini heater just above the pond floor, then you should be fine with them. Try to leave an opening so you could feed them everytime-anytime you want to.

Answer 6

you will usually get away with early morning temps of -2 to 6 degrees if the top surface of the pond freezes over no

Answer 7

Some companies make pond heaters but there is a risk of it overheating and cooking your little fishies in boiling water. Yur call.

Answer 8

where do you live? How cold does it get?

In Michigan we just make sure there is a hole in the ice at all times and the pond is sufficiently deep... or we put them in the garage in horse water troughs.

Good luck

Answer 9

if you have it deep enough they will be fine, just make sure you break surface ice every day. provide plenty of rocks and plants which will help

Answer 10

They'll be fine. Goldfish are coldwater fish.