wrote in message
...
double tailed fish need warmer water. fish with lots of finnage need
warmer water.
I remember Jo Ann's discussing a friend of hers that had really long
tailed shubunks
in outside ponds in Washington, state of, and the fins would shred when
the temp got
below 60 something.

This doesn't happen with my long tailed Shubunkins or my double tailed GF
here in zone 6. Veiltails with excessive finnage may be a different matter.
I don't have Veiltails.

deep bodied GF need warmer water for good digestion too. altho grazing in
a pond
offsets that problem to a great degree.
I have had fancies (not really deep bodied ones) survive in outdoor ponds
as long as
there was good aeration and a hole stayed open and the pond was in my
greenhouse.

How cold are your winters?

when the greenhouse collapsed I lost almost all the fish.

Rapid temperature change possibly?

I restocked and one winter
there was too much mulm and they all died. there was always attrition
anyway in the
outdoor ponds.
I think it would work even better to cover the pond and drop in a 500 watt
heater all
winter, like I do with my koi ... I feed them all winter long, once or
twice a week
since there isnt any filter, and the water stays above 50o for all but a
month at
most. they are in much better shape than going 6 months without food and
their
immunity is down for a very short time, if at all.

Where I live they only go without food for 3 to 3 1/2 months on average. If
the water goes over 50F in winter they're looking for food and are fed
something light like flakes.
--
ZB....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
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