winter over fish?

I have a new pond...plastic liner about 160 gallons, 18" deep in
center. The pond is spring fed no electric. The fresh water line will
have to be stopped as soon as the pipes would freeze(early Nov). It
has been the home to 4 Koi since June. I live in the snow belt of
NY(lots of snow,lots of cold) Without electric can I leave them in the
pond all winter?? I saw something called Ice Guard that didn't require
eletric would it really serve a purpose??

"nancy" wrote in message
oups.com...
I have a new pond...plastic liner about 160 gallons, 18" deep in
center. The pond is spring fed no electric. The fresh water line will
have to be stopped as soon as the pipes would freeze(early Nov). It
has been the home to 4 Koi since June.

$$ I hope you realize that koi, if healthy, grow well over TWO FEET long.
Your pond is too small even for one semi-adult koi. If there's no
electricity how will you filter it and keep it from freezing solid?

I live in the snow belt of
NY(lots of snow,lots of cold)

$$ Your frost line is something like 4'. You need to bring your koi inside
for the winter and plan on what to do - you are either going to have to put
in a deeper, much larger pond or replace the koi with goldfish. Even GF
will need to be brought indoors for the winter in your climate - unless you
dig below the frostline for your area.

Without electric can I leave them in the
pond all winter??

$$ No. It's too small and too shallow.

I saw something called Ice Guard that didn't require
eletric would it really serve a purpose??

$$ Probably not where you live. :-(
--
McKoi.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On 6 Oct 2005 09:04:39 -0700, "nancy" wrote:

I have a new pond...plastic liner about 160 gallons, 18" deep in
center. The pond is spring fed no electric. The fresh water line will
have to be stopped as soon as the pipes would freeze(early Nov). It
has been the home to 4 Koi since June. I live in the snow belt of
NY(lots of snow,lots of cold) Without electric can I leave them in the
pond all winter?? I saw something called Ice Guard that didn't require
eletric would it really serve a purpose??

Only 18", an Ice Guard isn't going to work well enough for your area. I
fully expect your pond to freeze to the bottom if you don't have some way
to run an extension cord and a stock tank heater to it.

I suggest either bringing the koi inside, or selling them back to the pet
shop and getting new in spring. ~ jan

See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Defrosted~
Tri-Cities, WA Zone 7a
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