Fish Survival Rate

We built a pond in northern VA last year, about 15' x 22', 2 1/2 feet deep.
Kept at least an opening in the pond through the winter but only 13 of the
17 goldfish survived the winter. No idea what happened to the 4 that didn't
make it, didn't find any remains, etc. when we cleaned the pond a few weeks
ago. Is this unusal for the first year, the fish range in size from about 1
1/2 inches to about 5 inches, the bigger ones are still with us? We had a
lot of string algae all through the winter so took that as a decent sign
that there was plenty of oxygen in the water, didn't feed the fish once the
water dropped below about 55 degrees? Ideas.

Here in PA not far from you the frost line is 28 inches--and this was a bad
winter. My pond is over 4ft deep and the same fish have been there since
1992.
I would make it deeper and add a air stone in the winter.

Pat

"news2.news.adelphia.net" wrote in
message ...
We built a pond in northern VA last year, about 15' x 22', 2 1/2 feet
deep.
Kept at least an opening in the pond through the winter but only 13 of the
17 goldfish survived the winter. No idea what happened to the 4 that
didn't
make it, didn't find any remains, etc. when we cleaned the pond a few
weeks
ago. Is this unusal for the first year, the fish range in size from about
1
1/2 inches to about 5 inches, the bigger ones are still with us? We had a
lot of string algae all through the winter so took that as a decent sign
that there was plenty of oxygen in the water, didn't feed the fish once
the
water dropped below about 55 degrees? Ideas.

GF are not 100% winter hardy. if you want them all to make it cover the pond with
plastic and drop in a heater try to keep it at least 55oF and good aeration. Ingrid

"news2.news.adelphia.net" wrote:

We built a pond in northern VA last year, about 15' x 22', 2 1/2 feet deep.
Kept at least an opening in the pond through the winter but only 13 of the
17 goldfish survived the winter. No idea what happened to the 4 that didn't
make it, didn't find any remains, etc. when we cleaned the pond a few weeks
ago. Is this unusal for the first year, the fish range in size from about 1
1/2 inches to about 5 inches, the bigger ones are still with us? We had a
lot of string algae all through the winter so took that as a decent sign
that there was plenty of oxygen in the water, didn't feed the fish once the
water dropped below about 55 degrees? Ideas.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 02:59:03 GMT, wrote:

GF are not 100% winter hardy. if you want them all to make it cover the pond with
plastic and drop in a heater try to keep it at least 55oF and good aeration. Ingrid

"news2.news.adelphia.net" wrote:

We built a pond in northern VA last year, about 15' x 22', 2 1/2 feet deep.
Kept at least an opening in the pond through the winter but only 13 of the
17 goldfish survived the winter. No idea what happened to the 4 that didn't
make it, didn't find any remains, etc. when we cleaned the pond a few weeks
ago. Is this unusal for the first year, the fish range in size from about 1
1/2 inches to about 5 inches, the bigger ones are still with us? We had a
lot of string algae all through the winter so took that as a decent sign
that there was plenty of oxygen in the water, didn't feed the fish once the
water dropped below about 55 degrees? Ideas.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


Without being really smart, or trying it, is there a way to guess what
wattage would be needed to keep water at some elevated temperature?
Mine is warm enough for normal goldfish survival. we didn't have much
cold here for the last two years, but i have thought about keeping
more demanding fish or tropical water lilies over winter. I'm in
southern california, that's why it's warm.

thanks

--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

Then there are always predators to take into account.
I have a kingfisher who visits my pond every December and January.
Many heron populations are year round.
Raccoons don't hibernate.
In Southern California I wonder if there is much of a time when even snakes are
inactive.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

well. I kept my koi pond at 50-55oF all winter except one month, jan 15- feb 15.
dont know if this would be a normal year or not. first time I did it. I used a 500
watt aquarium heater = (5) - 100 watt light bulbs. I am in zone 5, Wisconsin. The
pond was covered with plastic, it is partially above ground, partially below AND the
walls of the pond are insulated but not the bottom.
now...... the ground here is 55oF. I dont know how much it would take to heat the
pond above the ground temp. the heater was set to 55oF.
trop water lilies, yes. but I wouldnt depend on a heater and electricity to keep a
fish alive. if the temp drops and they die, I wouldnt do it. Ingrid

Charles wrote:
Without being really smart, or trying it, is there a way to guess what
wattage would be needed to keep water at some elevated temperature?
Mine is warm enough for normal goldfish survival. we didn't have much
cold here for the last two years, but i have thought about keeping
more demanding fish or tropical water lilies over winter. I'm in
southern california, that's why it's warm.

thanks



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Then there are always predators to take into account.
I have a kingfisher who visits my pond every December and January.
Many heron populations are year round.
Raccoons don't hibernate.
In Southern California I wonder if there is much of a time when even snakes are
inactive.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

well. I kept my koi pond at 50-55oF all winter except one month, jan 15- feb 15.
dont know if this would be a normal year or not. first time I did it. I used a 500
watt aquarium heater = (5) - 100 watt light bulbs. I am in zone 5, Wisconsin. The
pond was covered with plastic, it is partially above ground, partially below AND the
walls of the pond are insulated but not the bottom.
now...... the ground here is 55oF. I dont know how much it would take to heat the
pond above the ground temp. the heater was set to 55oF.
trop water lilies, yes. but I wouldnt depend on a heater and electricity to keep a
fish alive. if the temp drops and they die, I wouldnt do it. Ingrid

Charles wrote:
Without being really smart, or trying it, is there a way to guess what
wattage would be needed to keep water at some elevated temperature?
Mine is warm enough for normal goldfish survival. we didn't have much
cold here for the last two years, but i have thought about keeping
more demanding fish or tropical water lilies over winter. I'm in
southern california, that's why it's warm.

thanks



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Trying to heat a pond without a cover is a very expensive proposition.
Evaporation is a great cooling medium as anyone in the desert southwest with
a swamp cooler will attest. I am able to keep my ponds near 70 degrees all
winter, but I have them covered with multiple layers of polyethylene
sheeting for insulation and to retard evaporation. The ground will keep the
pond from going much below 55 degrees if it is well insulated. Solar gain
provides a large part of my heating source, but I still have two 15 amp
heaters in my large pond that run almost continuously from mid January to
mid February, and intermittently from Thanksgiving to Easter. I have kept
tropical lilies over and had them blooming in January, but due to low light
levels, I have also lost some. The koi enjoy uprooting them about January,
and it is so much fun to go swimming at that time of the year to replant the
lilies.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Charles" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 02:59:03 GMT, wrote:

GF are not 100% winter hardy. if you want them all to make it cover the
pond with
plastic and drop in a heater try to keep it at least 55oF and good
aeration. Ingrid

"news2.news.adelphia.net" wrote:

We built a pond in northern VA last year, about 15' x 22', 2 1/2 feet
deep.
Kept at least an opening in the pond through the winter but only 13 of
the
17 goldfish survived the winter. No idea what happened to the 4 that
didn't
make it, didn't find any remains, etc. when we cleaned the pond a few
weeks
ago. Is this unusal for the first year, the fish range in size from
about 1
1/2 inches to about 5 inches, the bigger ones are still with us? We had
a
lot of string algae all through the winter so took that as a decent sign
that there was plenty of oxygen in the water, didn't feed the fish once
the
water dropped below about 55 degrees? Ideas.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


Without being really smart, or trying it, is there a way to guess what
wattage would be needed to keep water at some elevated temperature?
Mine is warm enough for normal goldfish survival. we didn't have much
cold here for the last two years, but i have thought about keeping
more demanding fish or tropical water lilies over winter. I'm in
southern california, that's why it's warm.

thanks

--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others

Trying to heat a pond without a cover is a very expensive proposition.
Evaporation is a great cooling medium as anyone in the desert southwest with
a swamp cooler will attest. I am able to keep my ponds near 70 degrees all
winter, but I have them covered with multiple layers of polyethylene
sheeting for insulation and to retard evaporation. The ground will keep the
pond from going much below 55 degrees if it is well insulated. Solar gain
provides a large part of my heating source, but I still have two 15 amp
heaters in my large pond that run almost continuously from mid January to
mid February, and intermittently from Thanksgiving to Easter. I have kept
tropical lilies over and had them blooming in January, but due to low light
levels, I have also lost some. The koi enjoy uprooting them about January,
and it is so much fun to go swimming at that time of the year to replant the
lilies.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Charles" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 02:59:03 GMT, wrote:

GF are not 100% winter hardy. if you want them all to make it cover the
pond with
plastic and drop in a heater try to keep it at least 55oF and good
aeration. Ingrid

"news2.news.adelphia.net" wrote:

We built a pond in northern VA last year, about 15' x 22', 2 1/2 feet
deep.
Kept at least an opening in the pond through the winter but only 13 of
the
17 goldfish survived the winter. No idea what happened to the 4 that
didn't
make it, didn't find any remains, etc. when we cleaned the pond a few
weeks
ago. Is this unusal for the first year, the fish range in size from
about 1
1/2 inches to about 5 inches, the bigger ones are still with us? We had
a
lot of string algae all through the winter so took that as a decent sign
that there was plenty of oxygen in the water, didn't feed the fish once
the
water dropped below about 55 degrees? Ideas.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.


Without being really smart, or trying it, is there a way to guess what
wattage would be needed to keep water at some elevated temperature?
Mine is warm enough for normal goldfish survival. we didn't have much
cold here for the last two years, but i have thought about keeping
more demanding fish or tropical water lilies over winter. I'm in
southern california, that's why it's warm.

thanks

--

- Charles
-
-does not play well with others