Fish freezing solid in shallows

On Sat, 17 Jan 2004, ~ jan JJsPond.us wrote:

Robin R wrote:
buckets of hot water recently and picked up a lot of ice (with water
gloves). I'm tired of it!

I agree a stock tank heater can really help, especially with goldfish, they
will park themselves around it like orange submarines at a docking station.

I have a de-icer at the top of the waterfall. In previous years, I put it
over the intake of my pump but then the waterfall would get too much ice
on it so it seems to work at the top of the falls. The falls splash under
the rocks quite a bit so I don't think they are lacking in oxygen.
Depending on how cold it is, some days there are large open areas near the
falls and sometimes just a small area but either way, the fish should not
feel a need to find oxygen in the shallows. I think they are trying to
hide (under the ice shelf) and also maybe on those really cold days, the
waterfall was supercooling the water a bit making it colder in the deep
end. The first fish that died a month ago though froze in the deep end.


My screens managed to hold up with 14" of snow and then rain on top to make
it good and heavy, in one place I can see the screen hitting the water, as
water level is quite high. Otherwise, all was looking good as far as ice
free. Water temp is up to 37F today, as we go thru a thaw, but we've yet to
get hit 40F since the big freeze, so I was surprised at the temp.

Unfortunately, one of my weaker fish, who I was treating for fin rot prior
to the down turn in temps this fall, succumbed and I found floating this
morning. I had to move snow back to lift the screen, but at least she
wasn't stuck in ice where I would have had to wait or risk disturbing the
other fish to get her out. I hope she is my only causality, but we still
have a lot of winter to go and critical spring to go through. I can only
hope the snow we have will melt off and I can pull the screens tight and
reset before another snowy system, if we get one, comes in.


Sorry for your loss.

Sorry about your woes Robin, is work at least going better? ~ jan


Nah, only gets worse. I know I shouldn't complain but today I'm in a lot
of pain and have a head cold and had to do extractions on my feet with
ethyl acetate which makes my head hurt. But, I snuck on the computer for
a minute now though! The biggest thing now I hate about work is a new
boss who curses and yells at work. It's one thing at home but it
shouldn't be allowed at work. Due to his "importance," he won't be fired.
Most days, I wish I would be. Then, maybe I could enjoy my animals for
two seconds (aside from cleaning up after them).


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waterfall was supercooling the water a bit making it colder in the deep
end. The first fish that died a month ago though froze in the deep end.

Could be. Not sure of your fish load situation, but maybe turning the falls
off and putting the deicer in the pond would be worth a try?

Sorry for your loss.

Yea, and it would be the one with one of the best patterns, but considering
how hard I worked to recover the 3 others last year, I'm almost
relieved.... but that's not to say I get to start out the spring clean,
does it? s I can only hope.

Sorry your work situation is so awful. That's a bummer. ~ jan

Robyn,

I wonder if your goldfish were hanging out in the shallow part of the pond
because of the ice itself. Is there any "structure" in the deeper part of
your pond for the fish to hang out near or under?

My goldfish hangs out between the two filters of my Little Giant pump since
there are no pond plants in the pond now. (I had a Parrotfeather in a pot
on the bottom of the pond earlier; the fish hung out underneath the leaves,
and the frogs sat on top of the floating leaves.)

You may not get a decent break in the weather to add any structure to your
pond this season, but you might keep it in mind for next year.

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC