Daughter's fish pond
By deebomb
@deebomb (15304)
United States
December 6, 2011 1:44pm CST
Here in Michigan it is fairly cold.
My daughter has a fairly large fish pond in her back yard. It Has 6 large white koi and 7 or eight medium sized gold fish. This summer she had a hard time getting the pond to clear up.
Now that winter is here it is very clear and you can see all the fish. I was out on the deck watching them. They look so cold all hovered together in groups and around the warming rock she put in the pond to keep an opening from the ice. I almost feel sorry for them.
My daughter has a fairly large fish pond in her back yard. It Has 6 large white koi and 7 or eight medium sized gold fish. This summer she had a hard time getting the pond to clear up. Now that winter is here it is very clear and you can see all the fish. I was out on the deck watching them. They look so cold all hovered together in groups and around the warming rock she put in the pond to keep an opening from the ice. I almost feel sorry for them.3 people like this
5 responses
@dragon54u (31633)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Koi hibernate in the winter. I found some documentation for you here: http://www.pond-doctor.co.uk/longoverwinteringfish.html even though it's based in the UK she can learn from that as their weather can be similar.
I hope they winter well and she can enjoy them in the spring!
1 person likes this
@Robswife2006 (1208)
• United States
6 Dec 11
She could probably get a heater for the pond but I'm sure it would cost money & then of course her electric bill would go up some because she would have to keep it running all of the time, but if the fish are too cold then this would be the wise thing to do. It would be a waste of money to make this pond only to have the fish up & die.
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
6 Dec 11
Hello Robswife. She does have a warming rock in the pond. The warming rock keeps the pond open when it really freeze for the winter. The opening is needed to keep the fish from becoming oxygen deprived. The can with stand the cold. The go into hibernation for the winter.
@Fortunata (1135)
• United States
7 Dec 11
Wow, I never knew Koi could live in really cold areas. When I was a kid in California people had koi ponds but it rarely freezes there. Poor things! I think it's really cool that you can pet them. Does you daughter ever do that, or are they stictly for decoration, and not as pets?
@EavesJ (95)
• United States
6 Dec 11
You are right, there is such a thing as being too cold. Those fish without the warming rocks may die if they get too cold. Some fish are not made for extreme cold conditions. That is why fresh water or salt water cold fish here in southeast texas must have heater coils inside the fish tanks durring the winter, or they will simply just die.
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
6 Dec 11
The warming rock is to keep the pond from freezing over and depriving the fish of fresh oxygen. They pretty much go dormant like reptiles such as frogs and lizards. This will be their third winter. But they do look cold hanging out so close together..
