Absolutely can do it.
I live in Brampton, part of Toronto, and over-wintered my goldfish in my
pond, which is about 7x6, probably 24" deep, and all I used was a 100 watt
circular de-icer.
Last winter was brutal, but surprising to me, and most of my friends, was
that the ice on the pond never got thicker than 6"(I am guessing!) It
doesn't make sense considering we had a cold winter, but I swear it was so.
My 100 watt de-icer always kept a hole in the pond(a couple of times ice
built up in the hole in the de-icer, after snow falls or freezing rain, but
I cleaned it out.)
I had 11 2" goldfish, and 1 died in the spring, so I think I came out pretty
well.
I initially had picked up one of those 1500 watt de-icers, but on my way to
the cashier, someone stopped me and said that this would kill my hydro bill,
and that they had used the 100 watt de-icer without problem in Toronto.
This year, I am thinking of adding an air stone too. I have 2 4-5" koi,
figured a little more support might not hurt.
"Janet & Hugh" wrote in message
news
Kodiak you can indded overwinter fish. We have been doing it in zone 6b in
2.5 feet of water by keeping a hole in the ice. I would think you can do
it
in less than 4 feet of water as long as you keep a hole in the ice for
gasses to escape. 
)
Janet in Niagara Falls, ON
"Kodiak" wrote in message
...
Would it be unreasonable to have a pond in Zone 4a or 4b
and expect fish to survive in winter? I live in Montreal Canada,
my feeling is I need a pond at least 4ft deep. Is there info or a table
that
suggests what depth your pond should be depending on the zone your in?
...Kodiak
"Mickey" wrote in message
...
If you are talking Canada you are closer to a zone 2. Zone 5 is going
through the center of the USA. Here is a link with a few names for
reference
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/hrdzon3.html
"Axolotl" wrote in message
. 130...
ESPMER (K30a) wrote in
:
Scott wrote Should I disconnect my filter for the winter, or
keep
it
running?
I was
planning to keep it, until I read the statement above.
You'll find a lot of people do different things ;-)
The bio bugs won't be 'working' in cold water and the fish won't
be
producing much, if any, waste so there is no need to filter a
winter
pond. Everybody kind of goes into a stupor for the winter.
Keeping water running, as in a waterfall or fountain, can
sometimes
be
dicey. If things start to freeze sometimes the water can freeze in
such a way as to direct water away from the pond. More so in a
waterfall than a fountain.
Another theory to keep the pump off is that the water movement
from
the pump to the fountain or waterfall, there and back again, is
making
a current for the fish to swim against when they'd rather just lay
there, slowly finning their fins. Water movement makes them work
harder and use up energy they'd rather put to keeping some weight
on
them over the winter.
But, all that said, there are rec.ponders who keep their pump
running
and their waterfall going all winter. And all goes well, no
problems.
Hi there, nice to see you back K30a.
I am not sure what zone I am in, Colour coded maps are not much use
to
somebody whose colour blind. I am in Mississauga, just west of
Toronto,
so I think I am in zone 5 (5a). In the past I have disconnected from
the
waterfalls and redirected the flow to a standpipe over the pond,
this
keeps an opening in the ice, adds oxygen and provides the local
wildlife
a source of water in the winter.
However, I wonder if this is the best approach, I keep seeing people
recommending a bubbler, I tried this one winter but the air pump
died
within 2 weeks. What depth should the air-stone be set to?
TIA
AXO
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