Not neccesarily true. We really thought we'd lost all our fish in January
when we had a polar air mass sit over us for weeks. We managed to keep the
ice open until one fateful night when the lines blew off the pump. We had
70+mph winds that night at -24C. By morning it looked like the pond was
empty with a 4 inch layer of ice where the water line was. We even broke the
ice to verify where the water level was. There absolutely could not have
been more than 6 inches of water that was frozen. We just left it alone
until March when we filled it up. Low and behold I was sitting out there one
afternoon when I saw something orange. I got the net, figured I was on
funeral duty... It moved and scared the crap outta me! We've since done a
headcount and all the fish made it through...
Janet in very warm and sunny Niagara Falls. )

--

"sandra" wrote in message
...
assuming that your serious, with an iced over pond and no hole kept open,
those poor fish died.
what a shame
sandra

"Chrome!Hat" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Last summer I put in a new pond and this is the first year I've ever
overwintered fish (goldfish). When the ice thawed I noticed my fish
looking
very white - some only on one side - and not moving. Some floated on top
and
others lay on shelves. I pulled them out. Was that a big mistake?
Someone
told me they look dead until the water warmed up for some time.

Likewise I had a mass of frogs in the pond. I put in a tray with dirt at
the
bottom for them to dig into. I have no idea if they've survived. I guess
I
just wait.

In the event some fish/frogs are dead and irretrievable, will that
affect
the water quality or does it all recycle itself?

The pond is about 3.5 feet deep and about 8'x10' on the surface. I live
in
Ottawa so it gets cold, but the winter was on the mild side.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

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they
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thanks
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