you probably killed them by breaking the ice, fish are extremely sensitive
to vibration.
"Janet" wrote in message
...
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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