"birdman" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi everyone, I'm new to this newsgroup. My name is Dan, and I live in
Maine.
This spring when my pond finally thawed, I found all my fish dead.
(goldfish)
here were 8 second year fish, about 5", and about 40 small first year
fish. (I had actually taken out at least 50 last fall).
The pond is about 1000 - 1500 gallons, and about 30" deep. Last winter
we had no snow and very cold temps all winter, so it surely froze to
the bottom, but 8 of my 15 fish came through fine.

This winter we had a lot of snow cover, so it couldn't possibly have
been any worse than last winter, yet all the fish died.

My only thought is that the pond didn't freeze to the bottom, so the
fish stayed somewhat active, and cosequently depleted the oxygen, or
starved. But that's just a guess.
Any thought on the matter?

First of all, at 30" deep in Maine, surely your pond is too small. Chances are
the fish suffocated. You need to keep a hole open in the ice/snow for gas
exchange so the fish will be able to breath. A de-icer will keep a hole open in
the ice for all but the worst weather. You can also do so by using an aerator,
which not only helps keep theice open but adds O2. Another thing, unless your
fish were minnows, it appears that you also had way to many fish in your pond.