Goldfish or Koi?

Reframer

Reframer

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Feb 22, 2009
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Minnesota
I believe I will be making a pond soon. I'm in MN here, don't know whether gold fish would be able to hibernate it out through the winter or not. I don't have any room inside for them. I would prefer goldfish in the pond but heard that they can't survive the winter and that only the koi will be able to. Is that true?
Winter here can be rough with temps below zero for weeks straight in the dead of winter.
 
Unless your pond is going to be 1000 gallons or more, don't get koi. They have HUGE space needs.

I'm not from MN, but would a pond heater work? I'm not sure if winters get too cold for those up there in the northland.
 
Comet type Goldfish and Shubunkins will live as long as the pond is deep enough. Most fancies won't, although people in my area have had Ryukins winter over. The further the fish has been bred away from its wild origins the less likely it is to retain its winter hardiness.How cold it gets really doesn't matter. If you think about it it doesn't matter if the air temp is 50 below, any unfrozen water under the ice is above 32. Here in eastern PA 3 feet deep is fine. You should talk to some pond owners in your own area to see how deep it needs to be. One thing to consider. When it freezes over no more oxygen can dissolve into the water. If you have leaves and other junk laying on the bottom decaying it can deplete the available O2 and kill your fish.
 
Ok, so the plan is:
find out how far to dig past frost line (which is 4-5 feet I think)
make sure to keep debris out and stop feeding the fish
keep a air stone in their to keep a hole in the surface for gas exchange
If I am going to get comets, how many gallons per fish?
 
You may even be able to do without the airstone. All it takes is a hole in the ice to let the gases out and oxygen in. I have seen people float tennis balls or, for larger holes, soccer balls, on the pond. They keep an opening in the ice for gas exchange, without pounding on the ice to break it (which makes for very unhappy fish).

They say 20 gallons per fish, just like in a tank, but they will have babies like crazy if they are happy, so it might be good to plan on double or triple that, to cover the load you might have next year, and the year after that! My pond book says "supply at least 5 gallons of water per inch of fish" for goldfish. And "Fish longer than 6 inches need substantially more water"...

I started the spring with 6 fish, roughly 3-4 inches long. I now have all six, almost an inch longer each, AND 10-12 babies (and those are only the ones I can see!) in a 600 gallon pond, so I am already hitting overstocked, even though I started very conservatively.
Jen
 
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Goldfish of all sorts, except fancy/fantail will survive winters.
 
Ok, thanks. I plan to do it under the deck because it is wasted space and will protect them from bright sun light and debris. does that sound ok?
The only problem is figuring out if the pond can be that close to the house. Maybe about 4 ft out from the foundation.
 
Unlike a natural pond, you won't have the water-in-the-ground problems that might cause a problem near the house, but you may still have runoff when it rains or you get the inevitable leak. Runoff is easily routed away from the house, so that shouldn't be a problem. Unless you are building a monster pond, I wouldn't think it'd be a structural problem, either, but it might be worth finding someone who installs ponds and picking their brain. I have seen many many ponds in magazines and books that are snuggled right up against the wall of houses, so it's not an uncommon thing. Do you have to worry about anything coming off the deck and harming the water? Like chemicals from treated wood or deck stain?

If your pond is under the deck (upper story deck, I am assuming) you will have less algae problems, but you will also be a bit limited on your plant choices. For example, water lilies need a certain number of hours of sunlight each day in order to bloom. You can still have pads, they just won't flower.

Hope some of that helped.
Jen
 
Yeah, I was thinking that I wouldn't be able to grow many plants under the deck. That would be the down side.
I didn't even think about the chemicals, we don't treat the deck with anything, just paint it every few years, I hope that will be ok.
Of course, I will need to kid proof it somehow, that is the biggest obstacle.
 
i would think the biggest hurdle would be what might be spilled on the deck when noone is thinking. staining/painting the deck should not pose a threat because there are ways around things. you could always put down a few items for height and use a few tent stakes on a tarp over the pond during any activities that may cause issues. for instance any construction on the house where things might be dropped, staining/painting, pest control... yadda yadda, i can't think of everything but that gives you an idea. like i said though figure you may have a bbq, superbowl party, a couple kids, whatever you like to do with other people things can get dropped or spilled. it wouldn't take much beer, koolaid, dog poop from someones shoes, etc. to foul up a small pond fairly quick. especially if it goes unnoticed during a dry spell.
 
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