Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
shapiro_gw

Overwintering fish outdoors

shapiro
19 years ago

We garden just outside Ottawa, where the winters can be pretty bitter. Our goldfish pond is no more than 18 to 20 inches deep. Our goldfish happily spend the winter there each year, no problem. How do we do it? We place a cattle trough de-icer in the pond, then cover the whole thing with 2 inch thick rigid insulating foam held down by a few rocks to prevent foam blowing away. The cattle trough de-icer can be purchased from any feed store.

The only time that this system ever failed us was a few years back when the power to the de-icer failed (the circuit blew) and we had no way of knowing it. Now there is a light near the circuit board which will alert us if the circuit for the pond blows.

Each April, we uncover our pond and find all our goldfish (plus a few frogs) swimming around. No, they don't need feeding over the winter. With the water quite cold, they are in a type of hibernation.

Comments (2)

Sponsored
Fairfax Kitchen and Bath
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars53 Reviews
DC Area's Top Rated Kitchen & Bath Remodeling Experts