is 18 inches ok in winter?

[beeliz]

Hi everyone,
I have 11 fish,all of 2 koi and9 goldies,in my pond,,I need to know if 18 inches is deep enough for overwintering them?? I plan on either a floating heater,or an air bubbler,,,I also will stack my bagged leaves around the pond to help with insulation.,as it is a raised pond..
as they grow I plan on digging the pond deeper next spring so it's at least 3 feet deep..
any thoughts? Thanks

 

[farmgirl]

I would take them in the house to be on the safe side.18 inches is'nt deep enough for them to get down to hibernate . I could be wrong but I sure would'nt want to take the chance to loose them

 

[addy1]

I have always heard 3 feet is the cut off point, but I could be wrong.

 

[beeliz]

ok,well I decided that this weekend,my husband and I are deepening the pond,,we'll have to empty it,remove the liner,and it will be a HUGE job,but it has to be done....I can\t bring them in this winter,,
wish me (us) luck!

 

[DrDave]

I would be very worried at 18" depth in your area.

 

[beeliz]

Thanks dr dave,,we'll definitely make it deeper this weekend,I'm unable to bring in the fish over winter,,so we will make the center of the pond 3 feet deep,,,big job,but fun!

 

[addy1]

Make the center area big enough to allow the fish not to be too crowded also, while they wait for spring.

 

[beeliz]

how big in area do you recomend??

 

[cauzeneffeckt]

considering your area.. 3 ft is safe... I would not leave them there over winter

 

[koiguy1969]

naturally the bigger the deep area the better ..so go as big as possible!!

 

[beeliz]

ok,,so if I go a bit over 3 feet deep, I should be ok over winter???

 

[koiguy1969]

in most areas 3' is sufficient for over wintering fish (deeper is better)... but i am not familiar with your winters. do you happen to know your agricultural rating (zone) ? if you do you should post it in your personal info...in your location ... any how, we several Canadians here, maybe one is local for you and can better asssist. i winter my fish in an 800+ gal pond in my basement. if your interested in watching a video of the fish and basement pond click here: https://www.gardenpondforum.com/fish-video-else-t4899.html

 

[koisRus]

I think Quebec is like zone 2, -40 to -50 degrees, is three feet deep enough?

 

[beeliz]

ya,we can go to about -25,,but windchill is around -40 on some horrendous days!
but the people around here I have spoken to seem to be ok with theirs,,the fish actually hibernate and come back ok in spring,,makes me nervous though..
I still don't know what to do.

 

[beeliz]

ok,well we did it! We ripped out the liner,and dug down to 3 feet in the center,and it's MUCH better! the fish seem happy too! so I'm off to get a strong pump for the winter,I'll keep that runing through the winter,,and I think it will be okj..
thanks all!