Frozen Fish!

[Loritx]

Well one was frozen! Lost one of the Gold Fish!   This is where the waterfall ususal flows, it had wedged itself up to far and got caught in the ice.

I broke the ice up and removed it from that area after I took the photo this morning. The large fish is a Black/Orange Koi about 14 inches. No sign of the other Koi, so I assume she didnt want to risk being that close to the surface! The rest are a mix of goldfish and shubunkins.

Should start to thaw today/tomorrow!

They can stand the Heat of the summer, but are not used to getting Iced over. This is the first time I have had Ice in the pond. I do get some around the waterfall once in a while. I had to shut down the waterfall for the first time EVER!!!

[Kittyzee]

So sorry for the loss of your fish.   :'(  I've never heard of one actually getting frozen in the ice, not to say it doesn't happen, but I've never had one do that and I live in the frozen midwest.  All of mine are goldfish.  I keep my pump running in the winter too, and try to keep a hole open if it freezes over.  Do you think they were at the hole trying to breathe and got frozen in the ice? 

[Pondering]

awww poor little guy.  :'(   Of my limited knowledge i would have to agree with Kittyzee, i know oxygen is very important and it seems as though they are hanging around the area they usually get it.  Unlike Kittyzee we do not keep our pump running and last year our fishies did great with just the aerator (no seperate heater)... they just seem to know how to adapt.  Be careful about feeding them right away too, we wait until the water temp. is about 55 (not outside temp).  Hope it thaws quickly... i've been known to go outside and throw a pot of boiling water on the ice.  no fishies around of course.

[SueSTx]

I'm 8 hours north and west of Dallas.  We missed out on the snow but we had more than 48 hours of subzero wind chills.  I had one fantail goldie frozen in the ice BUT he had been having swim bladder issues for the last month or so.  I think he was dead (bloated) when he froze in the ice.  I did lose another bigger goldie cross, but that tank had water issues this summer and I don't know how healthy they were to begin with.  I have always left mine out during the winter.  The weather man says we broke all kinds of records during this cold spell.

I lost some feeder fry in a 160 gal tank.  It had 10" ice.  The air stone and pump box were frozen in the ice.  It was at least two days before we could get to them and make a hole in the ice with a stock tank heater..  I'm gonna leave the 100 watt deicer in for the rest of the winter.  We have had 2 other freeze overs with approx 3" ice where the air and pumps were OK.  Three to four inches of ice a couple of times a winter is normal for us.

Most of the dead feeders were white in color.

I won't have a final count until all the ice melts.

[Mikey]

I'm sure glad we didn't get hit with that cold as we just aren't prepared for it.  I'm glad the rest of your fish are well.  They must be wondering how come the sky suddenly got hard.... 

[Loritx]

Got the waterfall turned back on!!
So far 2 lg goldfish dead and my big orange butterfly finned koi is not doing too well, laying on its side on the bottom, but still moving a little!

The rest are moving around a bit and seem ok.

The pond is getting quite a bit of sun, so hopefully it will warm up some.

[Kittyzee]

I don't think the temperatures affected your fish as much as their lack of oxygen and gas exchange.  When oxygen is depleted, the largest fish will suffer first.  And koi are not as resilient as goldfish.  Your waterfall may also be moving too much water to keep a thermal layer for the fish to just hang out in.  A bubbler for oxygen might be good where you are located and a hole kept in the ice.

[tweetybaby2005]

I am so sorry for your loss.  Didn't realize Dallas got so cold this year!  This is the first year my pond has frozen solid, like at least 2"+ of ice over.  I can't even see my waterfall since it is covered in snow.  I have no idea if my fish will survive or not.  My bubbler was running so hoping with today's temp hovering around 32F that it will slowly thaw out a hole where the bubbler is so I can tell what's going on.  I think I saw a section of the net broken though due to the weight of the snow but since a pile of snow was piled up all over the pond, I can't tell how bad the broken net is and if I have any fish casualties.