Goldfish keep hugging the deicing ring. What's up?

[jax]

I have 3 big, fat goldfish in my pond.  There has been a long cold snap going on here in the central Pennsylvania area so, with ice forming along the waterfall edges and on the netting over the pond, I shut down the pump and put that and the UV light away for this season.  I put the deicing ring in.  There is a piece of sheeting over a section of the pond for the fish to hide under.  All 3 of them are clustered around the ring, their mouth's open right at the top of the water and blow bubbles out at times.  The ring is working, as you can see steam there at times.  Are they just enjoying the warmer water right there, are they having troubles breathing with this open mouth stuff of what?  Is there anything I need to do for them?

[Kittyzee]

I really don't know what you mean by a deicing ring, but I think that it's supposed to keep a hole in the ice for the oxygen/gas exchange in the pond for winter.  If your weather has been anything like ours (I'm in Ohio), my pond has been frozen over and today it has thawed quite a bit since the last two days have been in the 40's.  Anyway, I never leave my deicer in the pond for very long, just long enough to melt a hole and then the next day if it's still frozen, I do it the next day and the next.  If your water is very warm from the deicer, the fish may be at the top for air.  Warm water doesn't hold as much oxygen as cold. 

The first year I had my pond, we put the deicer in and left it in there:  the water was so warm it was steaming.  That wasn't good for my fish and I was lucky I didn't lose them all.  So sometimes when it gets cold early and my pond freezes over, I don't see them for a couple of months--until it starts to thaw.   

[jax]

I am in central pennsylvania.  My pond was frozen over already and soon enough it will freeze over and stay that way clear into spring.  The ring is to keep the hole open to allow the gases to escape.  I have a few leaves on the top of the netting stretched over it but they don't get into the water.  Once that water freezes over, I don't see my fish sometimes until the spring thaw comes.  There is steam right off the ring itself but not the water.  The water is extremely cold and does freeze thickly as we go deeper into winter.  I just want to know if this behavior of the fish hanging around the ring is a natural thing because I have never seen them cluster there like that before.  They do continue to swim slowly though the rest of the pong but this is just what I have been noticing them doing.  There is no ice or snow to block my view right now.  Does anyone else have any ideas?

[Kittyzee]

Jax, I shut my falls down and take the water line out of the bio falls and just keep the pump running with water flowing into the pond.  I don't want a lot of water circulation to chill the water down more, but my fish never cluster toward the surface.  They are stacked up like 'fish sticks' with their fins moving slowly or they swim along the bottom very slow.  I think it sounds like they need air, but hopefully someone else who knows more than me will weigh in.   

[Michiponder]

Jax, 
Two things come to mind when you described thier behavior.  One is that tyou said "fat" goldfish.  Are they fantails, lionhead, oranda, or some other thick bodied goldfish?  If so, I have found that these varieties are not nearly as cold hardy as comets, shubunkins, and some other varieties.  The other thing that comes to mind is something I have seen in frozen ponds here in mid winter before.  Many people here have rock or even gravel bottom lined ponds that are often filled with lots of pots, plants ect.  These ponds tend to collect organic matter (fish poop, leaves, and other waste material) that fills nooks and crannies in the rocks, gravel,
and plants.  To make matters worse the circulation is low or nearly non-existant in winter.  These materials continue to rot even in winter and without the O2 circulating through these areas they go anarobic.  This can raise the hydrogen sulfide gases which affects thier gills and makes them gasp at the open water holes in the ice.  I have seen die-offs of all the fish in ponds that are over 3 years old that have not been stripped to remove the sludge.  A good telltale sign is the rotten egg smell you get when moving rocks and plants around in the pond.  Having koi,  I have found that I have far fewer problems with fish health and water quality in winter and early spring by cleaning the ponds thourghly in fall instead of spring like most people do.  Hope this helps. 

[jax]

Thanks for the  replies.  My goldfish are just "big" ordinary shubunkin or comet.  Didn't mean to suggest any different.  I have a gravel bottom on my pond.  Each spring I suck out most of the sludge in the bottom and clean the pump and parts well.  There is a net over the pond now.  It has a few fall leaves on the top that have blown in but every so often I got out, clean those off and restretch the net tight once more.  I have always pulled my pump in late fall.  One year I had a deicing ring quit on me and everything died that year. This one I have in there now works excellent and keeps that vent hole open all winter.  It does put off some steam right around it.  I can't clean out the pond this Fall but I had thought of doing that earlier this year but wasn't able to do it before the really cold set in.  I will clean it all out in the Spring.  I can see my fish really well.  They swim very slow, but, they are a bit more alert here near the deicing ring.  I'm asking, is this normal, is it bad for them. I know there are a few leaves on top of the net. Very few got in prior to putting it on but are they rotting and doing them harm?  I net them all out prior to putting the net on but a few still get in some how.  Soon I won't be able to keep every leaf off but, I just need to know if I am suppose to do anything else for my fish and is this clustering near the ring a good thing or not for them?  They do keep keeping opening their mouths there but do not appear to be inany distress andthey move around in that area.  Is all this normal or not?

[Michiponder]

Hopefully they are just hanging around the heat.  I have a cool greenhouse pond for small fish that has a 1000  watt heater on it set at 58F.  In that pond they always gngregate around the heater too.  If they are not gasping, sluggish, or clamping thier fins maybe they are just enjoying the added heat.

[jax]

I've watched these fish for day's now and I have come to the conclusion as Michiponder said is they like the warmer water right in that area.  They seem to be a bit more in motion in that area of the pond and their mouth opening at the surface show's no sign of distress: they are just hanging there enjoying it.  I think they think they have their own little hot tub area there.  It's just like when they get under the water falls and let the pounding come right down on top of them; I think they like it.  Thanks everyone for the info.