Fish survived the winter???

[dismantle me]

I have a pond in front of the house with a couple goldfish. It's only about 14" - 16" at it's deepest and about 5 ft in diameter, yet they survived the winter. I'm positive that the water froze solid, and it's a man-made pond with pond rocks sitting on a liner, so they couldn't have burrowed down into the silt/dirt. How did they survive??

 

[aquariumfishguy]

Wow, that is pretty incredible! Anyway, it is possible that the water did not freeze all the way through. I am about 45 minutes from you, so I can say it does get very COLD here in Michigan. This past winter did get very bone chilling, but all I can say is if there was an opening somewhere and the pond did not freeze all the way through, the fish could survive (in theory). At any rate, the fish should be given proper conditions if they are to remain outdoors for the harsh winter months.

 

[ab_lexus]

They are constructed differently than warm-blooded mammals... bettas are known to survive for long periods of time frozen or near-frozen before thawing and resuming their activities.

Andrew

 

[TKOS]

They probably also settled into the mud a little bit near the bottom. Perhaps next winter you should add a small pump to the pond to make sure they survive again.

 

[Auren]

AB Lexus:

Do you have a pic of your pond, I am very interested in talking about ponds that have many other species of fish besides Goldfish and Koi.