Goldfish Myth?

people where i live in northern ontario leave their fish out in the pond over winter. even here, where it is increadibly cold and the water is frozen over from november to april the fish survive as long as the pond is deep enough. temperatures here are brutal in the winter.
 
If it freezes all the way down, yes the fish will die.
They can't be frozen and live.

I live in Central IL and I have an outdoor pond and I do leave my goldies out over winter. I also keep either a deicer or a pump running all winter to make sure the water don't freeze all the way to the bottom :)
 
Those of you who overwinter goldfish outdoors, do you stop feeding them when the temperature gets under, say, 55*F? (Or does a deicer make sure that doesn't happen?)
 
Yes, you do stop feeding them as it is pointless. Their metabolism slows and they don't eat so feeding them will only be wasting food and making the water bad because of the decaying food.
 
ChilDawg, 55 degrees is actually exactly when goldfish shouldn't be fed anymore. Feeding should be tapered off as the water temperature drops. Many pond keepers also change the type of food they provide to a mixture with less protein, as it is healthier for the fish. Through the winter the fish will go into a hibernation of sorts, where their metabolism slows to a crawl, they become inactive and they live off of body fat. In spring, after the water warms up past 55 degrees and the fish begin to move around and look for food on their own, begin feeding again in small amounts.
 
That's what I had been told--I wanted to make sure that was still sound advice, and still common practice before I started suggesting that.
 
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