Just Keeping Track of the Tank Water

[Water Keeper]

Hello. First post on this forum. Not sure where introductions go. Have a 300 gallon trough outside. Has a dozen or so adult Goldfish in it and quite a few fry. No filtration at this point. Just heavy aeration. Am removing and replacing half the water every week. Put in a heater this week. The weather here is turning colder. So far, the water is holding steady at around 55 degrees. Feeding is just a few pellets every other day. There are some floating plants. So far, so good.

Water Keeper

 

[ShyWildPetExpert]

are they still doing fine?

 

[Water Keeper]

are they still doing fine?

Hello. Yes. Doing great. A local public gardens has a water feature with four large Koi in it. They're shutting the feature down for the Winter and ask me to keep their fish until warm weather. I acclimated the Koi several weeks ago and they're liking their Winter home. With added fish, I'm now changing the water more often.

Thanks for asking!

WK

 

[FreshyFresh]

Sounds like a neat setup. Why the concern for heating the water? I can see it to keep too much ice from forming in the winter, but other than that, I don't think there's a need to heat for cold water fish like goldfish.

 

[Water Keeper]

Sounds like a neat setup. Why the concern for heating the water? I can see it to keep too much ice from forming in the winter, but other than that, I don't think there's a need to heat for cold water fish like goldfish.

Hello. We're here in northern Colorado, so winter nights can sometimes get into the single digits and on rare occasions, below that. If I don't put a trough heater in the tank, the water would freeze several inches down. The trough is only two and a half feet deep, so a part of the surface needs to be open for a little food and of course, oxygen. The fish are very active in the Winter especially on sunny days. It's sunny most days here in the Winter. The heater maintains a water temperature around 50 to 55 degrees in the Winter, which is perfect for cool water fish like Goldfish and Koi.

WK