A common question we receive is "Can I keep my fish in my pond during the winter?". That's a great question, fish in lakes and rivers stay in year round, why can't my pond house fish for the winter?
With our harsh winters, we don't suggest keeping your fish in your pond during the winter. It is possible under certain circumstances, however we never recommend it. Often times even those who successfully keep their fish in year round, lose quite a few of their fish from our freeze thaw cycle.
Here are our recommendations.
When you shouldn't consider keeping your fish in your pond during the winter
If your pond is less than 4' deep (ice freezes to 3' in Winnipeg)
If you don't have a heater to keep a consistent hole in the ice (for gas escape)
If you don't have some form of oxygen for the fish (waterfall or aerator)
If you can't provide all 3 of these, you should not keep your fish in your pond during the winter.
When you can consider keeping your fish in your pond during the winter
Pond Depth:
If your pond is more than 4' deep, you can consider keeping fish in your pond. Ice in Manitoba can freeze to 3' deep, if your fish have nowhere to swim, they'll freeze to death.
Gas Exchange:
If you want to keep fish in your pond during the winter, you'll need a way for the gases created by a pond to escape. We can achieve this by placing a heater such as a horse trough heater floating in the pond, this will give enough room for gasses to escape. We should mention, if the heater fails or the cold weather becomes too much for the heater, be ready to go poke holes in the ice in cold weather.
Oxygen:
Fish need oxygen to breathe, you can achieve this by keeping a stream running or keeping an aerator in the bottom of the pond.
Food:
One great thing about fish is if the temperature is cold enough, your fish can't digest food, meaning they don't need it until the water is warm enough in the spring. Your fish don't need food for the winter months.