How well do young goldfish fry survive winter?

[alex200274]

Hello

This is our first year in owning our pond, its not that big, only 1200 litres maybe 1m x 2m, but the surrounding vegetation, and pond plants have all bedded in, looking more natural than artificial.

We have several fry in our pond who have now developed to about 2cm in length (3/4 inch) - think they 'magically' appeared mid to end of July.

So far they have evaded the larger fish in the pond and we have counted about six baby fish in total. This is our first full season in owning our pond and didn't expect to get baby fish but guess the environment was suitable.

When it comes to winter is it likely the fry or baby fish will survive or would they more than likely be eaten?

[artdemole]

They may survive.As they will hide at the bottom amongst the palnts.Do keep a space open if it freezes over.

[~T~]

Goldfish fry are hardy little things and should do fine over winter. In fact it tends to be the larger fish that run into problems in particularly harsh times due to needing more oxygen etc. I don't think you should be too worried about the adults predating them more over winter as pond fish naturally eat much less during cold weather. You could always keep them indoors in a tank over winter. Often people do this with their pond fish (space permitting) as this way they don't have to endure the winter and it also gives them a head start for next year as they can continue to grow instead of slowing their growth down.

[caernerch]

normally one or two survive from a brood but they revert back to the black/dk grey colour of their ancestors. if you haven't got a floating heater to keep a patch ice free, pop a small ball into the top of the pond and give it a prod to loosen it each day the pond is frozen. don't break the ice by hitting it with an implement as the shock wave can injure your fish.
good luck with the pond as it matures.
regards
caernerch

[anderson123]

Goldfish usually survive in winter easily as baby fry hide in the plants and stones in bottom. So it's not that much difficult for them to survive winters.

[tom00_uk]

they will be fine over winter,

you dont have a very large pond and will very shortly be over stocked if a further successful spawning takes place

i dont bother making holes in the ice etc, and have never lost any stock over the past 15 + years,

if you feed your fish keep an eye on the water temperature as the water starts to cool down in late autumn and reduce/stop feeding accordingly other wise you will have a issues with rotting food in the colder months. Feed fish are normally very fat with large deposits of visceral fat that will easily get them through winter

[~T~]

Originally Posted by tom00_uk

i dont bother making holes in the ice etc, and have never lost any stock over the past 15 + years,

Every pond is different with different stocking animal/plant wise/water parameters etc. What works for someone doesn't always work for others but something like keeping some of the pond ice free to allow gas exchange is good idea as a precaution.

[tom00_uk]

when ever i have constructed or taken on a fish pond when moving into a property i insure the stocking levels are sensible, if you don't overstock then you will be less likely to have a problem.

Most people though like their tanks and ponds overflowing with livestock and have way more animals then the body can carry without intervention.

I picked this up at a young age visiting family friend close to the Arctic circle who had a pond that was a skating rink for a large part of the year. yes there is less to look at but there is a higher level of welfare for those individuals you do keep