Winter & Barrel Pond

[bill businek]

I have a fish question and a plant question for the
newsgroup. Your input would be great.

FISH: I have a couple of feeder goldfish that have happily
spent the summer in a barrel pond. When is the best time to
bring them inside to an aquarium for the winter? I live in
zone 6. I'd like to leave them outside as long as possible,
but I also want to avoid stressing them too much.

I've read the pages at http://puregold.aquaria.net, which
are very helpful about setting up the tank, treating the
fish, etc. but I couldn't find any info on when to bring
them in. I know that on the day of the transfer it's best
to gradually equalize the temperature of their temporary
water to equal the temperature of the aquarium, but I assume
it's not a good idea to bring them from a 35 degree pond to
a 65 degree aquarium.

What is a reasonable time to bring them in for the winter?
And when in the spring can I put them back out?

PLANTS: I have a bunch of anacharis that I'd like to add to
the aquarium over the winter. Will they survive? Do they
need any special care inside? Or should I just go with the
plastic plants till spring?

Thank you for your help.

[K30a]

I'll let the fish experts answer about the fish.

I grew tons of anacharis from my pond in an aquarium that was set in a
southeast facing window.

k30 and the water gardening labradors
REC.PONDS INFORMAL FAQ PAGE
http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/writing.html

[rcb...@gscyclone.com]

I hate to admit this but I left my gold fish in my whisky barrel pond
for the past two winters. Still alive. I'm in zone 6 as well.

I would, however, clean out the plants and stuff before the winter.
The spring cleanup is so much easier, not to mention less disgusting.

[nedra101]

Good Heavens! Where in Zone 6 do you live that a whisky barrel did not
freeze solid? My barrels are on the north side of the house... not a drop
of sunlight to be had. Could that be the reason the barrels freeze solid?
But then, otoh, I think of the bitterly cold days when there is *no* sun
shining - even on the south side....and still, I wonder about having live
fish in the barrel..... So, rcbaird, more details, please. ~ ~
Nedra, Missouri, Zone 6

rcb...@gscyclone.com wrote in message
<37e81a54...@news.gscyclone.com>...

[:>)Sandy]

In article <37E7A50C...@hotmail.committee>,

billrb...@hotmail.committee wrote:
but I assume
> it's not a good idea to bring them from a 35 degree pond to
> a 65 degree aquarium.

> I WOULD BRING THEM IN WHEN THE TEMPERATURE OUTSIDE HIT AROUND
THE 65 DEGREE LEVEL. THEN THE TEMPERATURE CHANGE WON'T BE THAT
DRAMATIC.

> And when in the spring can I put them back out?

> AGAIN WHEN THE OUTSIDE TEMPERATURE IS CLOSE TO YOUR AQUARIUM
TEMPERATURE.

> PLANTS: I have a bunch of anacharis that I'd like to add to
> the aquarium over the winter.

I GROWN MY OXGENATING PLANTS IN THE AQUARIUM AND THEN PUT THEM
OUTSIDE IN MY BARREL. I SEE KNOW REASON WHY YOU CAN'T DO THE
REVERSE. MY FISH AND SNAILS ENJOY THE FLOATING PLANTS MUCH MORE THAN
THE PLASTIC ONES.

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

[~ WindSong ~]

I too live in zone 6 and remove the GF from the barrels and put them
into an inground kiddie pool for the winter. We get some bitter cold
days and nights here. The inground pool doesn't freeze solid (so far.)
--
Carol...
"The only time the world beats a path to your door
is when you're in the bathroom."
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*

nedra101 <nedr...@earthlink.net> wrote in article
<7s99qa$sg8$1...@ash.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...

[bill businek]

Thanks to you (and the others who also wrote) for the
advice. I'll start getting things together for the move.

One more thing -- Can you explain what you mean by
"papering" the tank? I assume it means putting paper around
the aquarium to keep the fish from trying to swim through
the glass. Do I need to cover the whole thing? I've got a
cover on my aquarium and I want to make sure they get
light. How long should I leave it on?

Thanks for your time.

dr-...@execpc.com wrote:
>
> Bring them in when the temp is dropping close to 55oF. Under this
> temp, their immune system shuts down and it take 10 days to 2
> weeks to get back up and running... not good when they gotta
> adjust. Do the "clean up" routine when bringing them in. And
> paper the tank so they know where to stop swimming and to reduce > stress. Ingrid

>
> >>FISH: I have a couple of feeder goldfish that have happily
> >>spent the summer in a barrel pond. When is the best time to
> >>bring them inside to an aquarium for the winter? I live in
> >>zone 6. I'd like to leave them outside as long as possible,
> >>but I also want to avoid stressing them too much.
> >>
> >>I've read the pages at http://puregold.aquaria.net, which
> >>are very helpful about setting up the tank, treating the
> >>fish, etc. but I couldn't find any info on when to bring
> >>them in. I know that on the day of the transfer it's best
> >>to gradually equalize the temperature of their temporary

> >>water to equal the temperature of the aquarium, but I assume

> >>it's not a good idea to bring them from a 35 degree pond to
> >>a 65 degree aquarium.
> >>

> >>What is a reasonable time to bring them in for the winter?

> >>And when in the spring can I put them back out?
>

> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> dr-...@execpc.com in the Frozen Tundra zone 5 sorta
> List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
> for care of goldfish go to http://puregold.aquaria.net/
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~