GW strikes again .

[blacksmith37]

My main pond got to 52 F . I think that is the coldest. Because I have it covered I can't yet see if any Danios made it . They may have been in it continuously about 10 years ; they breed each summer.

[HepCaribou]

Did your Danios pull through?

[blacksmith37]

Danios and black mollies made it . But , I suffocated my 2 largest Koi ( about 20 " ). I put Styrofoam panels ( cut up fish boxes) on about 85% of the pond surface in the coldest weather. I take them off when the air temp gets near 60F . I thought enough oxygen would get in the 15% open area. 2 smaller Koi and other fish were good.

[blacksmith37]

Giant danio fry are already one inch long (June 3 ). I did not look until today. I guess they were laid or layed the first week of May.

[Fancyfish]

awesome!

[blacksmith37]

I delayed Too long , cold front Oct 15. I am losing faith in Global Warming, been reading about it for 40 years and we still get unusual cold spells. Pond is still 70F so I covered most of it with Styrofoam. I still hope to get some of the hundreds of danios out soon.

[jughead]

i brought in maybe 250 mbuna today.usually make it to the 1st week in Nov.

[Tetranerd]

I’ve got hundreds of guppies to pull out of my garden pond. Full of plants so I’m not sure how many fish I can get out without making a huge mess. 🤔

[blacksmith37]

I finally got out about 200 danios on Oct 31. I was surprised to find some very small ones, about 3/4 " long , like needles. Apparently they keep spawning all year if the temperature is OK. I guess I pulled out 1/3 of the total. I stopped when the heavy rain started although I was waist deep in the pond. A problem was the water lily roots had bound together the 6 " pine straw mat in the bottom; Because of health reasons I have not cleaned it for a few years.

[Bobblehead27]

Incredible. With a heater and using your styrofoam method, how warm can you keep your pond ? How big is it?

[blacksmith37]

Sorry for the late reply : Pond is about 1000 gal, The lowest water temperature I measured was 52 F . I had a 200 W and a 100 W ; I used both below 40 F air temp , otherwise one or the other below 60 F air. One caution, during a warm spell , like 70 F + , I pull off some Styrofoam to get oxygen. Next winter I plan to use an aerator. In several years,I rarely find one dead danio. My "river " has been full of little ones since May. During the heavy rains in early summer , some danios tried to escape in the pond overflow. When the rain was over I went looking in the grass for danios, found 20 live and 10 dead ( all big adults). It is strange to look in the grass for fish.

[blacksmith37]

The pond is about 800 gal. The lowest I measured ( 2018 / 2019) was 52F ; It may have been a little lower because I do not measure it that often. There were no "floaters" so I guess no danios died of cold. Winter 2019/ 2020 hit today ( Oct 10 ), the pond is still about 70. I put on some styrafoam because I have a 30 ft stream ( 18 " wide and 1 " deep, average) full of young danios . If I turn off the pump it leaves many fish stranded in tiny pools.