Ive Moved And Inherited A Fish Pond....help!

[msasa19]

ive moved house and inherited a fish pond. the weather has been terrible the last few weeks and ive just not got around to having a good look at it.
I know it isn't running a filter, it has a water feature which is turned on via the shed on the other side of the garden but im guessing the wires are under the shed/ garden as cant see anything.
there is 4 fish in the pond, it has netting over it and has had planters built around it which im guessing will keep it warmer.
im not really sure what to do with it over the winter, ive only ever kept tropical fish before!
the pond isn't huge, but once ive measured it I should be able to work out the litres. ill also put a picture on so hopefully someone with some experience can give me some advice on what to do!!

 

[Baccus]

There is a very good chance that the fish in the pond are suited to the area and will survive a winter. However if there are lilies in the pond they will generally need to be lifted and left to over winter somewhere sheltered. If the pond is prone to freezing over you may need to break the ice, although I have seen videos of fish swimming around quite happily under ice over ponds, I think a lot of it depends on the depth of the pond and the severity of the weather.
Also even if the pond is not likely to freeze over, just remember to cut back on any feeding of the fish in the pond, perhaps stopping all together again depending on the severity of the cold. A fishes metabolic rate will slow down in cold weather and they will be less likely to eat, so to much food given during winter and left till spring or warmer weather can quickly foul the water as the temperature rises again and the usual pond microbes build their number again.

 

[Munroco]

I'd just leave the pond and inhabitants to their own devices over winter. The cold shouldn't harm the plants or fish which go dormant over the winter. As Baccus said don't feed them at all during this time. If you do decide to break the ice, don't do it by hitting it with something, melt it.

 

[DrRob]

I agree with the above. Lilies do depend a little on the size of the pond. I don't bother lifting the lilies, but my pond is well over 6 feet deep, so there tends to be a stable climate in there over winter anyway. I'm probably cheating a little at about 15,000 litres though. It also depends a bit on where you are. I'm assuming UK for no apparent reason, but the advice would stand for a similar winter climate.
 
I rarely feed the fish in mine at the best of times, it's packed with things for them to eat and they're growing and breeding happily, although I may have to start if the populations get too high. I never feed in winter, they don't eat it anyway.
 
Worth checking what the wiring is like to that water feature as well. It may be good enough to run a more sensible pump that could run a filter. There isn't generally a great selection of low power pumps if the wire isn't up to much, but they do exist and if you're running them all the time wattage differences can make a huge difference to the electricity bills.

 

[msasa19]

well im not sure what has happened, but I discovered yesterday that all the fish had died.....
I last looked at it on Sunday, when I looked at it Wednesday they were all floating. and I have no idea why.
could it have been the awful weather? these fish must have been years old, they were all a good size and had been well looked after. there was no marks on them, but they all had their mouths wide open. im gutted and not sure what to do now? should I just leave it until the good weather comes, empty and clean it, get a filter for it or try and do something now?
also there is a slight possibility that the dog may of done a little wee in it, hes been weeing on the planters that go around the pond but with the amount of rain we have had I thought maybe it would dilute it... he didn't do it very often?

 

[simonas]

very strange there is no reason why that should just happen out of the blue

 

[msasa19]

Exactly. I've kept tropical fish before for a few years so I was shocked to see they had all died at the same time.... very very odd and actually concerned about it..

 

[RCA]

Can you get the water tested via your local LFS? If the water feature had been off awhile and you turned it on or off (?) then maybe there was a fault or something foul in the water? I would be careful with anything electrical and water you do not know, maybe get it checked by an electrician, would hate you or the dog to become a victim! Just grasping at ideas. I am sure urine from the dog is not ideal, but if it is a large pond surely it would get diluted? Hope you find the cause...

 

[msasa19]

I've got a testing kits from when I had my tropical fish, can I use that to test? First thing tomorrow I'll unplug the water feature from in the shed and take it out and have a look, I've only had it on for a few seconds to show someone. There is no other type of filter in there but the fish have probably acclimatised to the water not having one. They were defiantly a couple of years old and the water feature wasn't on the times I came to look at the property as I noticed it not having a filter

 

[msasa19]

So this morning I've managed to get the pump out to have a look at it. And from what I can tell it's not been out of the pond since it was put in many years ago. The previous owner has threaded the wire through a piece of hosepipe and buried it under the garden..... across and up under the shed... I have tested the water with a fresh water kit and no surprises that the ammonia was off the charts. 0ppm for nitrates and nitrite. So what I plan to do it remove the pump and bin it... then wait until the nice weather, empty and clean the pond, get a good pump without a water feature so it can be run constantly and start a cycle off at the apart of summer