What Do I Need To Get Ready For Winter

[mjzuverink]

hey guys, me and my dad have been working on a pond for a two years now, this past summer was probably our most successful. we mainly have large assorted goldfish aroun 8 inches and i think 2 koi that are getting close to a foot now. it seems that over the summer we have actually gotten our gold fish to breed. new groups of fry have been showing up to where now we have lots of fish of all different sizes, grays, yellow, and red pretty much. but anyways back to the topic, last year my dad didnt feel confident keeping them in the pond over the winter weather in MI , US. so he had them in a plastic bin in the basement that was about 100 gallons. so the pond places around here tell us that we can simply put a bubbler in over the winter and it will keep the pond from completely freezing over, and i guess the fish will be able to handle the temp? but i dont know what kind of bubbler and how big to get. here are some rough dimensions of the pond;

about 8ft by 10ft and 4-5 deep. this is were ALMOST all of the fish are. the upper basin above the water fall is prob 4ft by 5ft and only 3ft deep at most( strange story neither me or my dad moved any of the fish, but yet a few of the fry have appeared in the upper pond! my guess is somehow the fry or eggs were sucked through the giant pump an filter and somehow survived. wierd but they are about 3 inches up there now.

so what are my best options! thanks in advance for your help

 

[saph.st24]

hi
do what most koi keepers do in the uk build a frame and cover for the winter
we use tarpalins over bubble wrap this helps to stop the pond freezing and to keep the water temps up slightly in the ponds (but leave a small gap for gases to vent off) we also insulate pipes with bubble wrap to prevent splitting and insulate the filters as we keep them running all year

the air should keep a space open in the ice as they say moving water doesnt freeze,
i wish someone had told that to my goldie pond ,
last year decided not to cover as the winters here had been really mild for years , then last year winter got bad very cold temps lots of snow any way the return was keeping the ice open but the slight splash off the water had built up sides around the ice opening and was slowly diverting the water onto the top of the ice slowly emptying my pond luckly i check the ponds everyday but could have been bad if i didnt, i the decided to put the tarp on and withing 24 hours the pond had defrosted and the pond temp was coming back up

or buy a small heater to keep an area open