Pond check

Ive just been down to check on the ponds now the snow has almost gone and ive got 5 deceased fish,1 of my larger ones that made it through last winter and 4 babies from last summer There is still some ice on top so im expecting more not to have survived..i know their only fish but

 

Oh thats a shame joolz , mine seem ok did wonder if I'd loose a few as during all the cold instead of going to the bottom of the pond they were swimming around under the ice near the suface, hardly dare look this morning as the local fox has been leaving his footprints all over the pond in the snow obviously trying to get to the water or fish!!!, you know how deep our pond is and worried he'd fall through the ice, have tried to keep a bit thawed near the edge for the wildlife to drink but of course can't do that at night, luckily he's brighter than I thought

 

oh Julie not nice at all
re the frozen pond pop a few small balls in there it should keep it from totally freezing over check daily and break if necessary, if it snows on top of ice move snow off with brush so to allow the daylight still allowing plants to continue producing oxygen

 

Hi simbad,mine seemed to a lot more active than they was last winter maybe they got caught out with a sudden drop in temps and snow hopefully some will have survivedIve had a fox visit fri night for some chicken then bury it near my geraniums,i followed the footprints but he left near the greenhouse,its prob the cats who walked over my pond
Im hoping i dont discover dead frogs in the other pond,that knocked sick last yr,not a pretty sight!

 

Hi kaz, i think i should of cleared the snow,there is a ball but being buried under all the snow prob didnt help Lesson learnt for next time me thinks x

 

Oh joolz so sorry, they might be only fish but you loved them.I hate it when anything dies I have looked after, I feel I did not do enough., but you can only try.

 

N'aw, sorry to hear that joolz.

Most of mine have been taken by heron gulls in the summer. Last year, one poor froggy was literally iced to death (half in, half out of the pond).

Mind you, you might be pleasantly surprised: some may have been lower down in the pond and survived, despite the cold/snow/ice.

I tried the ball thing - waste of time; the ice just sticks the ball in place and so, no extra oxygen/light gets through anyway!

 

Some are still alive mum i spotted them earlier at the bottom,a heron took a couple of mine last yr so i was pleased when babies started appearing after that
just a shame some had to die the way they did,poor things.i think ive only got one larger size one left now..might have to buy some more

 

Jools, how deep is this pond?

Just wondering, as cold weather alone should not kill your fish, unless the ice remained for a few days totally covering the surface.

 

Aww,

Sorry Joolz.

 

Hi pete, the ice was a few cms thick,i think the snow was on top on that for a few days aswell its about 2ft deep pete and they did live through last winter(the larger fish) , i recall it snowing in feb last yr but not sure if the pond was frozen over at that time.
I should of cleared the snow its might fault i think,i feel so guilty

 

I dont think the snow is a problem.
The biggest problem is nasty gasses not being able to escape due to the ice cover.

I usually melt a hole with a saucepan of boiling water if the ice lasts for more than a couple of days.
I then keep the hole open by covering it with an up turned bucket, or better still one of those polystyrene boxes vegetables are packed in.

 

Also pete,i noticed the other day that my other pond(frog pond) on the shady part of the garden had a defrosting patch on it and snow on the other part of it.
Here are 2 photos..
This is the partly defrosted frog pond

And under all the snow is the fish pond..

There are 2 differances that i can say,one is a liner and the fish pond isnt and also the defrosted patch is in the shade..soz for repeating myself,its a mystery to me

 

You've got a lot of snow there
I think its best if you could make a hole in the ice both ponds, should it happen again.

It looks like one pond was already frozen over when it snowed and the other was not, but froze over after the snow.

 

A lot of the snow was from during night before(friday)but i will definatley keep my eye out for ice in future!