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    Thread: Wintering fancies

    1. #21
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      Quote Originally Posted by mjfromga View Post
      Really? Never heard that. And I haven't killed any fish doing it. Melting it is much more difficult. I had no choice but to melt it off my porch pond but in the back, I just put holes in it. In any case, the freeze should be about over now and so the need to do that should be gone hopefully.
      You mentioned that you have just loss two tiny fry sized fish. May have been the problem.
      I cover my pond with 6 mil greenhouse plastic that I buy at Home Depot or Lowes, so ice isn't on my pond.
      When I first started keeping pond fish in Ohio, I didn't cover the first year. I would heat a large saucepan of water to boiling. I would then sit the pan on the ice close to the edge. Once it melted the ice I would remove it. I then put a de-icer in the hole to keep it open. After the first year, I moved my fish inside of my garage to overwinter.
      Nancy



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    2. #22
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      But those fish died overnight. One was found dead in water that hadn't even iced over, and one was found dead when the ice was allowed to thaw normally. Only two nights froze thick enough where I felt the need to break it. The two dead ones had already died so definitely that didn't kill them. I am enjoying learning about them this way, as well. I could cover the pond, but don't want to. I can't be pressed to spend any extra money right now and the strong fish will be absolutely fine, and those are the ones I want. I will let winter claim the weakest ones and keep it moving. Not a big deal whatsoever. Not moving them. Not heating the pond.

    3. #23
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      Quote Originally Posted by mjfromga View Post
      But those fish died overnight. One was found dead in water that hadn't even iced over, and one was found dead when the ice was allowed to thaw normally. Only two nights froze thick enough where I felt the need to break it. The two dead ones had already died so definitely that didn't kill them. I am enjoying learning about them this way, as well. I could cover the pond, but don't want to. I can't be pressed to spend any extra money right now and the strong fish will be absolutely fine, and those are the ones I want. I will let winter claim the weakest ones and keep it moving. Not a big deal whatsoever. Not moving them. Not heating the pond.
      I hope it all works out for you & your fish. You sure have some nice ones. This weather has been brutal this winter so far. Our area has been below our normal temps all week. I am ready for Spring.
      I think of my fish as my pets and try to make it as warm as I can for them. You are further south than I am so I hope they are doing well.
      Nancy



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    4. #24
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      They're my pets but I admit I've made errors and I ended up overstocked. I couldn't find homes for the ones I didn't want. And so I decided the best thing to do was let winter claim a few if it happened. When spring comes, I will reassess. And I won't repeat my errors. No more fish for a LONG time. Fancies are not as weak as many people think. I see a user claiming her fish didn't do well at 60°. This is pathetic for descendants of the Prussian Carp. Most of the fish will be absolutely okay. The ones I had last year and most of the ones I brought through the summer were well fed and cared for and are tough as single tails for sure and will pull through like champs. Only a few of the weakest and smallest ones who weren't ready will die, and I'm okay with that.

      And the further south, the worst they said. The other night it was 13° here. Colder than OREGON they said.
      Last edited by mjfromga; 01-06-2018 at 01:15 PM.

    5. #25
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      Well all ice has melted from it being above freezing the past couple days. I’m very please with my heater and bubbler. Even with weeks of below zero and in the negative it never froze up to the heater and the bubbler kept the water open even more. We still have a solid two or more months of winter left, but I feel a lot more confident now. I fed the herd today and saw most come up to eat. Including the ryukins Everyone was active and healthy looking. That really brightened up this cloudy day for me

    6. #26
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      There's another freeze coming in tonight. Really nasty stuff. Will be 16° by morning and not warm up past 30° tomorrow. I saw your cute Ryukins in the show. I love Ryukins. They're my favorite. They're pretty hardy as far as fancies go, so hopefully mine will continue to truck. I've pulled a tiny one from my main pond and I've covered it for the freeze, so I shall see if that makes a difference.

    7. #27
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      Thank you, you have some very nice goldies yourself
      How did they handle the freeze? Did coving make a difference?
      We have had some warmer temps, but will be hit with a blizzard tomorrow >…<
      I finally found my pond thermometer yesterday. The water is at 40F I’m pretty happy about that I want to remember to check it again when our temps go below 20 to see how much it fluctuates.

    8. #28
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      The cover did seem to help when sun could hit it, but seemed to have little effect when there were clouds. Even today was very warm, but the pond doesn't want to warm up worth anything. Unfortunately for this extremely atypical winter, I did install the pond directly behind the house, where it can get VERY VERY little direct sun. It is great for our hot summers, but it also prevents the water from warming well in cold weather because very little sun gets to it.

      Aside from the two tiny ones I mentioned who did freeze, all the other tiny ones as well as all the adults are totally fine. I wanted to believe they aren't weaklings like everyone tries to say they are. Sure the babies sometimes are, but I wanted to believe that descendents of the prussian carp would not embarrass their ancestors by dying in the cold so easily.

      I'm still fairly new to all of this and so I am always happy to try things. Pulled a few to check on them today. All seems perfectly well.
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    9. #29
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      Glad they are doing good They look great.
      I saw my favorite ryukin Polka dot yesterday when I tossed a little food in. It makes me so happy to see them all doing so good. The past two winters they were in the basement and it only ever dropped down to 50F. So I was worried how they would handle lower temps.
      I’m currently growing out a black Moore inside to add to the pond come spring. It’s already put on a lot of size so I think it should be ok to be outside when winter comes around again.

    10. #30
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      Quote Originally Posted by mjfromga View Post
      The cover did seem to help when sun could hit it, but seemed to have little effect when there were clouds. Even today was very warm, but the pond doesn't want to warm up worth anything. Unfortunately for this extremely atypical winter, I did install the pond directly behind the house, where it can get VERY VERY little direct sun. It is great for our hot summers, but it also prevents the water from warming well in cold weather because very little sun gets to it.

      Aside from the two tiny ones I mentioned who did freeze, all the other tiny ones as well as all the adults are totally fine. I wanted to believe they aren't weaklings like everyone tries to say they are. Sure the babies sometimes are, but I wanted to believe that descendents of the prussian carp would not embarrass their ancestors by dying in the cold so easily.

      I'm still fairly new to all of this and so I am always happy to try things. Pulled a few to check on them today. All seems perfectly well.
      I have learned over the years, to always put my cover over my pond while the water temps are still warm. If I wait until the water temps are low then it took about two weeks for the water to warm up to the high 40's & 50's. Depending on how much sun we were getting and the temps we were at.
      Nancy



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    11. #31
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      It's already in the high 40s but it was almost 70 outside. If we cover the ponds while the water is warm, then we never uncover them because we also cover when they're cold. I don't really get it. Anyway, the fish are totally fine. Temps in the 40s are fine for them... I just still can't feed them and they're not super swimmy.

    12. #32
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      Quote Originally Posted by My2butterflies View Post
      Glad they are doing good They look great.
      I saw my favorite ryukin Polka dot yesterday when I tossed a little food in. It makes me so happy to see them all doing so good. The past two winters they were in the basement and it only ever dropped down to 50F. So I was worried how they would handle lower temps.
      I’m currently growing out a black Moore inside to add to the pond come spring. It’s already put on a lot of size so I think it should be ok to be outside when winter comes around again.
      I have ONE black moor. His name is Charles. Named after Ray Charles. Handled the freeze just fine. Lovely boy. I love black moors. I need to get a new pic of him. He's quite deep bodied like a Ryukin. I love stubby fish the most.

    13. #33
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      Quote Originally Posted by mjfromga View Post
      I have ONE black moor. His name is Charles. Named after Ray Charles. Handled the freeze just fine. Lovely boy. I love black moors. I need to get a new pic of him. He's quite deep bodied like a Ryukin. I love stubby fish the most.
      Awe! I’d love to see him when you get a chance to take one. Cute name too!
      Mine is shadow. He is the tank boss even though his koi mates are much larger then him.
      Here he is when I first got him. Around 1 1/2”
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      Close up
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      And him now. I didn’t take a moment to wipe the glass so it’s a terrible picture it doesn’t help that he never stays still.
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    14. #34
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      Oh wow. He's lovely. I love how different moors can look. Charles doesn't look anything like your cute boy. Mainly the eyes are different but the shape is different, too. I will get you a photo today and also show you him when I first got him. Yours is doing great!

    15. #35
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      It is interesting that they can look so different. I look forward to seeing yours and thank you!

    16. #36
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      Here's my little man. Their display tank very broke so I need a new one but here he is in a little tub I have for them... He's got BIG googly eyes. And then you can see when I first got him. He's actually got a very deep body much like a Ryukin. That's why I love him so much. Ryukins are my favorites.
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      Last edited by mjfromga; 01-22-2018 at 12:50 PM.

    17. #37
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      He does have a deep body. I love his tail. It’s so long, longer then his body? Very handsome boy!

    18. #38
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      Tail is much longer than his body. He is very short bodied. I knew he would be short bodied, that's why I got him. He had a mini Ryukin shape when I got him as a little dude. He was $8 from PetSmart.

    19. #39
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      Mjfromga,

      I think yours is a dragon eye goldfish.
      Nancy



    20. #40
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      Hello Nancy. Dragon eye simply means telescope eye. The black moor is truly a telescope eye goldfish that is all black in color. Oftentimes telescopes that are black and white are called "panda moors". Her moor has telescope eyes, as well... They simply are not as big as Charles' eyes. If her fish had totally flat eyes, it would not be a moor, rather it would probably be referred to as a black fantail.

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