How to Care for Pond Fish During Cold Weather

Mary Gonzales:

Hi everybody. It’s Mary with Nelson Nursery and Water Gardens. And what happens to fish when the weather gets cold? Well, here’s the things that you need to do if you have a pond. If you have a submersible pump, meaning your pump is down in the water, it’s best to unplug that pump and make the water still. This is going to allow the water at the bottom of the pond to stay warmer and your fish are just going to go down there and basically go into a state of hibernation. When it warms up, they’ll let you know. They start swimming up to the top, begging for little food. If you have what’s called an inline pump, which is like a swimming pool pump, it’s going to be circulating the water, has water in the pipes. Keep that guy running because you don’t want to run the risk of the ice forming in your pipe and it busting.

These fish, whether you turn that pump off or not, are going to be perfectly fine. They are used to the cold weather. Like I said, they’ll go into a state of dormancy and they’ll let you know when that temperature rises up, they’ll start moving around and letting you know they’re ready to eat again. So that’s how you take care of your fish in a freeze.