Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm new to this particular forum but hope someone can give me a few pointers. I live in north Idaho and have a small (50 gallon - 18 inches deep) pond in my back yard. I am looking for some tips on how and when to winterize my pond. I have a few water lilies, four sarassa comets, and a tadpole that looks as if he will be there all winter. Will I need to bring my fish in for the winter or will a pond heater be sufficient? How about covering, do I need to do that? Also will I need to have special areation in the pond during the winter months? When will I need to start my winterizing? Thanks for your help.

Since your pond is shallow you will probably want to bring your godlfish and tadpole indoors. Recommended depth for overwintering is 3 feet below the ground surface.

Before the first frost you'll want to cut your water lillies close to the surface of their potting medium and make sure they're submerged underwater.

If you want to keep your fish outdoors (I don't know what's best for the tadpole) there's a few things I'd recommend.
What I did for my shallow pond is added a large piece of styrofoam that covered almost half of the water surface, this gives the fish something to hide under as well as keep some warmth in. I also added a cattle warmer, a disk shaped heater designed to keep a water trough from freezing completely over.
This has gotten my fish through 3 winters so far.

You won't need special aeration during the winter since the warmer the water the less oxygen is available, the heat of summer is when you want the most aeration.

As far as covering completely, I wouldn't recommend as it will trap the gases emitted from fish feces and decaying vegetation. You will, however, need to make sure that you remove all falling leaves and other vegetation throughout the fall and even in the winter months since the wind can often carry leaves and debris into your pond.

Watch your pH and before the winter months arrive make sure none of your fish have an wounds on their body, if they do you will need to treat them...heck, if they do, get them inside into a warmer environment anyway.

Good luck!

Dark-Lotus

Thank you for your advice, I will do just as you've said. I have already purchased a stock tank heater for my pond so will probably try to keep the fish outdoors. I never considered the gases being trapped, knowing that I will leave some of the pond uncovered. My lilies have already started to die back, they have very few leaves left right now. I have been removing them as they die. I hope their dying back this early is not a problem, I looked for a long time to find lilies that that were small and hearty for my region. Thanks again.