I had (have) outside wall sockets that are total garbage. The jerk who built the house was a do it yourself type and messed the wiring up miserably.
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. They never trip a breaker, but from time to time, the outdoor ponds are not getting electricity and I have to run the extension cord(s) to a different outlet.
I changed the outdoor ponds on 1/5/2014. When I went to change the two around the side of the house yesterday, they were not getting electricity. The extreme cold temperatures froze both pond surfaces to around 3".
I hammered the gar pond surface and all 8 LNG's were fine. I brought them inside in a large rubbermaid tub.
The other pond had a couple hundred Golden Shiner minnows ~ 4" - 5" range. Every shiner minnow died. Many are inside of the surface ice, others I see on the bottom.
The question should I still use the minnows to feed my predatory fish?
Factors to take into consideration:
1. The minnows had been in that pond since September 2013. I have lost only one minnow from then until last week, and they were healthy as of 1-5-2014.
2. The surface of the minnow pond is still frozen over. Even the liquid water below the ice in the gar pond made my hand numb when I grabbed each of the gars out. I seriously doubt that much decomposition is taking place at the temperature the pond is at now.
3. Would the area of the pond that the minnows died make a difference as to their feedablilty? IE. are the fish on the bottom "not safe" where the floaters that are encased in ice no are preserved and ok to feed to predators?
Thanks!
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. They never trip a breaker, but from time to time, the outdoor ponds are not getting electricity and I have to run the extension cord(s) to a different outlet.
I changed the outdoor ponds on 1/5/2014. When I went to change the two around the side of the house yesterday, they were not getting electricity. The extreme cold temperatures froze both pond surfaces to around 3".
I hammered the gar pond surface and all 8 LNG's were fine. I brought them inside in a large rubbermaid tub.
The other pond had a couple hundred Golden Shiner minnows ~ 4" - 5" range. Every shiner minnow died. Many are inside of the surface ice, others I see on the bottom.
The question should I still use the minnows to feed my predatory fish?
Factors to take into consideration:
1. The minnows had been in that pond since September 2013. I have lost only one minnow from then until last week, and they were healthy as of 1-5-2014.
2. The surface of the minnow pond is still frozen over. Even the liquid water below the ice in the gar pond made my hand numb when I grabbed each of the gars out. I seriously doubt that much decomposition is taking place at the temperature the pond is at now.
3. Would the area of the pond that the minnows died make a difference as to their feedablilty? IE. are the fish on the bottom "not safe" where the floaters that are encased in ice no are preserved and ok to feed to predators?
Thanks!
