Keep in mind that fish are cold blooded. Many fish will sort of hybernate and go into a suspended animation. The way to bring them out without killing them or causing severe stress is to keep them in some of their cold water and then bring them in the house. Do not add a heater, but just allow them to warm up to ambient temperature on their own. The key is to warm them up as slowly as possible.
I "killed" a bunch of my fish last winter and revived them with this method. They were totally lifeless and laying on the bottom. Only a few were breathing but just barely. After they warmed up, I didn't lose a single fish
Even those that showed no signs of life had come back after warming up.
I "killed" a bunch of my fish last winter and revived them with this method. They were totally lifeless and laying on the bottom. Only a few were breathing but just barely. After they warmed up, I didn't lose a single fish
Even those that showed no signs of life had come back after warming up.