New Pond Questions

[aluzya]

I recently moved into a new home that has a pond. We have discussed stocking it this summer. I don't know how deep it is in the middle but about a foot out from the edge it is around 1.5 feet. It is filled with runoff water at one end and lets overflow out opposite it. I am planning to check the depth farther out once it warms up a bit. I think that it might be around4 or 5 feet deep at the deepest point.
In the winter time here it can get down to -10 sometimes. I was hoping to be able to winter the fish over in the pond. How deep should the pond be for that to be ok? Would I still have to feed them over the winter time, but less than I would in the summer?

 

[Muske]

Most non-tropical fish can be kept in ponds over winter so long as there is a hole kept in the ice. The depth doesn't really matter, it's allowing the CO2 and other harmful gases to excape that is important.

No food once water temps. get below 50-55 deg. Spring/Fall low temp. food or one with less Protein when water temps get below 60 deg.

Any filtration on this pond?

What kind of source is the run-off?
Gutter down spouts, sloped land or driveway...

 

[aluzya]

No it doesn't look like there is any filtration of any kind. The runoff is from sloped land coming out of the woods nearby. I did notice that there was always a spot where the runoff is now coming in that was open all winter. The pond is kind of circular shaped (maybe 20 ft long x 15 ft wide). Would it possibly be big enough to make it self sustaining?

 

[5280critters]

Depends on how deep it is and what kind of bio load you are going to put on it. Is there any plants in the water? I know here in Colorado the pond needs to be at least 2 feet to keep it from freezing solid and killing all the fish and like Muske mentioned it needs to have a hole open all winter to allow build of gasses to escape. You might have trouble with local wildlife coming in at night and eating you fish if the land is sloped at the edge allowing raccoons to go fishing or here in Colorado we have trouble with Herons fishing in our ponds that are shallow enough on the edges. I watched Heron sit on my neighbors roof and watch my pond until the fish came up to sun then flew down and grabbed a 15 inch koi and stand there in the water and swallow him down. He ended up getting nine fish before I redesigned the edges so he had no shallow place to land in. Hope this helps

 

[egertonclarke]

I think only doing deep the pond is not solution for winter, why don't you purchase a good heater for it. So its nice for your fishes to be warm in that killing winter.