yes

I overwintered my fish in a 300 gal tank in my insulated and not heated garage one winter only. The temps dropped to -35F during the night and I came out to find the line I had going from a pump in the tank to a filter barrel to circulate the water had frozen. The pump had a fountain head on it which ended up spraying all but 1 ft of the water out of the tank and the rest was under 2 inches of ice. Fish were okay though. Long story short if I'd had a heater in the tank and not trying to run the pump through a barrel/waterfall wouldn't have had the problem. Fish now come into my basement for the winter which will be soon as it was only 37F this morning.

When the weather is mild in Spring there's a strong chance the fish will graze on the brittle submerse foliage of the waterlily and cripple it, putting some barrier around the waterlily to keep the fish off it will avoid that

I just moved my fish and plants to the basement> I put a couple of the waterlily's in the pools ( see pic below) and the rest I put into clear plastic bags after I cut them back, tied them shut and put into the darkest cornor of the basement or closet. They all made it thru the winter and bloomed this spring. I was going to try to winter a frog thats been hanging around. Husband didn't think was such a good idea as I have a cat Lol. Here's a pic of my setup in the basement, and I leave the light on 24/7.... I counted all the babies my big goldfish had last year-279 babies thats why I have 2 pools Good Luck...

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That's a nice set-up, sheri. How are you filtering/ oxygenating the second pool? In the house, do you think that you will be continuing to feed the fish? I have cats too, 2 of whom would no doubt be swimming in that water looking for take-out sushi.

I would really prefer to use my basement as well but it's heated and I was kind of hoping to keep the water temp between 32 - 50F to induce dormancy. If I do keep things in the garage, it does seem wiser to run the heater from the onset. Sure as heck wouldn't want the same scenario that jalal found in the dead of winter, especially as I am away from home for long stretches at a time. Gotta love zone 3.

I think that I will use an overturned perforated planting basket over the lily plant to prevent fish nibbles. Thank you, sdavis.

Hello,

I have a 600 gph pump with a prefilter in it I just let the water come straight up and it add's plenty of oxygen to the water..yes I feed them everyday, just enough so my water dosen't cloud up from to much fish waste..and change about 20% of there water every 2 weeks...
You could maybe put a screen over a pool so the kitty's don't have lunch. My fish really don't bother the waterlily's, but you know how that goes. Where are you from ????
I'm in Southeastern Wisconsin
I keep thinking I should just dig the pond deeper so they can stay out, but with our cold hard winters, I am so attached to these fish, I must be to go thru what I do for them LOL...
Have a great week-end..