i have a new coy pond and was wondering how to prepare it for winter?

Answers:
I live in Canada so we take the fish out of the pond and put them in a tank inside for the winter, along with the snails that normally live in the pond all year. We also cut off all of the plants and sink them to the bottom of the pond. We also bring the pump inside. Ours is a big plastic kidney shaped pond so we put a piece of floating timber in the pond to allow for expansion and retraction of the ice during the winter so it will not crack the plastic. We used to cover the pond with a couple huge boards of ply wood but it's not worth the trouble and depending on the size of your pond sometimes impossible. We just got our fish in last week. if you are taking your fish out of the pond to put them into a winter tank inside make sure you allow them to acclimate to the temperature in your house before dumping them into the tank, a sudden change in temperature can kill a fish.

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Depends on how deep it is and your location. In the detroit area the frost line is usually about 18 inches and my pond is 24 inches deep. My fish just stay under the ice all winter. They have been in there for about 7 years now. When the ice thaws I start feeding them again.

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Just FYI, it's KOI, not COY. We had a Koi pond, and we didn't do anything to prepare it other than changing the food from floating pellets to sinking pellets.

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Koi are very hardy but if it gets very cold in your area you may want to invest in a pond heater. You can find all sorts of pond equipment and food on Ebay. I normally order my stuff from a seller called Koilagoon, who sells on Ebay. Also, you should not feed them if it goes below 55 degrees. Be sure to cover the pond at least partially if the weather gets really cold. The will do a sort of cold water hibernation if it gets too cold.

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first you have to determine how deep is your frost line, if your pond can freeze solid then you will need to bring your fish inside for the winter, drop all plants into the deepest water and you can cover your pond for the winter