Last year in April I started construction of my small backyard pond. My plan was to create a pond for goldfish, water plants and use the fish waste for organic fertilizer for my garden. I finished the pond, installed a small air pump to oxygenate the water and I did not add any filtration system relying on the plants and my infrequent cleaning for fertilizer to keep the pond healthy. I initially put 15 feeder goldfish in the pond but quickly added 10 more. Going into winter I had 23 fish that survived the summer months and through on-line research I learned goldfish should go dormant under the ice and survive the cold spells. I was concerned that maybe the pond was not deep enough and I wondered whether the bubblers were adequate to keep the water oxygenated under the winter ice. Utah was hit with the most snowfall in history and the snowy weather continued through the first week of April. Today, April 9th, in this video I check on the status of the goldfish to see if they survived the harshest of winters.
