Koi and goldies don't hibernate. When their environment cools down below 50 or so, their metabolism slows way down to the point where they merely lie quietly on the bottom and don't feed. However, if disturbed or if they feel threatened, they will move and can move quite rapidly. If you move them indoors and the water is warmer, they should be fed.

Is this indoor pond in your basement or garage? If the garage, you might be able to keep the water cold enough to let them go into their state of torpor.

I'm curious to know what zone you're in if the water is already 60 degrees F.

Yes, you can build a smaller version of a skippy for indoors, and yest, you will need to cycle the water in the indoor pond. You should be able to move some of your filter media from the outdoor pond into the indoor one to speed it along, but whether or not the bacteria is active all winter will depend on the water temperature.

Once you get the filter going, introduce a few of the goldies for a few weeks. The filter won't cycle without a nitrogen source. Test the water frequently all winter.

Hi,

Thanks Nan, I am in Vancouver, BC. temp has been rapidly cooling, I checked today and it was just below 60 this morning.

I haven't built the in door pond yet and I am still hoping I do not need to. I am either planning in my basement which is more like a crawlspace or in my bottom room. I am looking at doing it as a backup option if I can't get my pond cycled in time.

Thanks for the info,

Not sure if you built a 4 ft deep pond or what but that's what it sounds like. If you can find the leak one option would be to transfer water from whatever your fish are in now to the new pond as the pond they are in should be cycled. I'd transfer 60-75% if you can then catch the fish and transfer them. In Vancouver which is Zone 6 I think you should be able to get by for the winter with aeration--they talk about that here.
If you have a tank indoors you still need a minimum of 50 gals per fish for the size of fish you have right now so that's at least 450 gals. Koi keepers will say 100 gals per fish. I built an indoor pond out of 2 x 4 framing, 1/2" plywood and the frame is bolted together with 8" lag bolts then a liner. It looks like a hot tub in my basement and holds about 350 gals. I run a Fluval XP filter on it and in the fall usually mid to end of October transfer the fish with pond water to the indoor pond and use some of the filter media in the fluval. Fluval pumps 900GPH and is quiet. As my basement is room temperature fish are fed all winter long. I live in Zone 3, Alberta and havn't had any luck overwintering fish in my 3000 gal pond outside which is 4ft deep in the deep end. Winter here is brutal and long. For the first two weeks I monitor the water carefully as is only 50F or less when transferred. I usually add zeolite to the filter just in case I get ammonia as the tank warms up but I've never lost a fish in the transfer and get to fed them all winter long indoors where it is warm.

Thanks Jalal. Any chance you have some construction pics ? I will take a look at the items you mentioned.

yes my pond is 4.5 feet on the one end. It's about a 4x4 ft area. Temp's here are pretty decent, we have a couple of cold snaps which drop to about -9 for a week, but mostly around the -2 mark. Is the water still pretty warm for this time of year. My pond is concrete which may make the water a bit colder than it should be.

I am going to try put another couple coats of sealant on this weekend and if still doesn't hold, quickly build the in door pond in my garage.

Sorry been working having gone on internet. Don't have pictures of indoor tank construction. If you don't plan on continuing to overwinter in garage it's a bit of a pain--need liner plus the wood for the frame. I have pics of finished project which I'll try to load when not so late. The first year I bought a 150 gal plastic stock tank which was okay just ugly in my basement. If you can get your pond sealed I would think all you'd need is aeration and maybe one of those Thermopond heaters they are low wattage and come on automatically when temps get to freezing. Think pondsonline has them and they are in Vancouver if I remember. Is your garage heated? If not you might need some kind of heat if the indoor tank isn't very deep--not sure. My garage has heat but too expensive to run which is why the fish go in the basement. I hate transfer day as I wait until the pond gets to about 45 degrees as the fish are easier to catch--before ice and I have to drain all my lines--takes a good day to shut down the pond and then I just let it freeze till spring which is a loooooonnnnnnng time coming here!

For the past few years, here in the harsh prairies, I have caught my pond fish in the fall and brought them into an aquarium in the kitchen for the winter. Definitely stressful for them, a real maintenance headache for me. Not to mention expensive.

But this fall, I'm going to try what most of the ponders around here seem to do with better success. People just put the fish in a black stock tank with a bubbler and maybe a deicer in an unheated garage. No feeding, less overall loss and, because the fish are already hardened, they can come inside later in the season and return earlier to the pond. The bonus is that you can use the same tank to also house the hardy dormant pond plants and snails.

I'm all for trying to make life easier...

When we lived in central IL, I wintered my 3 large goldfish (for the 10 yrs we lived there) in the garage in a 50 gal. aquarium. I filled it with their pond water (from 100 gal. pond) and used the same filter from the pond which provided aeration too. I probably only cleaned the aquarium about every 3 weeks and they did just fine. I did feed them--just not much and not every day. The garage was insulated but unheated--it got cold enough once that the pipes to the utility sink (next to the aquarium) froze.

Gosh, I miss my fish. We moved 2 yrs ago and I had to leave them behind with the new owners because we moved to an apartment for a year--halfway across the country (and I thought hard about moving them with us). Now that we're in a house, I'm starting to want another fish pond (hence my visit to this forum for the first time in a couple of years).

Good luck with your fish!