Expert: Tom Alonzo - 10/14/2006

Question

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Followup To

Question -
South New Jersey
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Followup To

Question -
I have an old claw bath tub in my garden that I use as a fish pond. Each winter I bring the fish into my garage (Filtered Large Trash Can) because I think the tub will freeze from the bottom. This year I have added a  waterlilie. How do I care for it over the winter. Our garage is insulated but not heated. Does the lily stay in the pot? Do I place the pot in a plastic bag?

Answer -
Hey John,
Thanx for your question.  Before I answer, give me your location.
thx,
Tom

Answer -
Hi John,
Thanx for the additional information.  South New Jersey is generally Zone 7 and your clawfoot tub will not freeze down very far.  I live in Kansas and my pond seldom freezes thicker than 1/2 inch to 1 inch and this is more or less at the banks.  Leave hardy waterlilies in the pot in the water.  Don't take them indoors.  They need to go dormant during the winter to rest and store energy for next year's growth.  If you have tropical waterlilies, remove the plant and cut off the foliage.  Keep the pot and soil moist but in a cool but not freezing spot in the basement or garage to keep it dormant until the water warms up enough next year to place it back in the pond.  Your fish if they are gold fish or koi, also, will have no problem surviving your New Jersey winters.  Just make sure the pond doesn't complete freeze over so they won't sufficate.  If you allow the pond to freeze over, dead biomass in the pond produces gasses that eat up the oxygen and will result in the death of your fish.  I hope this helps.
Tom

Tom:
Since the tub is above ground (even the bottom) I would think the water will freeze from both the bottom and top. That is why I bring the fish in, thinking that since the tub is completly above ground the water will freeze from both ends and kill the fish and plant life.
John

Answer
Hey John,
Like I said before.  I live in Kansas and it gets frigging cold here for a few weeks (not long, thank goodness but God always reminds us we're in the middle of his country!).  We can often get below zero for a few days or even a week in a bad year and still, we are not able to ice skate here.  How many ice skaters have you ever met that were from Kansas, Missouri or Oklahoma?  We get cold, but it doesn't last long and your climate is much more milder than ours.  Even if your tub is standing above ground, all you have to do is make sure that you break the ice in the morning so the fish can breathe.  One other thing John, on this world, ice never, even in the Antarctic, forms on the bottom.  Even in the Antarctic, there are free-flowing seas.  There is no way on God's Green Earth that your New Jersey bathtub is going to freeze solid.  Like I said, I have wintered some cold winters in Kansas and we have never had our ponds or lakes freeze over solid.  It just doesn't happen in our climates.  I hope this helps.
Tom