How cold can water be for a gold fish to live in? Im makeing a huge pond for the new house but where im living it gets pretty darn cold so I was wondering if they would live? somtmes it gets down to 2c

i'd say about 72 degrees...

nah, lower than that. we had our gf feeder tank running with a chiller at 63 degrees, F that is. they can actually live under the ice that freezes at the top of the water, because that ice insulates the water beneath it.

VIP, you might check sometime, the temperature that a deep pool of water gets in your winter. i say this because, even though it is 2degrees outside, the water won't get that cold because water retains temperature very well.

i read some were to day that gold fish can do 50 to 80*F but like a more

narrow range of 60 to 70 *F

my grandma had her koi and fish outside the whole winter with a heater and no problems

also read somewere that if you pon freezes and you leave your fish i n that a hole

in the ice is still needed for gas exchange

Goldfish being coldwater fish is a misconception, in my opinion, AND in the opinion of Doc Johnson (www.koivet.com) who specializes in goldfish and koi.

SURE, commons and koi can actually hibernate outside, but fancy goldfish are a different story. The more highly bred a fancy goldfish is, the more they require heat. Dr. Johnson recommends AT LEAST 79-80 degrees! If you're interested in letting them hibernate for a season, they will pretty much go dormant at 45-50 degrees, but if you want to keep them growing and thriving you need a relatively stable temperature more in the upper 70s MINIMUM - closer to the 80s if you're talking something highly bred.

There are so many misconceptions about goldfish out there it's amazing! Don't buy into them...

my pond is fine without any type of heating ive had no problems.Sometimes if it gets really really cold i bring them in but thats not very often!i have a heater but it doesnt get used too often