I have a beautiful outdoor pond, which I have 2 older gold fish, and 2 younger gold fish in. Winter is coming, and I don't know if I just need to get a deicer, which keeps ice from closing off the whole surface and enables the pond to breathe, or if I also need to be heating the water. I have considered bringing them in for the winter, but they seem to love the outdoors so much...I don't want to if I don't have to.

You should bring them in but if you really can't you should
buy a pond heater .... but if you don't want to
have well maby have dead fish ... because ther are many chances
of them dieing
well i hope this helps

A tip I heard for icing up ponds, the same we use for the troughs with my horses, is to put a football in there that'll float. That way if it ices up you just remove the ball and presto, a breathing hole from which you can then pull away the rest of the ice, replacing the ball after.

As for how theyd get on outside in the winter, i'd go with getting a heater. Figure disrupting them so much by bringing them in and changing their surroundings could be more traumatic than needed if heaters dont cost much

Cynthiabee, it depends on where you are living, and how cold its getting, as well as how big your pond is. More water will keep the temperature more stable....
I have it easy, I live in Florida, and all I ever have to do is cover the pond with styrofoam sheets, or hang some plastic sheets to cover the whole pond area, sort of like an extra room during the winter.
What kind of goldfish are you having? Fish like shubunkins, commons, comets, orandas and ryukin are hardier than other kind of goldfish, and should do fine during the winter. Just make sure you dont feed anymore as soon as the temperature hits the 50s. Any food in the pond will either rot there or rot in the fishies stomach, since their metabolism slows down in lower temperature, so does their digestion. They still might come up and beg for food, it just doesnt do them any good if you give in...
Turn down the volume of any airpumps to a trickle, since the air that the pump is bringing into the pond, is gonna be as cold as the temperature outside the pond, and we dont wonna bring in extra cold air to them.
The fish will find the deepest spot in the pond during cold weather, and will sit there almost motionless. A de-icer is definetely neccessary to keep the oxygen exchange going. If you wonna try out a heater, you dont have to get one to heat the entire pond. If the fish really will get too cold, they will huddle around the area where the heater is....
If you really worry too much about them, then follow Black Orandas idea to bring them in. Better safe than sorry, especially if you have never tried to everwinter them before, and you are not sure if its okay for them....

Like in Quebec Canada it getts really cold
My old pond used to be at least 1 2 inchs even going
on 3 inchs frozen and if i didn't at all take care iof the
pond like last year the whole pond gets frozeen 1 foot
about so .. i never keeped my fish in the pond

I nver had time to buy a heater for my pond

u guys should move to sydney
its really starting to get warmed up
nice and toasty B)

Today it's really cold