.. im bringing my fantails in for the winter.
I bought a paddling pool and set it up in the garage. Its holding 215 gallons of water and is plenty of room for the 4 of them. Going to add the smaller pond filter that does 2200 litres an hour and taking the pump from the pond which does 5000 litres an hour. The filter is going to stand on a plastic tub in the pool and hopefully this will all work.
The pond will have to get itself through the winter and im sure the two sarasas will be fine. Ive got it covered mostly with a type of coldframe to try and keep most of the frost off it.

So my biggest concern is will the paddling pool idea work? I have heard of koi eing kept this way but for 6 months?

How cold will it get? Filters do not work effectively at lower temperatures.

I keep my comets and shubunkins in tubs in my unheated basement where the temperature drops to around 45 f. I don't use filters in the tank, but rely on about 80% water changes weekly to keep the water quality up. Also, when the temperature drops below 50 f., I stop feeding. Until that point, I feed sparingly with a low protein, spring and fall food.

I put an airstone in each tub to keep surface scum from forming.

I have been doing this for the last five years, without any fish losses. I keep them this way from early November until late April.

Im not sure how cold it will get but as long as it doesnt freeze then i hope it will be ok.
So if i just use an airstone or two that will be enough you think? I know the filter wont be cycling but i was just going to use it to keep the water aerated for them.

The first year I kept my fish in the basement, I put sponge filters in all of the tubs. When they first went into the basement, the temperature was in the 60's, and I guess the filters must have cycled. When the temperature dropped, I got an incomplete cycle and I had 0 ammonia, but high nitrite readings. At that point, I decided to remove the sponge filters because even with large water changes daily, I couldn't get the nitrite to drop. I guess the nitrifying bacteria was not active at that temperture. Anyway, it turned out that the water tested fine if I just did large water changes weekly and only fed the fish very sparingly. As I mentioned, I didn't feed at all when the water was below 50 f. That was for about three months in the winter. All of my fish did just fine, and they didn't even look thinner at the end of the winter. The only fish that can't withstand this are very small fry. Larger fry (an inch and over) can be treated in this way, but the smaller ones can't take a three month fast.

Using the filter to aerate the water would be great, but just don't put any media in it.

I think you will find that your fish will do just fine. It seems like a leap of faith, but it seems to work. I know another woman who keeps her fish on her unheated enclosed verandah, with just an airstone, and it works for her.

Please let me know how it goes.

Thanks, so if i dont need to use the filter then i wont as its a bit of a bother to pull the pump from the pond. What i will do then is use an internal filter without the media as that pumps 1000ltrs per hour and i can put a spray bar on it.
Will let you know how it goes

That sounds like a good idea. Please keep me posted on how it goes.

How are you going to do your water changes? In my basement, I have the tubs next to the sump hole, so I just use a siphon hose and put the water down the sump hole, then connect the hose to the water pump in the basement and fill the tanks with a hose.

Filling is no problem, but emptying is. All i have is a gravel vac and a bucket
The pond is on the ground so suction will be pretty poor so all i can really do is use a bucket and take several hours to do a change.
Maybe see if we can do a home made type python

Good idea

Sandy, why don't you get one of those cheap powerheads from Wallmart (if you have that over in the UK), or any simple powerhead. Find a simple flexible pipe from the home improvement store that will fit onto the outflow part of the powerhead, and do the water changes with that.
Gravity really stinks in a low sitting pond, and the idea of you doing water changes for hours hurt just listening to it. I have done water changes on the ponds that way for years now, and it works just fine. You can pump the water through the hose wherever you want to - out the door, into a sink, bathtub, toilet, anything really, and it doesn't take hours.

Funnily enough Andrea Bob came up with that idea yesterday. Ive got internal filters lying around that we could use to pump the water
Going to bring the fish in today before it gets too cold. Outside pond is at 7c and the pool is at 11c.