I have the same size and depth pond as you, but I live in southern PA. This winter, my pump fell over in a storm causing the fountain piece where the water bubbles at the surface to fall underwater. The surface froze over during the night and I had to pour several pots of hot water over it to reopen the hole. Then I had to pull out the pump and reposition it. It would be pretty hard to find a friend to go out in the freezing cold and deal with something like that. Plus, you'd have the same result if the power went off. Fortunately, all my fish made it through the winter, but only because I was able to act quickly. Maybe if you brought the fish in again, you could get someone to periodically top off the water. That seems like an easier chore for a friend than dealing with the possible problems outdoors. I would also have an extra pump on hand in case the first one fails and show the person how to exchange them. Do you need to feed the fish when they are in the unheated shop? If so, I would remove the heater so they won't need to eat or have partial water changes.

From the size of your pond I think you should just stick with goldfish. The waterfall accually puts air into the water so that the fish can breathe. If your waterfall is just like a little trickle or there are no bubbles coming up from the water where your waterfall lands then you need to find another way to get air to the fish. I would try to get goldfish from a place that sells ponds supplies etc because a petstore might not have the right kind and might not be able to help you with feeding of fish in an outdoor pond. You will need some plants and some sort of shelter for them incase they get scared. I made a simple one by putting to bricks about 2 inches apart and then putting a flat stone accross it. I suggest getting like one pot of lilly pads though. In the winter, you may have to take them in but if you leave them in there ( they should be fine in two feet of water) make sure there is an open hole in the top of the ice so that toxic gases an escape and you obviously dont want the whole pond to freeze into a block of ice. Also try to keep debree (spell chek) of the bottom of the pond because they can break down and release gases that are toxic to fish (that means no rocks on the bottom)nything else I might of forgot other people can add.

This is such a good question, because those burps are really gross. They don't bother me as much as they do my husband. They have almost made him sick before, so he's completely stopped taking them. Have you tried switching to a different brand? I was given some samples from a friend that worked for an eye doctor. They are also used to help people who suffer with chronic dry eyes. I'm sorry I can't remember the brand, but they didn't make me burp at all. DH still wouldn't try them, his experience was too bad with the first kind. So I don't know if it was just me or not. They were gels with the oil inside (like vitamin E). Sorry, this isn't much help.

Differences in tastes. The only time I freeze tuna is when I don't have time to can it, I'll take it out later when I have time to process. I really don't like thawed raw tuna for cooking, or eating...not for fish and chips, an entrée on its own, and please don't hand me a plate of rare seared tuna :) I always have raw packed pressure canned on hand though. I wonder what happened with the OP and her/his jars of fish. There was a post on the harvest forum too but nothing since the original question.