1500 gallon pond. What kind of filters and pumps do I need? Or should we know?
- Thread starter Zeeb08
- Start date
I'm far from a pond expert, but I have run into one particular issue with shallow (22 - 28 inches) outdoor above-ground ponds (stock tanks) which might be worth thinking about.
I live in a northern climate, and the outdoor pond season for most of the common warmwater species we keep is around 3.5 months, 4 if I am lucky. But even up here at 51 degrees North latitude we get at least a couple weeks of 30C and higher temps each year. When I first started with stock tanks outdoors, my intention had been to filter them very simply, by running airlines out from my basement central air pump to operate large sponge filters. This actually worked out well in terms of keeping the water clean and healthy...but the tanks were all in the direct sun and would overheat, well up over 35C regularly. In the tanks that were aerated/filtered, the water movement distributed the temperature evenly, causing the entire water volume to attain these ridiculous temperatures. If left stagnant, with no circulation whatsoever, only the topmost layers would overheat, but the bottom of the tanks remained much cooler.
I had to provide plenty of shade if I wanted to circulate the water at all while keeping the temperature acceptable. If it's a concern up here, it's a concern virtually anywhere. The problem is at its worst, of course, with black stock tanks, but even the light blue ones still overheat.
So I would suggest that you be prepared to shade your ponds if it becomes necessary. It isn't a concern for inground ponds, as their temperature seems to be very well modulated by the surrounding soil, at least in my area. Depending upon your locale, YMMV. Good luck!
I live in a northern climate, and the outdoor pond season for most of the common warmwater species we keep is around 3.5 months, 4 if I am lucky. But even up here at 51 degrees North latitude we get at least a couple weeks of 30C and higher temps each year. When I first started with stock tanks outdoors, my intention had been to filter them very simply, by running airlines out from my basement central air pump to operate large sponge filters. This actually worked out well in terms of keeping the water clean and healthy...but the tanks were all in the direct sun and would overheat, well up over 35C regularly. In the tanks that were aerated/filtered, the water movement distributed the temperature evenly, causing the entire water volume to attain these ridiculous temperatures. If left stagnant, with no circulation whatsoever, only the topmost layers would overheat, but the bottom of the tanks remained much cooler.
I had to provide plenty of shade if I wanted to circulate the water at all while keeping the temperature acceptable. If it's a concern up here, it's a concern virtually anywhere. The problem is at its worst, of course, with black stock tanks, but even the light blue ones still overheat.
So I would suggest that you be prepared to shade your ponds if it becomes necessary. It isn't a concern for inground ponds, as their temperature seems to be very well modulated by the surrounding soil, at least in my area. Depending upon your locale, YMMV. Good luck!
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