outside ponds

[duanes]

This looks really awesome, how did you prepare for the pond and set it up?

Because the Rubbermaid had been set up above ground for a while, there wasn't any real prep, just dug the hole, dropped the trough in, refilled with water, added dechlorinator, tossed in the plants, some rocks, and wood from before, and seasoned aquariums.




Because of their tolerance for cool temps, and fluctuations in temp, I found Gymnogeophagines, and Australoheros to be good pond fish, spring thru fall, in Wisconsin.

 

[Soul♍]

Thats really cool! Same what I did with my little pond. Looking forward to probably getting a pond liner and digging the hole myself

 

[duanes]

I did get a liner not long after, even the 300 gal rubbermaid had too many temp swings I didn't feel comfortable with.

 

[white specter crayfish]

I would do ponds because they are a hell of a lot cheaper, but you can't admire the fish's colors, shape, personality, etc.

 

[Soul♍]

I would do ponds because they are a hell of a lot cheaper, but you can't admire the fish's colors, shape, personality, etc.

True, I was thinking about getting ranchu goldfish. That way their colours still pop and they are quite personable.


So what makes a pond cheap? Do I need just a pondliner, heater, filter, pump? Like a normal aquarium

 

[white specter crayfish]

yeah pretty much, the heater may not be necessary depending on where you live. The king of DIY built a 1500 gallon pond for less than $500, it was just a large wooden box with a pond liner in it. Here are some of the videos where he discusses the pond

 

[Soul♍]

I live in South Africa and its very hot around here. I'll probably need a heater in winter. What do you guys do?

Is it possible to heat a pond without a heater?

Is it possible to filtrate a pond without a filter?

 

[duanes]

If you choose fish carefully, a heater is not needed.
Koi, and goldfish shouldn't need heaters, or most Uruguayan cichlids.
In Wisconsin I over wintered fish in kiddy pools in the basement Nov thru March, because ponds as deep as 3 ft deep or even slightly more froze solid throughout, during those months.

 

[white specter crayfish]

Yeah, it'll be easy to make a pond then, my one neighbor has a small pond (>500 gallons) and they just had a pond liner and put rocks on top of it to hold it down, though us bring in Pennsylvania it never got so cold that the pond freezes solid

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I live in South Africa and its very hot around here. I'll probably need a heater in winter. What do you guys do?

Is it possible to heat a pond without a heater?

Is it possible to filtrate a pond without a filter?

It is possible to filter a pond without a filter, you just need to add lots of aquatic plants.

As far as heating a pond naturally you can do several things to retain heat such as: put a greenhouse film over the pond (the cheap white ones work), you add large boulders or black plastic around the pond to gather heat
Etc.

Larger ponds keep heat better than smaller ones, in-ground ponds keep heat well while above ground do not.