300 Gallon Stock Tank Help!

[hervoicewasgray]

Mmkay. So after lots of crying and begging and tantrum-throwing, dad said I can get the 300 gallon stock pond IF I get a real job. Which I should be getting. I mean, season's coming up. I WILL get a job dammit, lol. I won't let my Spanky down!

Anyway.
That's the situation. I understand substrate isn't really needed, which, yeah, really. Thank god. LOL. I'll probably have some driftwood and [fake] plants in there though.

I also understand that for insulation, I should build a box around it, and fill it with "insulation"- but what provides the best insulation? Mulch? Styrofoam? That much isn't clear to me. Also-the more economical, the better.

And finally- heating. It's going to have to stay outside year round, and I'm not sure how effective a few typical aquarium heaters would be...I mean, just for sh*tsngiggles, I filled up my 29 gallon acrylic because we had a cold snap (oh noes! teh low 50s!), I wrapped it in bubble wrap and some fabric, and stuck a 300w heater in there, and put a plexiglass cover on, and that water stayed beautifully warm! But on such a large scale, you know..I don't think it'd be really effective.
So then, eureka, I look outside at our jacuzzi. And then I read that someone made a heater for their pond with a jacuzzi heater? But those aren't exactly..internal, and I did some shopping online, but I'm clueless as to what to buy...it was more like "heating components" rather than "heating kit"...so..if someone could point me into "this is exactly what to buy. and then to make it work, you do this", you'd be super amazing.


Much love and thanks to anyone and everyone that helps me!

 

[martini8]

Maybe an 800 watt heater would help?

http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?ItemId=12516830&EID=SZ12516832&SID=SHZIL

I imagine it doesn't get too cold in Florida, but it depends on the kind of fish you have in your pond.

 

[koigirlfl]

Just saw your post and since I live in Central Florida I can say I've been there and done that. So here is a "this is what you need list".
1. Spray Foam = 8 to 10 cans, maybe more depends on how thick you make it and how good you are at putting it on.
2. 8' styrofoam sheet (high density, it's blue)
3. Titanium Heaters 500W = 2, make sure you get the kind that is submersible & shatterproof, & for a few dollars more get one that has an autoshut off.
4. 2" PVC pipe = 4' length and 4 elbows
5. Cheap latex gloves = for when you put on the foam, it's sticky if it gets on your hands and trust me it will.

I used the spray on foam called "Great Stuff" and covered the outside and bottom of the tank with it. I placed a sheet of 1/2 inch styrofoam sheet on the bottom while the foam was drying and it kind of glued itself on. It took a LOT of cans but has been worth it, the tank water hardly ever gets below 50 degrees without heaters.

Wear the gloves when you spray that stuff it is impossible to get off!

All covered, I made loopy swirls up & down each section to give it a bumpy look. Don't worry about holes you can go back later and fill them in. Oh and don't get under the top rim, made that mistake, you need that to stay empty so your fingers have something to grap onto when you flip it over or move it. Plus there are holes in the rim that you can use to tie things down with so you don't want to close them.

The reason you want 2 heaters is if one goes out you still have the other one going. The reason you need submersible is because of RAIN, if the tank is outside, rain will overfill your tank and go over the top of your heater and blow it up. The auto shutoff is for when the heater comes out of the water it will automatically turn off and not blow up.

Now what you ask is the PVC for? It's to make a hanging hook for the heaters over the edge of the tank because those suction cups don't work.
Cut two 3" pieces, put the elbows on both ends. Cut the remaining piece in Half and stick this long piece into one end of the "U" you just made. Get a zip tie to secure the heater to the long piece. Don't Secure the heater where the tie will get hot. You can hang this whole contraption into the tank and not worry about your heaters floating away. (sorry no pic)

And this is it after 1 year. I never covered up the spray foam, just let it age and now it looks like rocks. If something gets bumped off, just fill it back in with more foam and it will "age" again. Hope this helps.

 

[Muni]

Not a bad idea. You could always take a few cans of spary paint to your foam and make it look more like rocks instead of the orange it turns after a while.

Or toss sand on the foam when its still sticky.

 

[Conner]

That actually turned out really well! Yet another ingenious use of Great Stuff spray foam .