Ok, so my wife gave me the go ahead to build my 21'x31'x3' pond next summer (2012) so I am starting my research early. She wants the nice water feature and I want to use it as a grow out tank for Tilapia. Now these guys are EXTREMELY hardy and although their ideal temp is in the 80's they can handle temps in the 60's without too much trouble (just slower growth). Now I live in northern Jersey and summer time it gets warm and I have a lot of sun exposure where the site will be. But heating is still a major issue. I found one good idea online of building a small dome for the winter with heavy duty polyethylene film to act as a green house but I was wondering what else I could do to keep this thing warm.
Large Pond Project Need Help
- Thread starter getandistr
- Start date
One other idea I had was to build a rocket stove mass heater around the pond so it can heat over time with minimal wood use.
With the dimensions you gave, you are looking a at pond over 14K gallons. To keep that filtered and heated, it will put you in the poor house unless you have unlimited resources. You can call up and talk to the tech support at Aquatic Ecosystem. They will have the information you need. They're located in Florida and deals with fish farms and other related institutions / individuals involving aqua culture and ponds. You have to call the tech support number. The toll free number is for ordering. Depending on what's your goal, sometimes it's cheaper to go to the fish market for the fish. Good Luck.
I've actually revised my original plan. Instead of 1 monster pond I will be doing 6 ponds each about 8' diameter and 3' deep. I will also be using the Rocket Stove Mass heater which (along with the polyethylene covers) should handle most of my heating needs during colder months. So I no longer need as much of a monster heater just something to keep the water from fluctuating more then a few degrees.