Monster pond stocking?

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You'll need to put a thick cover on the pond anyway if you're heating it.
Personally, I would grow the ATF out in a stock tank in the 100-200 gallon range.
 
Chub_by said:
You'll need to put a thick cover on the pond anyway if you're heating it.
Personally, I would grow the ATF out in a stock tank in the 100-200 gallon range.
Click to expand...

Well I'll do just that.

Dont know if I'll be able to swing the stock tank. Might just grow it a little in the 75, then transfer it to a larger holding pond connected by overflow to the main setup.


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big cats other than rtc /tsn why not go for irwini , Niger or giraffe all quality peaceful beasts great for monster ponds :D
 
P.A.NativesBPM said:
It will be outdoors.

I will be doing the classic pond with a liner and waterfall, but the pond will be insulated under the liner and have a thick cover.

For actual heating of the water, I will have inline heaters with 3-4 watts per gallon.
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Click to expand...

If you are in Pennsylvania, that's not going to work.

For the sake of the fish, keep goldfish through the first winter to see if you can maintain temperatures 72F+...you are going to burn through a ton of electricity to keep 800G of water warm during a PA winter. It's going to cost you a lot of money to heat the pond and you will likely need a lot more than 3 or 4 watts per gallons. Even at just 4 watts per gallon, you would need a dedicated 30 to 40 Amp breaker to be able to handle that much wattage...you can't just plug 3200 watts of heater into a standard 15 or 20 amp circuit.

Sorry to sound like a Debbie downer, but it's better to know now that it won't work, than have the poor fish freeze to death come November or December.
 
Completly agree with aldiaz...electric for a large indoor tank is bad enough let alone one outdoors...id also consider a back up generator for when you flip a breaker or theres a power outtage. Honestly ur best bet of pulling this off is creating your own power source with solar panels, or a wind or water powered generator hooked up to about 12-24 batteries so its somewhat self sustaining. Stocking the tank is the least of your worries, thatell be the fun and easy part once you know you can maintain the system through the first winter keeping koi or feeders alive. Im not far away from u in ohio and id never even think of attempting anything but koi outdoors. What happens when we get hit with 3ft of snow and below zero temps? Work on building a heated shed or greenhouse first then go from there. Ur idea is possible, it just may not be worth it money wise without your own "off the grid" energy source or shed like enclosure over it. Y not a garage or basement pond? Even a closed in sun porch/patio to repel some of the elements of nature.

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Koi and albino channels are monsters in their own right each attaining 30" pretty easily. Id be happy with a stock of those two species alone. They also eat pellets so your food bill will be affordable and they can tolerate when something breaks or goes wrong. Equipment doesnt last forever, eventually your setup will have some kind of "meltdown". Better to have some hardy non tropical species that can battle out a winter. Heck even a flathead cat is a better choice than tropicals lol :)

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