charles-n-charge;4870168; said:
you could get a temporary mesh net orrrr... witch i like this idea better, get a very hungry fish with a big mouth and some nice teeth so you wont have to worry about the cats ever again
My Monster Pond Project
- Thread starter charles-n-charge
- Start date
you could get a temporary mesh net orrrr... witch i like this idea better, get a very hungry fish with a big mouth and some nice teeth so you wont have to worry about the cats ever again
My plan for the cats is actually a 2' tall wall around the entire pond so they can reach the water, and to keep the arowanas inside if they get skittish and jump a little. If I could get an arapaima or goliath tiger fish though I think that would solve the cat problem lol although I do like most of them
I'm by San Antonio so our winter temps are pretty much the same. I have a 25000 gallon in ground pool that I converted to a pond and the lowest water temp this winter has been 49F but most of the time the temp has been in the mid 50's. So you would probably see similar temps during the winter or maybe a little cooler. I ran two 1000 watt heaters for a week and they made no impact on the water temp, also tried covering the pool with plastic and that didn't do anything either. It's really hard to affect the temp of such a large volume of water so I think you'll have a hard time keeping trops. I have koi, channel cats, and a couple of Chinese HiFin Banded sharks, and I added one Texas cichlid this winter and he has handled the temps ok. I'm planning on adding some hybrid striped bass also.
another reason to go smaller. im going to go as small as i can without being too small for the fish. im thinking about 15x10x4 or so, give or take a few hundred gallons
Is the new 15x10 size using the old pool liner, or a new EPDM?
You mentioned it was going to be placed in an open area away from trees. Trees are actually a good thing for ponds. The shade they provide helps both fish and pond. It keeps algae blooms in check and helps regulate water temps. by not allowing it to heat up as much compared to being pounded by full sun all day (during the summer). The four foot depth and some lillies will also help during TX summers.
Natives plus some Koi and/or goldfish will be the way to go for a first pond.
You could free up some space in your tank by feeding the Pacu to the TSN.....
You mentioned it was going to be placed in an open area away from trees. Trees are actually a good thing for ponds. The shade they provide helps both fish and pond. It keeps algae blooms in check and helps regulate water temps. by not allowing it to heat up as much compared to being pounded by full sun all day (during the summer). The four foot depth and some lillies will also help during TX summers.
Natives plus some Koi and/or goldfish will be the way to go for a first pond.
You could free up some space in your tank by feeding the Pacu to the TSN.....
charles-n-charge;4873540; said:
The up side to going smaller is it's easier to heat the water but the down side is that less water volume will mean the pond will retain less heat during our cold spells so you'll have to heat it more. Using pool heater calculators it will take about 21000 BTU's/Hr just to heat that size pond 10 degree's. No matter how you cut it, it's going to be real expensive to keep trops through the winter.
im planning on keeping native fish except for the arowana, pacus, tsn, and rtc once they get too big to live inside
I'm for sure getting the old pool liner, four a massive water pump that seems to work well, I have tons of PVC pipe, and besides that the rest is easy to find and cheap besides the heater. Looks like this may just all work out after-all
