I may be moving and the new house has aver a half acre. I would like to build a small outdoor pond. Nothing huge, maybe 15'x20'. I will have my TSN in there and maybe the Gar and thinking about 4 pbass, good size ones. Texas daytime summer temps are about 98 degrees and the winters can get down to about 30 but not often, average may be daytime 45-55 and night between 38 and 40 or so. I will be building a nice waterfall to add to it. Is there any need for a chiller in the summer and floating or submersable heater in the winter. This will be my first pond and I need some ideas from people with experience due to climate changes although not extreme. Thanks for any info.
New house, new pond. Need help
- Thread starter TankBuster
- Start date
LOL, I am wondering if anyone has had any issues with their pond getting too warm in the summer and how to reduce heat without fluctuating the temp too much from night to day.
Can you go 3 feet deep? It will help both summer and winter.
You'll need a heater in the winter to stop wild temp fluctuations
People say there fish can take the temp swings...That's just because the fish can't LEAVE!
I dug a pond once with a 5ft wide well tapering down to a 3ft wide at the bottom, 8ft deep and put a pump in the bottom to circulate the water up thru the pond and moderate temp in the 10x15 pond. Worked good, never above 87 degrees or below 72 degrees, Ground water temp is 72 degrees.
You'll need a heater in the winter to stop wild temp fluctuations
People say there fish can take the temp swings...That's just because the fish can't LEAVE!
I dug a pond once with a 5ft wide well tapering down to a 3ft wide at the bottom, 8ft deep and put a pump in the bottom to circulate the water up thru the pond and moderate temp in the 10x15 pond. Worked good, never above 87 degrees or below 72 degrees, Ground water temp is 72 degrees.
Wow, ya I can make it 5 feet deep and thats actually what I would like. If it is too deep then I would never see the fish but with underwater lighting I can view them at 5 feet. Thanks for that info and just wondering what type and watt heater to go with.
TankBuster, I have a small pond 5ft diameter with a 5 ft long waterfall feeding into it and it's 5ft deep. I keep 1 reg comet goldfish that has grown to 12 inches and 4 other fish (koi). I have never had problems with heat or cold. I'm thinking that you would want to research the fish you are palcing in there and consider that as your determining point. I couldn't imagine trying to heat that much water... I run a 300 gal. multi chamber filter(primarily used for the huge waste of koi) along with a UV sterilizer and have no problems ever. Every 2 months I clean the filter, and every morning I clean out my drain basket (keeps leaves etc from running into the filter). In the summer (yes even now with the 105 heat index in north texas) my water stays at about 82F, and in the winter I don't bother checking the temp as long as my watefall is running (it has never frozen) I'm not concerned... the fish drop to the bottom of the pond and don't eat for much of the winter months. The Koi are very hardy coldwater fish so again I would check your species you wish to place in the tank. GOOD LUCK!