Outdoor 300 Gallon Fish Tank

[Terraphyte Tank Guy]

Hello MFK...

Am setting up a watering trough fish tank outside. The plan is to test the liveability of the tank with some Rosy Red Minnows. They're the standard feeder fish you see in the pet store. I have 25 or so in a temporary 40 gallon plastic trash can. The plan is to set up the tank and use a couple of large air stones and a floating heater. If the minnows survive the Colorado winter, I'll add some Comets and Goldfish in the spring. Here's a question, I understand you don't want to combine the minnows and Goldfish. Apparently, the minnows soon become lunch when the Goldfish get larger. But, if I keep them together early, the fish should be alright together, correct?

TTG

 

[Warborg]

Not sure, I did keep goldfish, Koi and Rosy reds together. I went from 7 rosys to hundreds.

 

[fishhead0103666]

Weather loaches are also commonly kept with goldfish, I'm planning 2 or 3 with my black moors .

 

[Go_redfish]

They will survive as long as you maintain a hole in the surface of the ice and the body of water does not freeze solid. Also stop feeding when it gets cold.

 

[Terraphyte Tank Guy]

Thanks for the input. I'm hoping the combination of the air stones to keep the surface water moving and the floating heater will keep the tank from freezing. I have a landscaper friend who does outdoor ponds and he's going to put some plastic covered, outdoor insulation around the tank and put some landscaping blocks around the tank to hold the insulation in place. I really thinking this is doable.

TTG