Okay this is a weird one. I live in ND and our winters get into the negative 50s with wind chill the winter. Can anyone think of a plausible way to design an outdoor, full enclosed pond that could support life through that kind of weather? I've always wanted an outdoor pond but it seems impossible out here and my wife wont let me do an indoor one. One thought I had was to have a reservoir tank indoors that contains the heaters and to plumb the pond into that so that it constantly circulates water that is heated indoors so perhaps the heaters won't work so hard, and thus save me energy. Would that even work? This is kind of a pipe dream so I understand if it's impossible. Just brainstorming out loud.
Pond in COLD weather?
- Thread starter VPBassist
- Start date
The only thing that I could even think of that could withstand those winters would be to build a whole entire "shed" to put your pond in and make the pond inside of it and do the plumbing inside as well. That seems to be the only thing I can think of atm. Lets see what everyone else says
Idk if they make these or if this was a homade deal but one vido i saw of a koi pond its like a dome like the skeleton of a tent and almost seran wrap so its like a bubble with a removable part or a door if its big enough for cleanin and feeding.... That along with the indoor plumbing and heating you mentioned and i think you have something.... The only thing i would be concerned with is if that plastic dome could withstabd the snowfall. Ive been to nd.... Its no joke
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Hmmm I would find a dome to be less structurally supportive in this case against the shed I mentioned. The shed could be completely dug out underneath where you want your pond to be, then fill a layer with cement on the ground, and make a waterfall type thing that will fall from a corner and hidden in that corner you could hide your plumbing. Basically build the entire pond like a person normally would dig out a pond, and then cover the floor that should have been grass around the pond and put a shed over it with insulation. You could add lighting, plants and a little bench or something so it doesnt seem bland or blank. Just my input on this
In a pond that is deep enough it can be as cold at is wants, you won't normally have any problems anyway. Build the pond at a calm spot that will eliminate windhchill, a couple trees around the pond should make the microclimate a bit warmer, and make the pond really deep. (7' plus) You should not have any problems then if you have ND native fish.
Wasnt thinking of making it that deep but this way is MUCH easier and will probably cost less than half of what I said. If you dont mind price then the "shed would be a great idea as you dont have to worry about predators eating your fish. But also a 7' deep pond you dont need to worry that much either. It all depends on your personal choice. I would much rather make a shed but just my choice
I think that this is a really cool idea. I saw someone on the site that had a pond in a green house and thought it was killer idea. Maybe if I get a house on more land one day.
Minus 50? Better you than me. I would first look into temperate dwelling that being the case!
I built a pond into the lower back deck by my pool patio two years ago that has never had the closest hint of any ice whatsoever to date totally uncovered throughout two complete Maryland winters. (I don't believe that there was ever lower than +5 degrees F in that time period and possibly not a great comparison to your situation.
I placed a pallet on the deck, and screwed a solid plywood surface to it. I then installed the heater that had been in my water bed from around a decade ago (to keep my bed 90+ degrees 24/7/365) ontop of the pallet made pond base platform. I placed the preformed plastic pond on top of the heater, and built the walls of the deck pond around this. The pond is around 25" deep. Not a hint of ice has formed on the surface much less a deep freeze.
I keep my pond in the winter heated to the 60 - 70 degree range requiring feeding all 12 months. In your case, the surface would likely freeze over, but the physics of heat rising should keep non-obligatory air breather natives alive and OK for these couple of months. I also have a liner silicone to the inside of the plastic molded pond. Around two inches of pond rock/ pea pebble mix substrate (and this may need to be slightly thicker for you) would be additional beneficial insulation and a heat radiant source. Your bullhead will distribute the heat moving around the substrate. Fish go inactive and don't eat at temperatures much lower than 45 F so starvation should not be an issue. Please remember that most fish in the wild that do the "over wintering" thing will literally gut stuff themselves in the fall in preparation for the winter.
This will be your biggest challenge in the great white north.
Massive overfeeding prior to the surface freeze would be a tricky en devour that you would need to be on top of. While you need to gut stuff your fish, you will also need to keep the water clean which requires access to vacuuming the bottom. This is where my less that Arctic weather loving self would draw the line, but I assume you are "cold tolerant tough enough" to do a drill hole in the ice surface two or three times in the early winter to keep good water parameters.
I also made a Styrofoam lid to "cap the deck pond containing the heat, but that nearly turned disastrous as I quickly determined that even in the coldest dead of winter, I was still going to "cook" the fish not allowing the surface steam to rise off the pond throughout the entire winter. A perfectly cut Styrofoam cap for your pond may not be enough to boil your fish in that kind of winter though. It was no problem though as I was monitoring the temperature daily and got the thing off of there in plenty of time. This might just serve to make the pond temperate for feeding all winter long!
Please keep in mind that I also have an oval spring fed farm pond around 100' - 150' across that has never completely frozen over since I moved here in 1979. The last two years were not particularly cold, but the same say 70% or so of the surface (away from the spring feed) froze solid enough toward the outlet for deer to use as a crossing!
The deck pond is unheated in the months of May through September. Good luck, but if you can find a waterbed heater that is designed to keep around 100 gallons of water close to 100 degrees 24/7/365 should make your pond build feasible IMHO.
I built a pond into the lower back deck by my pool patio two years ago that has never had the closest hint of any ice whatsoever to date totally uncovered throughout two complete Maryland winters. (I don't believe that there was ever lower than +5 degrees F in that time period and possibly not a great comparison to your situation.
I placed a pallet on the deck, and screwed a solid plywood surface to it. I then installed the heater that had been in my water bed from around a decade ago (to keep my bed 90+ degrees 24/7/365) ontop of the pallet made pond base platform. I placed the preformed plastic pond on top of the heater, and built the walls of the deck pond around this. The pond is around 25" deep. Not a hint of ice has formed on the surface much less a deep freeze.
I keep my pond in the winter heated to the 60 - 70 degree range requiring feeding all 12 months. In your case, the surface would likely freeze over, but the physics of heat rising should keep non-obligatory air breather natives alive and OK for these couple of months. I also have a liner silicone to the inside of the plastic molded pond. Around two inches of pond rock/ pea pebble mix substrate (and this may need to be slightly thicker for you) would be additional beneficial insulation and a heat radiant source. Your bullhead will distribute the heat moving around the substrate. Fish go inactive and don't eat at temperatures much lower than 45 F so starvation should not be an issue. Please remember that most fish in the wild that do the "over wintering" thing will literally gut stuff themselves in the fall in preparation for the winter.
This will be your biggest challenge in the great white north.
Massive overfeeding prior to the surface freeze would be a tricky en devour that you would need to be on top of. While you need to gut stuff your fish, you will also need to keep the water clean which requires access to vacuuming the bottom. This is where my less that Arctic weather loving self would draw the line, but I assume you are "cold tolerant tough enough" to do a drill hole in the ice surface two or three times in the early winter to keep good water parameters.
I also made a Styrofoam lid to "cap the deck pond containing the heat, but that nearly turned disastrous as I quickly determined that even in the coldest dead of winter, I was still going to "cook" the fish not allowing the surface steam to rise off the pond throughout the entire winter. A perfectly cut Styrofoam cap for your pond may not be enough to boil your fish in that kind of winter though. It was no problem though as I was monitoring the temperature daily and got the thing off of there in plenty of time. This might just serve to make the pond temperate for feeding all winter long!
Please keep in mind that I also have an oval spring fed farm pond around 100' - 150' across that has never completely frozen over since I moved here in 1979. The last two years were not particularly cold, but the same say 70% or so of the surface (away from the spring feed) froze solid enough toward the outlet for deer to use as a crossing!
The deck pond is unheated in the months of May through September. Good luck, but if you can find a waterbed heater that is designed to keep around 100 gallons of water close to 100 degrees 24/7/365 should make your pond build feasible IMHO.
I was jus sayin what i have seen before
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