tropical pond ?

[longliveledzep]

I live in Portland OR and I’m building a pond it will be around 3000 gallons and i want warm water fish but our weather is very unpredictable one day its 50 out the next its 100 it never gets higher then this but it can get down in the 30s during the winter but only for a few days it normally stays in the 40s the coldest its ever been was in the upper teens so my questions are
What type of heater do I need?
Is there something I can get to automatically adjust the heater?
How much would it cost to heat?

 

[OmniTranz]

I live in Colorado and have explored the same idea as I currently have an 800g pond sitting empty! Argh!

They're not cheap, but this company does sell pond heaters of all sizes...keep in mind the additional cost of wiring 220 to plug them in, not to mention the monthly cost of running the heater - at least in the colder months.

When I was looking at these, I was considering putting them in my 55g external filter so that there wouldn't be a risk of a fish/animal touching them.

http://www.heatingyourpond.com/submersible-heaters.html#

Good luck, and post pics if you do go this route!

 

[Conner]

A cheaper option would be to enclose it inside a shed or greenhouse, which would help to insulate the pond from the weather. You would still need to heat it, but it would be less likely to lose heat. You can also fashion an insulated cover for it, which you would put over it in the winter, and only remove to see or feed the fish.

 

[yogurt_21]

I second the greenhouse idea especially if your weather is unpredictable.


as for actually heating the water there are hot tub heaters as well as regular wtaerheaters that I've seen other people use. never needed to do it so I'm afriad I haven't put much research into it.

 

[longliveledzep]

i'm not sure that will work i'll start out with cheep things like tetras and convicts

 

[OmniTranz]

i'm not sure that will work i'll start out with cheep things like tetras and convicts

Probably not a bad idea in any case...just be sure to get things that MUST have warm water so that you are truely doing a valid test - and not something that has a huge water temp tolerance!