outside tank/pond

[RogueGuppy]

Hi… I am thinking of buying a 100-150 gallon outdoor pool/pond to place at the back of my condo unit. The two models that I am thinking of are the first two on the following website - http/www.homedepot.ca/escalate/store/HDS...ond&d_vsid=pond

By means of metal and/or plastic extensions secured by aquarium glue there will by a heater alongside one of the edges and also be a filter. In other words, jutting out from one side and hanging from a metal or plastic projection a heater will balance inside the pond and likewise a filter system will do the same thing.

I have kept fish before, indoors, but have decided on changing to outdoors due to the fact that I share the condo with three other people – my family – and one member does not enjoy the constant shipping of water to and fro to clean out a tank system. The fish I kept were live-bearers - Guppy, Molly, Platy.

Anyways, with this outdoor system there will be as previously mentioned a HEATER and a filter system.

Besides this, I am undecided by wavering on placing a glass/plastic screening overtop in a similar fashion to a greenhouse to help heat the water as well as keep rainwater out. The reason for this is because there is a pulp mill some miles away and I am not sure what is in the rainwater.

Okay, the main reason for my post is what fish should I consider?

1. goldfish/koi
2. guppies – other livebearers
3. Siamese Fighter Fish/peaceful betta
4. other

PS. As one can see, the tanks provided in the website are very dark. Does anyone know of any means by which to lighten a plastic pond – such as with paints that are none toxic to fishes?
If not, I was looking at a friend’s outside Koi pond and they had placed a white meshing along the bottom and sides of the tank, holding it in place by marbles and aquarium glue. Would that work?

PSS. Would such messing be a means by which one can separate the different areas of the pond or should I just leave it as it is and add a number of plants for offspring fish?

 

[Opcn]

By pss perhaps you mean pps (post post script, rather than post script script) in wich case plans are generally prefferable so that you dont have to catch out the fish at a certain size and you dont have to worry about culling weak fry as nature takes care of that, also plants like Java moss tend to give off alot of microfauna perfect for newborn fry to eat.

Anyways, where do you live? will the heater be able to hold its own in winter? The white mesh deal would work well, seeing as how the only real watersafe paints are highly toxic during the curing process and a real pain to apply.

Also, I'd go with some livebearers and schooling fish, say some endlers, some platies and some neons or cardinals.

The plastic ontop would be a great idea if you are near a pulp mill. Goodluck

 

[Tcian]

Need to know how bad your winters are. You may need a tank in the condo to keep them over the winter. No koi in that small a pond. Koi live upwards of 30 years and grow to 30 to 36 inches. One or two common goldfish would be all you could support at maturity. Get bulkhead fittings to run the filter lines through the sidewalls of the pond. Also a 2 inch bulkhead fitting to run 2 inch pvc pipe through with a 90 degree elbow facing upward at the highest water level desired. The outlide of the pvc pipe could turn down with another 90 degree elbow into a sump to feed edge drain availiable at home depot. When it rains the excess water flows into the elbow and out into the sump to the edge drain which you run under the grass. No overflow around the pond to spoil things. Use pea gravel for a substrate if you do not like the black color. Filter should be of the large biological type that is not normally availiable at home depot. For filter ideas try grassrootsnusery.com. They will also have the bulkhead fittings you will need as well as a bunch of other stuff. Their website is not as complete as their catalog so you might want to ask for one. Should stick with cold water fish unless you are in a warm winter climate. A good one for ponds of that size is the golden orfie, the smallest member of the trout family. Only about 6 inches at maturity and has the same body shape as a minnow, but a golden or orange sheen to them. Great for keeping down the mosquito problem. Line the edges of the pond with flat large 2 inch think stone and overlap them 6 to 8 inches over the edge of the pond to keep the local predators from lunching on your fish. Filter should have a spillway so you can create a waterfall and you might want to consider a tee in the line from the pump to place a venturi to add oxygen to the pond. Also a valve in the line to the venturi or filter to regulate flow between the two. Water hiacinth (sic) or water lettice floating on the surface will help cut down on algae. Fast growing so will cover your pond in no time. Use excess for compost pile or give away. Add a water lilie in a no hole pot or any of the other aquatic plants that you fancy. That should keep you busy for a while, if you have any other questions just ask.

Cheers
Todd

 

[RogueGuppy]

The winters here are relatively gentle. Since I've been here, the longest snowfall was a week and the general public - those that have lived here a while - said that a really bad snow happens every 5 years.

The heater is a 100W with another one as backup since they are cheap here [only $25 each]. As for the actual fish equipment, there are two pet stores and an actual fish shop in my town, so I'd be explaining what I'm doing with the tank there.

 

[Opcn]

Hate to break it to you but to heat a 240 gallon tank 10-15 degreese I had to put in 700W of heating, in the winter with temps as low as 40 it would really strain even large heaters. I'd say that you would need atleast 2500W

 

[Tcian]

Stick with cold water fish and put a bubbler in for the winter to prevent the surface from iceing over.

 

[crazyelece]

Don't use a bubbler and don't run any filtration or aeration during the winter months. Skip the heater they don't work in ponds and if you actually had the money to put enough of them in it would cost a boatload in electric to run them. If the temps get down to freezing or below in the winter you need a deicer unit which will keep a hole in the ice so gaseous exchange can take place. You will have to stick with coldwater species unless you have a tropical tank you can keep fish in through the cold months.

If the entire problem started with the water changes I would suggest getting a Python or other similar vacum system. All you have to do is hook it up to the faucet and the water drains right into the sink. Water changes take about 5 minutes with one. And you don't have to haul any buckets of water around.

 

[Opcn]

I second the notion on the bubbler, bubblers prevent the warm water from staying still at the bottom and can chill the entire pond, killing fish.