Tropical Outdoor Pond

[reeeedfish]

I live in southern Ohio, USA. I am wondering how do make a tropical pond outdoors? Is it possible in my region? If yes, how do I keep it warm? And, how big of a heated pond do I need to keep Oscars? Please Advise.

Thank You, reeeedfish.

 

[kribensis12]

It's definatley possible. But, you would need a good heater. Oscars need a minimum of a 55g tank. So a 2 or 300 gallon pond would be great for them!

 

[reeeedfish]

Hmmm. Okay, Thanks. But does anyone know a heater good enough for that job?

 

[three-fingers]

It wouldn't be difficult to do at all, just remember to dig it into the ground (preferably not a raised pond) and use lots of insulation behind the liner. Perspex or a glass cover on top would be needed in winter too, you would use pond heaters as used for koi ponds in this kind of thing.

The impractical part is the expense of heating that much water, especially in winter.

 

[3ndl3r]

What sort of temperatures do you get in the winters?

James

 

[reeeedfish]

The average winter temperature is 31 degrees farenheit.

 

[Ginga@139]

What fantatsic idea never work over herein uk to cold even in the summer
would love to see the project take shape
imagine the size you could have
and the differnt types and size fish,
amazing
trying to recreate the real worl in your back yard..
Fantatsic

 

[Liam50]

could you not build some sort of green house over the pond? but i'm not sure how you would cool it during a hot summers day.

 

[mickspark81]

What fantatsic idea never work over herein uk to cold even in the summer
would love to see the project take shape
imagine the size you could have
and the differnt types and size fish,
amazing
trying to recreate the real worl in your back yard..
Fantatsic

My friend has a 600 gallon indoor pond which works really really well
Its heated by 2 big pond heaters and a smaller backup one

Electricity bill was really high tho....dont do what he did tho and run it off a public street light lmao

 

[Lawrence]

haha this could have been done in dubai, where i lived a few months ago...u wouldnt even need a heater because its 40 degrees celcius outside on average. you would probably need something to cool the water and not heat it there . should have thought of that when i lived there

 

[keenonfish]

It is for reasons like this that the tropical fishkeeping hobby is under thread in the USA. While unimaginal, it wouldn't be impossible for your fish to breed, lay eggs and said eggs to be carried to further waters by birds or amphibians etc...

I don't know might be talking rubbish but it is something to consider surely!

 

[Tolak]

Fish are commercially bred in ponds in warmer areas of the US, mainly Florida. Many folks around here will run outdoor tubs during the summer for breeding, I have a 150 gallon for breeding platys. I set it up way early last year, had a buddy cramped for tank space, and an offer of a lot of free fish. I wrapped the tub in moving blankets with some carefully placed ducktape (not really carefully actually). Had a 1" thick piece of styrofoam for a cover, and a 1,000w heater, with no temperature control.

It got down to 29F outside, that heater gave a 60F temperature increase, no problem. It also made my electric meter spin like a top. I was unplugging & plugging in the heater a few times daily, for almost a week, until the heater controller came in.

So, if you can manage 7-10 wpg of heat, with an insulated cover, you should be OK. I have a second 1,000w heater, but the controller only goes to 1,800w, so if it got too cold for one I could run 2, with one on the controller. I only have this setup running from spring until fall, the electric cost during the winter would kill me. Removing the cover when it is cooler out results in some cool looking steam, and it seems tropical fish don't mind snow hitting the water at all.

If you plan on running tropical setups outdoors all winter long buy some stock in your local electric company to help offset the cost of heating.

 

[OldMan47]

You could do what I do and set up a pond that you only have fish in during the summer months. Last year I had some wild type swords spend the summer camping out. This year I have some Xenotoca eiseni on a camp out. The Xenotoca tolerate much cooler water than the swords so they will get to enjoy a larger part of the year outside than the swords did. Fish look great when you bring them back in. They feast on wild foods all summer, such as insects that land in the water, and get some natural light into their world too. I am looking forward to how good my Xenotoca will look when they come in after what I saw on the swordtails last year. In southern Ohio, your winters will be much like mine and a pond heater is not a very practical option due to the amount of heat it would take to hold the temperature warm enough for tropicals.

 

[saltynay]

I chuck my guppies in the pond for late spring, summer and early autumn and sell them off to my LFS on mass as it gets too cold however this year I am not home for the winter so they will need to adapt to the frost or die and feed the shrimp lol.

You could build a greenhouse around it and then remove a few panes in the summer to allow it to cool or have the pond in an extension within your house.