hmmmmm ...??

just curious is it possible to have an outdoor heated pond ? as in to put large tropical fish in ??
thanks
eric

i doubt it not with the severe weather changes we have. would it be much fun looking at tropicals from above?

Of course it is, just takes Money and weigh it, don't bother counting it lol.


Kev.

My Outdoor Tropical Pond

by Ricky Grange
First published in the Vancouver Aquatic Hobbyist Club newsletter
Aquarticles
Watching fish in a natural setting has always been particularly appealing to me, so it probably didn’t come as a surprise to my parents when I decided to build a pond in our back yard, located in Vancouver Canada.
I excavated a pit about nine feet by five, and eighteen inches deep, and lined it with newspaper and then with 6 mil poly, which is available at any hardware store. (I replace the liner every year. A proper butyl rubber liner would be ideal).

The first year was a disaster, or at least the first part of the year was…. I stocked my pond with goldfish, but since it was located in full sun, the stagnant water became too hot and depleted of oxygen, so the goldfish did not survive. But I then threw in a couple of cichlids just to get them out of the way, and to my surprise they thrived in the tropical environment. I decided to try some other warm water fish outside, and they too did exceedingly well. Ever since, I have stocked my pond strictly with tropical fish.
I have tried many types of tropicals in my pond, including zebra danios, serpae tetras, rainbows, corydoras catfish, ghost shrimp, killies, kribensis, keyhole cichlids, red devils, angelfish, and even discus. But my favourites are the livebearers, and this year I have guppies, mollies, platies, and Ameca splendens. They breed readily and that is why I like livebearers – it’s not uncommon for them to have three generations of babies by the end of the season. The guppies are by far the most prolific, and just a few pairs can produce several hundred fry by the end of the summer. This year I am keeping killies and dwarf cichlids with the livebearers, and I suspect that the killies are feeding rather heavily on the babies!
Depending on the weather here in Vancouver, I put the fish in my pond as early as May, and bring them back inside sometime during September. On hot days the pond seethes with activity but during cold snaps the fish become very lethargic. However, I don’t think I have ever lost a fish due to the temperature dropping. This is really something when you consider that during a hot day the surface temperature can climb into the 90s and on a cold day it will drop down to the 50s. Surely fish in an aquarium would not stand such large fluctuations of temperature!
One of the problems I have with my pond is that, since it is in full sun, the water has a tendency to turn green with algal blooms. I find I can reduce this by keeping about three quarters of the surface covered with floating plants. An added bonus of having all those plants is that they provide excellent cover for new-born babies. The plants are also the sole source of filtration and aeration.
All in all, the building and maintenance of my "tropical" pond has been hassle-free and inexpensive. The only costs are those of the liner, water conditioners, fish and plants.

Note: An article about the author, Ricky Grange, may be viewed in Aquarticles' PEOPLE section.

i was looking at my dads friends 2000litre koi pond and its lined with white paint so the fish look really colourful so id say if it was white it would be pretty cool

stretnik wrote:

Depending on the weather here in Vancouver, I put the fish in my pond as early as May, and bring them back inside sometime during September.

that sounds like fun, imagine doing that every second day over here

haha sounds like an effort ,
is there such things as pond heaters??

thanks

Black paint or Liner would be better as it would attract the heat and retain it too. The temps here wouldn't make it easy, I did keep White Cloud Mountain Minnows WCMM and they bred and thrived but they were alone and were only outside from Mid June till late July.

Kev.

It wouldn't be very difficult to do. Think of a hot tub!

Think of the ESB! Keeping a large volume, say 2000L at a constant 25 degrees in temperatures of 0 degrees or below would take alot of power. Your poor wallet

haha i was just thinking about it for the future when i have my own house
im only 16 couldnt afford it just yet haha

Better off building a shed, insulating it and putting your tropical pond in that, the heating bill wont then be so massive over 12 months running it.

A fair few watts would be needed to keep a pond at 26ish degrees during the colder 8 months of our year and the heating would be on almost oll of the time.

So all you gotta do to make this cost effective is move somewhere warmer, it would be cheaper in the long run:laugh:

Mark

We've all thought of it,and it sounds great in theory,but,I dont think it would be that great,to be honest.If you had a glass(or acrylic)viewing panel,then different story,thats why tanks are made of see through materials:laugh: Looking down on fish,you often tell the difference between,say an angelfish,and a large tetra.Most fish are camouflaged,or very slim profiles from above to avaoid preditation from birds and the like.

What about lighting?

Maybe remove sections of the Roof and replace with uv proof perspex roofing.


Kev.

Mark. wrote:

Better off building a shed, insulating it and putting your tropical pond in that, the heating bill wont then be so massive over 12 months running it.

i seen a guy on youtube who has this done in his shed, he had oscars in it, and im nearly sure he was irish. he could be a member on this forum!

dyco619 ,
i just found it

it looks great
heated with 4x300watt heaters

I don't mean to pick the proverbial scab but my god a full size arowana in something like that would be amazing!

oh yes thats a beaut although i would definitely have a glass planel on the front

i can just imagine a full 10x10 shed devoted to a pond 4 foot deep ,
filled with some lovely monsters , arowana , oscars , shovelnose cats , red tail cats and more
wish i could have it now !
haha but i will eventually get one when i have my own house

thats the one i was thinking of eric, arowanda would look good in that alright.

okay , yes indeed
has anyone on here got something like this ?

try this
www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/o...w/catid,27/id,31964/

dream tank