cold pond

[OrandaPond]

Hi fish lovers,
Well it’s winter already and water temperature is going down. I have a preformed pond (129 gallons) and about a foot is buried underground. I used to have this pond inside so I didn’t really worry about my fish in the winter. But now I have my baby girl walking around the house and decided to leave the pond outside. All of my fish are fancies 1 moor, 3 orandas and one ranchu and I have done some research and found out that these fish aren’t as hardy as other goldfish. Water temperature is around 45F and goldies are settling down in the pond at nights.

Should I buy a heater and leave it in the pond all winter? Planning on buying one at Wal-Mart 200w but it says that it’s for 30-60gallons would this work? Any suggestions/recommendations on what I should do to keep my fish from freezing

 

[addy1]

A lot of people use the cattle trough heaters, that might be too much for your pond though. How cold does it get where you are at?

You might want to put a cover on your pond to help keep it warm. Any heater will help, just will it keep ahead of the cold is the ?.

 

[j.w]

You could put in more than one of those heaters to make up for the size of your pond. If your pond is plastic just make sure the heaters can't get too near the pond sides or bottom or it could melt.

 

[shakaho]

Do you have a basement where you could put your pond? From what I've heard, that's too cold for fancy goldfish. Even a 55 gallon aquarium would be better even though it would be overstocked.

 

[oldmarine]

You could put in more than one of those heaters to make up for the size of your pond. If your pond is plastic just make sure the heaters can't get too near the pond sides or bottom or it could melt.

Right along with what JW suggested. I have a in ground pond simular to yours that is 365 gallons, and for the last two winters I used a 150 watt submersible aquarium heater in my filter reservor. Even when the temps were down in the teens (F), the pond never had ice form on it. I have the heater arranged in a DIY (home made) tube system that goes into the water pump intake, and this doesn't allow the heater to touch anything that could melt. It works great for this size of pond.

 

[OrandaPond]

Usually it's around the 20sF some days it goes down to the teensF mainly at nights. I have a shade over the pond and its surrounded by my house on two sides so the cold wind doesnt affect the pond that much and I was thinking on putting plastic to cover the other sides. Thanks addy1!

 

[OrandaPond]

I hadnt thought that the heater could melt the plastic. Do you think putting a brick or rocks under the heater could prevent the heater from melting the pond. Thanks j.w

 

[OrandaPond]

Shakaho,
No i dont have a basement and I only have two ten gallon aquariums. I would hate to put my fancies in something so small. Yes heard that too and Im very confuse because some articles say that fancies arent hardy fish and other say that the cold will not affect them because they will enter into hibernation mode.
Thanks

 

[OrandaPond]

oldmarine
that sounds like a good idea. You have any picture on how you did that?

 

[addy1]

oldmarine
that sounds like a good idea. You have any picture on how you did that?

You could take a 4 inch (diameter) pvc pipe and hang the heater in it. Drill small holes in the top of the pvc, use wire ties, zip ties to anchor the heater so it can not move. Hang that in your pond.

This way the heater is protected from bumping around and the pond is protected from the heater.

 

[stroppy]

yes i would cover it, if you use a heater that will help keep the heat in and make a cover for your heater like addy said, i have also heard they are no where near as hardy, but if you keep it well covered they should be ok

 

[oldmarine]

oldmarine
that sounds like a good idea. You have any picture on how you did that?

No, sorry. I forgot to take pictures of this project, but the whole unit itself snaps together. I will take it apart and take pictures. I will attempt to post pics of how I put this heater canister together.

 

[koisRus]

I would not use a aquarium heater for the fact the lowest temp setting is around 68 degrees, it would run all the time. If you insist on using one look at the Rena Smart Heaters, no glass, and I believe you can touch them when they are on without getting burned.

You can also cover your pond, I am going to build a hoop house over mine with 1-1/2" electrical pvc and cover it with 6 mil plastic.

 

[OrandaPond]

Addy1 thats an awsome idea hadnt thought about it. Best of all I have some pvc and dont have tobuy it.
Thanks

 

[OrandaPond]

Thanks Oldmarine that willbe of great help and always enjoy looking at different diy projects