Thinking ahead. Small deck "pond" in winter.

[PondMomma]

Ok, so right now I have 4 fish I'm keeping out of the big pond. They are currently in a small whiskey barrel but this is a temporary home. I want to buy or make a bigger home for next year when they're grown. The thing is can they stay outside year round in a 100 gallon or less set up that would set on my back deck? I'm in zone 7b, it's right next to the house on our covered deck. If there's nothing premade I could buy that would insulate them enough to winter outside I would have no problem building something if I could insulate it. Would there be a minimum depth like regular ponds?

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I'm in Northeast Ohio. I used a livestock de-icer for my stock tank pond. Also ran sponge filters and airstones all winter. I had the tank right up against my house and used straw bales around the rest of the tank for insulation. When it got real cold I also covered the top of the tank with a piece of plywood. The water never even iced over. Fish were fine for 2 winters in this set up.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Forgot to add, the depth should really be at least 2 feet and even better if you can get a little deeper.

 

[PondMomma]

It rarely gets cold enough that even my 600+ gallon pond freezes so i don't worry about actually icing really . Do you think a heater would be enough for such a small pond? I just don't know what's the lowest temp they can handle in such a small outdoor pond.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I'm not sure about a heater as they are made for indoor use in aquariums.

The temperatures in my stock tank stayed in the upper 30s and lower 40s on the coldest days. Goldfish didn't have a problem with it.