Want to keep my pond above 60F - Zone 6b

[Mmathis]

@Meyer Jordan NOT about the basement, but was asking for your opinion about the science of maintaining a stock tank at or above 60 degrees in a 30 degree garage with use of a heater.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

@Meyer Jordan NOT about the basement, but was asking for your opinion about the science of maintaining a stock tank at or above 60 degrees in a 30 degree garage with use of a heater.

Like most things with a pond or aquarium, it depends. Size of the tank will be the most influencing factor. Considering that 3 - 5 watts per gallon of water is the rule of thumb for determining size, the use of a heater could get a little pricey with a tank of any real size, not only in the initial cost of the heater unit but in the electrical consumption.required to continuously moderate a 30 degree difference in temperature.
As I stated similarly concerning the basement, I would spend the money on a little insulation and heat the entire garage utilizing the home heating system if possible I would think that it would be less expensive and more consistent in the long term.

 

[Lisak1]

I can tell you this - our sump pump runs constantly all winter long (zone 5) with no issues. Due to the layout of our property we get lots of water in our yard. The only concern would be where the sump pumps TO - ours is pumping directly into the storm sewer now, but for many years the discharge was in the front yard, which did cause us some issues with icing and excess water to some bushes which kept dying - hence the reason we had to re-direct the water.

 

[bmitchell486]

I would ask your plumber about this for confirmation, but I think it would work fine.....afterall, a sump is designed to remove water. Very pretty fish

Thanks -- I didn't think of that! From the discussion here, I am feeling pretty confident the sump pump will be able to handle it, but I'll still call a plumber to get their opinion.

 

[bmitchell486]

Hello
Can a sump pump in zone 6b handle consuming my water changes from a 110 pond in my basement all winter?

Yes it can or should be able to with no problem.
But you need to find out this info
How many gph is the pump
What size pipe is going out from the sump
Does the sump pump out to a sewer or street or out to a gravel reservoir and then percolate back in to the ground.
Will it freeze. Hummm
Well
If you your basement stays 60 de I doubt it specificly if the pipe is at least 3 feet below ground and below ground freeze.
Another thing since the pipe it self is not full of water and is,bigger then 3" it should not freeze solid at most only the water at the bottom of the pipe will freeze. And that will melt when you pour warmer water down.

Of course the above all depends if everything was installed right to begin with.

But again unless the water is not draining at all it should not freeze solid.

Ruben

Hmm, I have no idea. I've looked down there but have not inspected the pump. I will look to see the size of the pipe and pump.

I also do not know where it goes. We do not have water draining into our street, like I've seen at some people's houses. It also isn't pumped into our yard... I imagine it pumps into an underground sewage line, but will confirm with a plumber.

Thanks for the advice!!!

 

[bmitchell486]

Like most things with a pond or aquarium, it depends. Size of the tank will be the most influencing factor. Considering that 3 - 5 watts per gallon of water is the rule of thumb for determining size, the use of a heater could get a little pricey with a tank of any real size, not only in the initial cost of the heater unit but in the electrical consumption.required to continuously moderate a 30 degree difference in temperature.
As I stated similarly concerning the basement, I would spend the money on a little insulation and heat the entire garage utilizing the home heating system if possible I would think that it would be less expensive and more consistent in the long term.

Thank you for this assessment. My preferred option was the basement. But I didn't want to get down there with 110 gallons and realize that my sump wasn't designed to handle it, and be stuck with buckets! This further confirms for me that the garage really is not a good option. It is not an insulated garage, so I think heating the water, and heating the ambient temperature of the whole garage would both be expensive.

 

[bmitchell486]

I can tell you this - our sump pump runs constantly all winter long (zone 5) with no issues. Due to the layout of our property we get lots of water in our yard. The only concern would be where the sump pumps TO - ours is pumping directly into the storm sewer now, but for many years the discharge was in the front yard, which did cause us some issues with icing and excess water to some bushes which kept dying - hence the reason we had to re-direct the water.

Interesting. I'm glad to know they do work all winter. The water is not disposed into my yard/street, so I am thinking it probably pumps into a store sewer, but will confirm with a plumber.

Thanks for the comment!

 

[sissy]

most sump pump hose are 1 1/4 they sell the hoses for them at hardware stores .I use sump pump hose for my pond pumps .Cheaper than pond hose and been using the same ones for about 9 years now

 

[Gary Graham]

Hey All,

I have a 110 tuff stuff above ground stocktank pond, in zone 6b. I've got 6 tosai ranchu in there, hatched april 2016, about 4-5 inches. I want to keep them in the 60's-70's during the winter so they can continue eating/growing.

I have two options:

1: Put it in my basement. Temp there will be around 65 all winter, I'd probably add a heater to put them at 70. With this option, I will need to siphon water into my sump. Has anyone ever done this before? Could this cause problems for my sump?

2: Put it in my garage. Temps there will be around 30, but can get into the teens on really cold nights. With this option, would an aquarium heater work, set to 65 degrees? I've been looking at marineland and ehiem 300-400 watt heaters. The manufacturer websites recommend using them to heat aquariums to only 15 degrees above the ambient room temp, but obviously the ambient temp would be much greater than that. I don't want to break the heater and have a problem. What is my best heater type option here? Has anyone had success with this?

I apologize for making another thread. I was reading through others, because I'm sure the same questions are asked multiple times. But everything I found was advice on helping a pond to not freeze solid, but I want to keep mine above 60 degrees.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

Hi i am in the Uk although our temps are not like the states where i live we get around -3 degrees over winter, my pond is 900 hundred gallons and is raised, i use 3 tank heaters over the winter all set at 30 degrees, this stops freezing and stops water getting too cold, this has worked for past 3 years, hope this helps.

 

[sissy]

I lived in NJ and my sump pump handled my sons large fish tank even in the winter .The only time I had problems with it was when the pump went out .But it was 15 years old so it had a good life