Hi everyone....new to this forum. I have a question. I have a 35 gallon patio pond.I know its a baby. lol Years ago had a 1200 gallon. Anyway I was wondering when the winter months come and the temp drops to where the fish go dormant and don't eat...instead of letting the cold weather take over and it freezes, (don't want to use a de-icer) I was wondering if I put a submergible heater like I have in my 30 gallon inside aquarium, keep it warm enough so that they are active year round. Has anyone ever tried this and do you think it would work???? Appreciate any feedback. Thanks and glad to be here.
Patio Ponds & Aquarium Heaters
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sissy
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depends on where you are in NC as you could just keep a pump in there moving water to keep it from freezing .Not sure those submersable heaters for inside could take the cold weather outside .The pond deicer you can get really cheap this time of the year but even a 100 watt one may be too much for 35 gallons .You could use an air pump like the one at petco .it has 4 outlets and is less than 30 dollars i have had one for 4 years now and it still works great .You will just have protect it from getting wet .
I have a great STRONG filtration system and also a spitter...so the water is moving great. I have horses and I have a de-icer I bought a couple years ago for a water trough. I could use that....Same one they are selling for ponds......but I was wanting to keep enjoying them all year round..lol I may just try it and see how it goes. I am near the Va. line in North Carolina..closer to the coast. We hardly ever see snow...like they do inland...thanks for answering.
sissy
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I am near NC about 15 minutes but more inland as the bottom center of the state near the Martinsville Speedway .We saw a little last year but the year before was bad .I have a friend who lives near Norfolk
brandonsdad02
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I have a air pump in my pond. You should keep it covered but mine has been just sitting next to the pond for the past 2 years now and its still going strong. I live in Iowa so we do get some awesome storms sometimes. I tried keeping my pond going last winter but I just couldn't keep the water open. I tried everything but since my pump is inside my skimmer box it was hard. Once the ice started to form inside the skimmer box I just shut it down for the winter. I had to get a stock tank to bring the fish inside and slowly brought them up to room temp water. I took pond water and put it in the stock tank, then put large chunks of ice from the pond and put them in the stock tank as well. drained the rest of the pond and caught the fish to bring inside. I didn't loose a single fish. but I did miss a few that were hiding in the pond. I tried the aquarium heater too and it just ran non stop. The fish enjoyed it because they are all around it but it just wasn't big enough.
welcome kathy... i would think your idea could work as the heaters don't come on till temp gets to low and then shuts off at a predetermined temp? between using that, your strong filter and air i would think you would be good to go... worse case scenario would be bring inside?
taherrmann4
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You may need to insulate the outside of the pond if it is exposed and you may want to have a cover for it with a small vent hole for the nights where it is going to get really cold.
If you can maintain the temp your fish would think they were in the middle of summer. As so absolutely you can do this.
However, if there's a problem it's probably going to be a big problem. Heater fails, power goes out, a 35 gal above ground pond is going to cool very fast if this all happens during a cold period. Fish can deal with cold water if the temp goes down slowly. It's impossible to predict, but In this case the smart money would be on the fish dying.
The R factor for poured concrete 10" thick is 0.8. The R factor for dry stacked concrete blocks with gaps is zero. Your bricks provide no insulation and may even pull energy out of the pond.
I read a lot of forums on raising tilapia and many people heat the water in winter. In one case a guy had a huge tank in his basement and was using 2 large aquarium heaters. They worked great right up until one melted. Not only did it kill all the fish but it filled his home with a smell so bad they had to stay in hotel while it got cleaned up. Aquarium heaters are designed to work indoors where the ambient temperature is reasonable, so they're expected to raise the water temp 10 to 20 degrees. Outside they could be running 100% of the time, well beyond their intended use. Just depends on how lucky you are.
Experienced tilapia growers seem to either heat the building or use a heating element from a hot water tank. I would guess there are manufactured heaters made to handle cold weather, but I can't remember reading of anyone using one.
However, if there's a problem it's probably going to be a big problem. Heater fails, power goes out, a 35 gal above ground pond is going to cool very fast if this all happens during a cold period. Fish can deal with cold water if the temp goes down slowly. It's impossible to predict, but In this case the smart money would be on the fish dying.
The R factor for poured concrete 10" thick is 0.8. The R factor for dry stacked concrete blocks with gaps is zero. Your bricks provide no insulation and may even pull energy out of the pond.
I read a lot of forums on raising tilapia and many people heat the water in winter. In one case a guy had a huge tank in his basement and was using 2 large aquarium heaters. They worked great right up until one melted. Not only did it kill all the fish but it filled his home with a smell so bad they had to stay in hotel while it got cleaned up. Aquarium heaters are designed to work indoors where the ambient temperature is reasonable, so they're expected to raise the water temp 10 to 20 degrees. Outside they could be running 100% of the time, well beyond their intended use. Just depends on how lucky you are.
Experienced tilapia growers seem to either heat the building or use a heating element from a hot water tank. I would guess there are manufactured heaters made to handle cold weather, but I can't remember reading of anyone using one.
Wow you have brought up a ton of good points....wonder why someone has not designed an outdoor heater (not just a de-icer) to heat ponds during the winter months. Thanks bunches for your insight. Going to rethink this or find a heater that WILL keep it above freezing. I have an electric 15 gallon horse tub that keeps the water during the winter at 59 degrees. It never gets close to freezing. Going to my equine distributors and check their sites for water trough heaters....they are made to run continous. Thanks again. Will post what I find out.
)This de-icer is recomended for patio ponds...http://www.jeffersequine.com/premium-utility-de-icer/camid/EQU/cp/5F-U1/cn/2566/
This is a great idea but its just a bucket heater.... http://www.jeffersequine.com/bucket-heater/camid/EQU/cp/AN-B1/cn/2566/
Found them but not for my size pond.... http://www.heatingyourpond.com/submersible-heaters.html
As I said, I assume there are. The forums I read who used elements out of water heaters said things like DIY being cheaper. Can't be a huge market for 35 gal pond heaters.