Keeping hot ponds cool

Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
13
Country
United States
Hi all!
So, I am in Texas and it gets hot, hot, hot here. I am not a native, am from the UK, so am still learning how to deal with the heat myself.

I am mildly concerned about the heat and my fish to be. It can get over 100 for a week or more! I am planning on putting a few things into place such as:
Deepest part of pond to be 3.5 to 4 feet
Pond will be around 1,800 - 2,000 gallon - more water, slower to heat
Lots of plants such as water hyacinth, hornwort, and then iris around the edges
A shade sail or large umbrellas over most of the pond
A bubbler/fountain for water movement and evaporation (I don't have a waterfall)
The pond is intentionally in the lee of the house so for half the day it will be shaded
Trickle water changes to keep overall temperature a bit lower in the hottest weather
I am also thinking of setting up two 50 gallon stock tanks to act as extra filtration/bog/baby fish tank which I can dig into the ground to help keep cool, at the most shaded point of the garden, if the extra water volume will help and if passing through a slightly colder part of the garden will cool the water a little.

I'm very interested to hear from others that live in hot areas how they deal with long summers. I will be keeping mostly goldfish with maybe one or two koi. I also have some fancy goldfish that I think would do well outdoors and they might go in one of my stock tanks attached to the pond system. I also have a couple of axolotl that I would love to keep outside most of the year too in their own stock tank in the deepest shade but I suspect this won't be feasible.

I have a couple of ideas that I wonder if anyone has tried -

If I raise the main pump off the bottom of the pond so that the deepest water isn't really being pulled by the pump, will it keep the deepest part cooler as it won't be circulated up to the warmer part?

Has anyone tried attaching a small portable cooler to an outside socket? Or is this going to be really expensive and pointless?

What about solar powered fans? I have seen some nice ones that aren't too pricey and seem to last. A couple of those pointed across the surface of the water might reduce the overall temperature by a couple of degrees? And won't cost in electricity! Or is this simply not going to be enough?

Any tips, tricks or advice would be really appreciated! I am sure there are people here that deal with much hotter weather than I do!
 

sissy

sissy
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
33,086
Reaction score
15,707
Location
Axton virginia
Showcase(s):
1
Hardiness Zone
7A
Country
United States
plants give off oxygen during the day but use it up at night .A few here use shade sails .shade is the best and most natural way to cool the pond .A fan may cause evaporation of water
 
Joined
Sep 19, 2018
Messages
14
Reaction score
13
Country
United States
Thanks Sissy; I will be keeping a bubbler or two or a fountain on permanently in the summer to up the oxygen level. I don't really mind if there is evaporation, I tend to do daily upkeep on all my animals/plants so I will just top it off as needed. Looks like I will def be buying some shade sails though!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
31,469
Messages
517,328
Members
13,671
Latest member
Susieh

Latest Threads

Top