Mini livebearer pond

[Foxes are fuzzy]

I'm thinking about setting up a small molly or guppy pond with this pond liner from home depot. The only fishkeeping experience I have is a BBA covered 20 long. Do y'all think I could overwinter it with a normal aquarium heater? The winters here in south Louisiana aren't very cold, but it does dip below freezing sometimes.
Also, filtration. I have two old HOB aquarium filters rated for 10-20 gallon tanks, but if that wont cut it, could I use a pump like this one to pump water to box full of sponge and rock (sorta like Aquapro's)? I'm also gonna plant it with stuff like irises, hornwort, and water lettuce. Any advice is welcome.

 

[Ray G]

Hi there
in your climate I reckon it is possible BUT if you are away and the power goes out in winter they are dead! Why not try some fancy goldfish in the pond? They are equally interesting to watch.
Ray

 

[Foxes are fuzzy]

Thanks for answering so fast! I thought 35 gallons was a little small for goldfish but I am obviously not the expert.

 

[j.w]

@Foxes are fuzzy Yep I think that's a bit too small for goldfish as they can get several inches long. I have a few that are maybe 8" or so. Guppies can survive colder temps but not sure about the Mollies. If you can use that aquarium heater I think that would work. @callingcolleen1 lives in cold Canada and she has guppy ponds outside and uses an aquarium heather I believe.

 

[EricV]

Are you going to bury it or keep it above ground?

 

[Foxes are fuzzy]

I was thinking above ground so I could move it if I needed to.

 

[addy1]

I was thinking above ground so I could move it if I needed to.

Welcome to our group!

Above ground makes the water even colder. The ground helps insulate the pond.

 

[Foxes are fuzzy]

Welcome to our group!

Above ground makes the water even colder. The ground helps insulate the pond.

Hm..... I didn't think about burying it. If I can find a good spot in the yard that might be the way to go. Thanks for all the replies!

 

[bettasngoldfish]

You could certainly keep guppies in a 35 gallon pond (although once full you will probably have closer to 30 gallons) I think it would be really neat. If your worried about the winter weather you could always bring them indoors.

The HOB filters probably aren't the best choice for filtration on a little pond. You could get away with a sponge filter powered by an airpump.

 

[Sparky]

HOB woulndnt be my first choice. Sponge fits the bill nicely.

 

[Foxes are fuzzy]

Ok, so no on the HOBs but does anybody have experience keeping mollies outdoors? Also, how will I protect the air pump?
Sorry bout all the questions, but I've never done a pond before.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

You can use a rubbermaid storage container. I use mine for winter and my hubby drilled out holes for the cord and air lines to pass through. Not very attractive but it works. You can also use something like a flower pot turned upside down (with a hole cut at the bottom for cords, airline, and air flow) This summer I bought a small solar powered air pump for my whiskey barrel pond and am using a toad house to cover the pump.

 

[callingcolleen1]

View attachment 122726@Foxes are fuzzy Yep I think that's a bit too small for goldfish as they can get several inches long. I have a few that are maybe 8" or so. Guppies can survive colder temps but not sure about the Mollies. If you can use that aquarium heater I think that would work. @callingcolleen1 lives in cold Canada and she has guppy ponds outside and uses an aquarium heather I believe.

Guppies need warm water and I kept them warm with two fish tank heaters and covered the pond very well. They survived and now I have platies in that pond too!

 

[SherrysPond]

callingcolleen1 has some great videos of her guppy ponds!! So many pretty, happy guppies!! I love guppies, and would LOVE to add some fancys to my pond, my winters sometimes get below freezing, although my pond gets no ice. I wouldn't want any guppies to suffer, though. Iv'e seen on here that mosquito fish will be mean to guppies, too, and I have them in my pond. I have a 90 gallon aquarium ready to set up, however.......

 

[Phaewryn]

Hello Colleen,

I've just finished building my first pond and I threw some of my grossly overpopulated indoor tank's guppies out there and in hindsight decided to see if they could possibly survive and found this forum via a Google search. I am wondering how you kept your guppies alive over the winter outdoors?

I'm in Zone 5 in Southern Vermont, and I'd love to see/hear how you managed keeping guppies alive all winter in an outdoor pond. What zone are you in? How cold/long are the winters there? What wattage/type of aquarium heaters did you use? How big/deep is your successful winter guppy pond? How did you cover it, with what type of insulation?

I've been just trying to give my excess of guppies away for free, and was considering the ones I put outside as good as dead, but if there is a way to keep them alive, I'd sure be interested in how it's done! My pond is 65 gallons (but not 100% level so likely not holding that much), with a 9 gallon waterfall and a 5 gallon cascade (but they are not holding that much since I've added gravel to those elements). I have a small waterfall box with a 1 foot drop into the 9 gallon pool, then a near 2 foot drop into the cascade, which flows into the pond where the fish are. It's driven by a 1200gph pump with a box filter in the pond and bio media in the waterfall box. The pump is split between the falls and a small fountainhead on a valve in the main pool. I planned to remove the pump and drain the falls when it got close to freezing outside (and bring the waterfall box indoors), and I was just going to let the pond freeze, but I am interested in possibly keeping the main pond going if the fish can survive the winter. I didn't think it was possible. I'd love to get a deep dive into your guppy pond's success.

Regards,

Jules (I'm a newb here - and at ponds in general)

Guppies need warm water and I kept them warm with two fish tank heaters and covered the pond very well. They survived and now I have platies in that pond too!