Summer Pond in the Southern AZ Heat

[Shayna]

Hey all, I'm questioning my summer plans for this pond. (Plant leaves look a bit rough from the unusual frost but the water is heated)
I moved here from the Midwest and brought my guppies, bushynose plecos, and red cherry shrimp with me. All are very happy and spawning.

I plan to bury the pond in the ground in our fenced yard, pond is about 2 feet deep 125ish gallons. I plan to put it in a well shaded area and find some elephant ear (taro) It's very well aerated and the waterfall is adjustable to offer more flow from the canister. Great for hummingbirds! I have a controller that will alert me if the temps get too high, but I'm just curious if my plan will likely work? If the water temps rise into the upper 80s to 90 , I could be looking at a massive fish kill. It is a smaller pond, but I also have small tropical fish, and I know people keep cold water fish year round in ponds here. Thoughts please?

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group!

AZ can be rough on ponds, if you have it shaded, with plants, location, it might be ok. I had three different ponds in AZ two smallish one very large. I kept the small ones in a shaded area of the yard, they were liner ponds in the ground. Probably around 200-300 gallons. I had a lot of aeration i.e. waterfall. The fish did ok. I only had gold fish.

Having yours in the ground will help.

 

[j.w]

@Shayna

 

[Shayna]

Thanks for the welcomes! They gives me done hope that this isn't a lost hope. I'll give it a try and keep a watch eye on it.

 

[ki5ka]

Hi Shayna, I live in Yuma, so we have similar concerns.

I started with a 60 gallon pond that I put in the ground in the shade. After a few months I decided it wasn't big enough to keep fish healthy and algae in control so I dug a pond. I really didn't have a clear idea of how big it was going to be when I started, just knew I wanted it to be about 4' deep to keep it cool. It ended up being 600 gallons. Max depth is 3 1/2 feet. It stays quite cool even in July.

Honestly, digging the 600 gallon hole really wasn't that different from digging the 60 gallon hole. Once you get below the surface, the hole just sort of grows by itself. I know that sounds like I'm being flippant, but really, its that first part of getting below the surface that is difficult, once your body is down in the hole, things are easier.

Pumps... I started with a 150 gph, then a 2400 gph pump, now we have a 4200 gph dry pump and we absolutely love it. It gives us a lively flow and our algae problems went away and the water stays clear.

Our pond supports 8 koi and a bunch of guppies (mosquito fish). We love our hummers: Costas, Anna's, Calliope, and finches, and sparrows. Our Cannas do well in the bog as well as Umbrella plants and Mint. We had a Plumeria in a pot, sitting in the bog that did well in the summer but dropped all its leaves this winter. Not sure if it is just a seasonal thing or too much water... We planted Watercress in the middle of last summer and lost the half that was in the afternoon sun. We have a lot more established now and have a bush that we have allowed to grow up to provide shade, so we hope that this summer more of the Watercress will survive.

Good luck with your project!