Well I am posting here, cause lets face it, I am the last soul in the universe that is still winter ponding! So I have this idea and I would like to hear your guys advise, cause I need it and.... it is lonely in this section! LOL

I am thinking about getting out my 120 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank and setting up a little pond on my deck and putting in my goldfish babies I saved and my 3 Koi I am growing in the aquariums. I figured this would prepare them in a slower way for the pond in a couple of months! So here's my problem. Do I want the extra hassles of a little pond when I have 2 ponds already? And....the big thing
is I KNOW it will freeze over at night because the big clay pond totally freezes over ever night still. But........with the "waterfall" effect from my little giant filter, it might be enough movement to prevent the freezing. And, oh gosh, it would be awefully nice to be able to see some fish, even if it is just a little pond! I think if I got busy, I could have it set up in a day :-) Remember this is desperation talking here! LOL LOL

Well I think it's a good idea if for nothing else it would make you feel better :)
BUT.. how cold does it get at night? My little pond has with stood come cold temps with my little pump and aerator. It is an inground pond so it's not exactly the same for comparison. I would think the temps you are having right now are what we have in the winter here. You could try it without the fish to see what would happen.
I say GO FOR IT!!! :) :)

PS what do you think of my new avatar that a nice person gave me special?

KK

Why not treat it like an on-deck hottub? Go to a home improvement store and get a sheet of 2 inch thick styrofoam and make a box for your Rubbermaid stock tank(make sure to put a piece UNDER the tank), put a 200 watt variable heater in the tank and cover the tank at night with a piece of the styrofoam. This would keep it from losing heat and freezing at night. With the heater, you could gradually bring the temperature down over a period of weeks until it was the same as the pond temp. In the meantime, you could enjoy the fish during the day and protect them at night.

Don

OKAY I will DO IT!!! You are right, I will try it out without the fishy's. Man, they are gonna hate me, but if your gonna be a fish in this neck of the woods then you gotta be a tough one! I think your new Avatar is a good choice for your spring weather, lol, I bet the person that gave it to you is honoured that you used it ;)
Okay well I am revved up on coffee and ready to go pull out the "pond" and get busy!

P.S. We are going to the SPCA today to see if a little doggy I like is still there so we can maybe bring her home....I am SO excited!

Remember to take your camera :)

You go girl.

Well it is 12 noon here and the pond is done! LOL I kill myself when I get an idea! No leaks and everything is pumping and filtering nicely. This is just a quick pix, no fish in there yet or anything......but....... the day is young!

AAAAaahhhhh, I am thinking I am dumber than I look! I just checked the water temp in the "new deck pond" and it is 42F. The fish are in water right now that is 72F. If I put them out there, even if I take 8 hours to adjust them, I am not going to be able to feed them. Won't they get a little confused about what is going on?
Now my joy went to "what are you braindead". I am thinking about putting in some of the bigger babies and see how they do??? I am NOT putting in my prize Koi boys. I really hate to pick favourites like that but with the Koi ban I am going to be extremely careful with the ones I got! What should I do??

K, I just noticed that you didn't even get any water on the deck.
Girl you are good!! :) B)

I can't answer that one. I think you are right not to put the koi in first though. My fish are going to hate me for saying that. Aren't goldfish hardier in colder temps than koi? :blink:

Yes, gold fish are hardier than koi, so try them first anyway.

Or just try and warm the water up with body heat (nudge nudge wink wink)

:P

Derrick

Good going KK that was quick. Are you going to add a heater to the stock tank? That way you can feed. I was reading your post about your location and what the heck is a Muskeg? Any fish left in the clay pond?
You realize you have taken over the lead from Derrick as the most desperate :blink: ponder on this forum. ;)
Concerning myself you know you have a problem when you look into a dumpster and see something that you know you can turn into something usefull in a pond application. Happened to me yesterday. :ph43r: I just try to convince myself I'm saving the planet in my small little way. :lol:

More desperate than Derrick!!!!! OMG, I think it's time to call those people to come take me away!!!! I do have heaters, and have a special one just for this "pond" I just don't think it will keep up at night time :-(

I don't think there are any fish left in the clay pond cause I think it froze solid, but that hasn't stopped me from going down there everyday and looking!

A muskeg is, hhhmmmm, how to put this!! A muskeg is ground that floats on top of water (like a swamp) It is like walking on solid ground, but the ground moves when you walk on it. If you drive on it you can drop right out of site. The next time I get a chance when I am out and about, I will take a picture of it. If you have ever watched anything on the building of the Alaska highway, you will see all the problems they had with it!!

Wow, KK, you are too fast for me! By the time I read your first post asking for advice, you had already installed the pond!

You are right, you want the pond temperature to be at least within say 10 degrees of the temperature the fish are used to now. You can either slowly cool the fish or heat up the outside pond. It may just be too early yet to put fish out there. Perhaps some fake fish will do for a while?

:D

I will carve you a bar of soap that looks like a fish to float around in the tub! ;)

Derrick

THE SOAP WHITTLER, where do your talents end?

KK you are funny go for it girl heat em up drop em in. You know you are going to do it LOL

Good luck!

C2

Yes, I am much like The Horse Whisperer...only I have soap instead of a horse...and I whittle instead of whistle...but other than that, identical!! :D

Elaine, you must have spring fever bad......I just checked in and missed the whole thing. If nothing else, your deck pond will let you hear the water, as for the fish, I'm not sure............they're gonna stay on the bottom and you won't see 'em anyway. Now if the rubbermaid was clear instead of black..................

Well I didn't post last night because I was too busy with my feet up on the pond, watching the fish and drinking beer.....and freezing my butt off! I put 4 goldfish in, 3 of my babies and 1 other golfish about 3 inches long. Trust, it would be the coldest night we have had in awhile at 12F and -12C!!!! I did put a large chunk of styrofoam over the top for the night and it didn't ice over so it must have helped a lot. This morning everyone was still alive and well. A couple werent moving too fast but the smallest guy was swimming around. It is a nice addition to the deck and I think I might just leave it there for the summer. It will be nice once I can put some plants out around it.

Yaahooo!!! Sucess is sweet isn't it? Glad they made it. I was wondering what would happen. My fish huddle up near a plant or rock at the bottom. I don't know about in a pond but on the ground a rock will hold the heat in for a long time. My littlest guy swims around more that the bigger ones too. 12 degrees F is cold! :o

KK

The styrofoam thing works well. My younger brother who also lives in northern Illinois has a small styrofoam surrounded hot tub on his deck with a styro top and uses it yearround. He tells me that when he comes home from work in the winter, that there is nothing neater than sitting in the hot tub with the snow falling around him. You could surround your pond with styrofoam and then create a faux rock covering for the surround and make it a yearround pond that you could cover when you weren't outside watching your fish.

Don

LOL, yes the possiblities are endless! I however think in my area that the winter idea would just not work! That thing would freeze solid no matter what I did to it. I am however going to spruce it up for the summer and enjoy it immensely.