cichlids in ponds?

[gregga]

Hey all....

I currently keep 12 tanks stocked with African, CA and SA cichlids. I'm thinking about putting in a pond. I live in NY. Does anyone else keep cichlids in an outdoor pond in a cold-weather city?

Some questions:
- Am I better off digging a hole and putting in a liner or buying a pre-fab plastic pond?
- How do you work filtration? Is there any way to use my large AC500s on a pond to save money (I have 5)?
- Are there guidelines for determining proper pond depth?
- How many months can the fish live comfortably outdoors each year?
- Do you use any heaters? Or just natural sun warmth?

A pond would be a new venture. Sorry for all the questions. Any links would be great as well.......Gregg

[rjl420]

1: liners allow more flexability in design, and most of the prefabs are a max of 18"

2: ac filters won't work too good because they wont move the water enough (even with 3-5 of em) plus you'd be cleaning them far too often. tetra pond (http://www.tetra-fish.com/pond/filters1.html) makes some gravity fed filters that are reasonably priced. I've used them in the past and although you have to clean them more often than an inline system, they get the job done.

3: usually with koi, a 3 foot depth is reccomended. since your going to be growing out cichlids a depth of 2 feet is probably adequate, but keep in mind the deeper the pond, the more places the fish can go to escape predators (racoons, herons etc...)

4: that depends on the weather near you. as long as the pond temp stays steadily at or about 70 degees you'll be fine. once it starts dropping below that you will need to move that back indoors

5: I don't use heaters (but I keep koi in my pond), you can heat a pond but it can get VERY expensive. long term there are propane and gas heaters but I think that's a little extreme and would involve something like a pool cover to keep the heat in, best to just bring the fish indoors.