View Full Version : Arizona Outdoor Pond???
mcox3
09-10-2007, 12:39 PM
Do you think this would be possible???
Does anyone keep a pond locally?
I'm skeptical because of the extreme heat during the summer months.
I'm wondering what the temps would be and what factors affect it.
Sploke
09-10-2007, 12:58 PM
If you made it deep enough (4' maybe) and large enough volume, you should be able to maintain cool enough temps. Another good thing would be to use lots of water hyacinth to shade the water. Not sure though, hopefully someone with personal experience can add in. Or, make it 2' deep and breed discus in it when its like 90 degreees.
I was thinking of putting together a 7' x 7' x 2.75'
but it would be above ground in the shade on my back porch. maybe I could enclose a section of it.
I really dont want to buy one of these (http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idProduct~AL1323.html).
Desertponder
09-12-2007, 3:37 PM
The heat can sure be a headache at times but you should be able to manage. If its going to be above ground I would make it a full 3 feet deep. The water will be cooler towards the bottom. Placing it in the shade will help some. I don't know how well any water plants will do for you in the shade. One thing I have seen people in hot climates do is build pergolas over the pond. This allows some sun in and also provides some shade.
If you have the freezer space, one thing you can do for the days when things get too warm is keep plastic gallon milk jugs of water frozen. You can put them in the pond to help cool the water.
ah, well I wasnt planning on having any plants.
this is going to be more of a giant aquarium, but since it will most likely be kept outside, i decided to call it a pond.
Good idea on the frozen jugs.
Desertponder
09-13-2007, 2:10 PM
Shade sails are another option for shading. Some folks don't like the looks of them in their yard but they do help.
Plants, particularly floating types like lilies, water hyacinths, etc. help shade and cool the water. They could be an asset in your climate.
I'm going to see if I can convince my girl that closing off part of the back porch is a good idea...
I think with an insulated room it wont be so bad... maybe a fan to keep the air moving inside.
Plus I've got misters back there that help cool things down, maybe i can put them on a timer.
This is what I had in mind.
just 2x4 frames with drywall on the inside and tongue and grove 4x8s on the outside with insulation in between.
and thats a cieling fan.
-Wow, I made my house look pretty small lol. Hey, i'm at work and all i've got is MS paint. :P
Drawing is not to scale.
ThePetFreak
11-06-2007, 8:09 AM
I live in Phoenix, Arizona
My outdoor pond is 6' x 3.5' x 3' it is in the shade for most of the day, only getting a few hours of direct sunlight per day. In the highest of summers I get about 93 F, winters are a low of 45 F. I have a few red-eared sliders, comet goldfish & shubunkin goldfish. None of which seem to mind the heat, all eat and act normal.
Hetepheres
01-13-2008, 2:05 PM
This is what I had in mind.
just 2x4 frames with drywall on the inside and tongue and grove 4x8s on the outside with insulation in between.
and thats a cieling fan.
-Wow, I made my house look pretty small lol. Hey, i'm at work and all i've got is MS paint. :P
I live in Phoenix, and I think my house is oriented same as yours, north facing, east/West etc. and my patio is like that. I don't think I'd do it.
Where you are thinking of putting it is a spot like where I tried keeping potted plants and the morning sun in July/Aug/Sept was cooking them. I can only put cacti there. I think your tank/pond would easily reach 100° by 9:00 a.m. at least. This will start happening as soon as the sun hits it.
Underground provides an enormous amount of insulation from the heat. Even in full sun, if you have water lilies and you have dug deep enough, say 2.5 to 3 feet, the fish should be okay. When I was a kid, we had a small bathtub sized thing dug into a spot under a tree with a waterfall. We grew watercress in the trays of the waterfall and it went dormant in winter and came back every summer. The GF did fine.
It was really nice to listen to the waterfall on a hot evening.
ThePetFreak
01-14-2008, 7:41 AM
"Underground provides an enormous amount of insulation from the heat."
I wil not argue that, especially if it is 3' deep.
"I can only put cacti there. I think your tank/pond would easily reach 100° by 9:00 a.m. at least."
But I will argue that, even when I had my pond in direct morning sun in June/July/August if never exceeded 95 F. Mine is 500 gallons and deep, yes it is above ground but it would still take a long time for it too reach the same temperatures as the air. I could be wrong, but that is my experience.
I had no cover on my 600G below-ground pond this summer and we typically have 100-105F in the day in the shade and my pond peaked at 84F and my pond is only 30" deep at its deepest point.
Then again, I had about 30% of the surface covered by lily pads which probably helped.
theotheragentm
01-15-2008, 3:44 PM
I would suggest having water lilies to provide help with bioload year round. The key here with heat is shade and large volume. If you have both, I can't imagine your pond getting over 85F on a hot day. I'm not from Phoenix, but I've spent a considerable amount of time there. I'd imagine you'll end up doing lots of water topping off due to evaporation though.
nanaleronna
01-16-2008, 12:09 AM
You should be fine with either a pond or aquarium on your patio. I have both in the same location of the house that you are talking about. But I'm in Casa Grande. The water there doesn't get too hot because of the aeration of the pond filters and it doesn't freeze in the winter because of the cover over head. We have lattice surrounding the area that way they get partial sun/shade in the summer. These ponds are the in ground type except we have them above ground with support. We also have ponds out in the open in the ground. They get algae real bad in the summer and freeze in the winter. (Except the algae isn't as bad with water lilies. However our water turtles ate the plants in our big pond so we get algae there.) The fish do fine as long as they aren't delicate. We even have Dojo's right now outside in the patio ponds. They huddle next to the filter for warmth. Even with the outer ponds being frozen this year, the goldfish are swimming around at the bottom of the ponds. (It's warmer at the bottom in winter and cooler in the summer.) Just make sure that whatever is supporting your pond is good and sturdy. We have Anacharis and Vallisneria in our patio ponds and in the summer time it goes crazy. Both types of plants bloom all summer long and they both get about 4 and 5 feet in length. We have Water Lilies in our smaller in ground ponds and they bloom all summer but it's just the white ones that have bloomed even though we have all different bloom colors. You'll want some sort of plants for your fish to hide in and under. They just get too hot in the summer without plants and water circulation. Hope I've been able to help.
Well, I've decided to put it in one of our bedrooms... thanks for all the input fellas