Heating an outdoor pond

[petluvr]

A friend of mine has a 1200 gallon pond that she keeps several koi in and some common plecs. She recently bought the plecs that are anywhere from 8 to 12 in long. She now is worried about what she is going to do with them this winter. She would like to know if there is anyway she could heat the pond this winter?

 

[DAVIDFBT]

Get a pool heater, but depending on where she lives, that's going to raise her electric bill extremely high.

 

[petluvr]

I don't think she is really all that worried about the cost her her electricity She says that no matter what she will not see the plecs die.

 

[finsNfur]

How cold does it get in the winters there? The types of pond heaters I have seen only heat the surface of the pond, in order to keep a hole open in the event ice forms. I have never seen any kind of heater that would heat the water in an entire 1200 gallon pond. I don't really think that's do-able, she will probably need to bring them inside for the winter. I'm not sure how reliable a pool heater would be, either.

 

[Sploke]

I would say that you'll need to keep the water at least 70 to keep them eating...being a tropical species and not having a natural "dormant" period, I would think they'd die if it got cold enough for them to stop eating for a period of several months. I'd start by building some sort of clear cover over the pond to trap heat and take advantage of any solar heat, but even then I would still imagine you're looking at a few thousand watts of heat to warm that much water. Would be a lot more practical to buy a stock tank and keep it in the basement or heated garage for the winter.

 

[petluvr]

Thanks for the advice, looks like if she wants to keep the plecs she will have to bring them inside like I originally told her but I said I wold give it a whirl here and see what you guys thought

 

[kjr928]

I think setting up a large tank in the basement will be the cheaper and easier method.

 

[Desertponder]

I also agree that she should buy a stock tank and bring them indoors.
You are just not going to be able to heat an outdoor pond of that size to a temperature to maintain the plecos.

 

[DLV082]

I have recently built a pond that is only 550 gals but it is heated for the same reason, (Plecos) I find that if you cover the pond during the winter it keeps the power bill down.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

Bring them indoors for the winter. Problem solved.