tropical fish in a outdoor pond?
 

I put my pacu (fake looking pirranah) and 1 tiger barb and swordfish in
my pond and 5 brown clawed frogs after a fish tank leak. After 2 weeks
the frogs doubled in size the tiger barb is fine the swords are ok and
the pacu are huge. I had put (2) 500 watt heaters in and the water is
about 72-74 The heaters help a lot otherwise the water goes to 62 at
night. Can I keep them in the pond all summer? They seem to love it and
the turtle dont catch them. The pond is about 300 gallons. Thank you

electricity cheap where you live is it?


"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
I put my pacu (fake looking pirranah) and 1 tiger barb and swordfish in
my pond and 5 brown clawed frogs after a fish tank leak. After 2 weeks
the frogs doubled in size the tiger barb is fine the swords are ok and
the pacu are huge. I had put (2) 500 watt heaters in and the water is
about 72-74 The heaters help a lot otherwise the water goes to 62 at
night. Can I keep them in the pond all summer? They seem to love it and
the turtle dont catch them. The pond is about 300 gallons. Thank you

"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
I put my pacu (fake looking pirranah) and 1 tiger barb and swordfish in
my pond and 5 brown clawed frogs after a fish tank leak. After 2 weeks
the frogs doubled in size the tiger barb is fine the swords are ok and
the pacu are huge. I had put (2) 500 watt heaters in and the water is
about 72-74 The heaters help a lot otherwise the water goes to 62 at
night. Can I keep them in the pond all summer? They seem to love it and
the turtle dont catch them. The pond is about 300 gallons. Thank you


Those heaters are going to operate pretty much around the clock. I don't
know anything about brown clawed frogs, is there a risk they could get out
of the pond and go for a walk on their own?

Heating large bodies of water is a fairly expensive process. If you can
afford it...

I suspect my math is probably wrong, so if it is, someone please correct me.
300 gal is 1135.6 liter.
72 Fahrenheit is 22.2222 Celsius.
62 Fahrenheit is 16.6667 Celsius.
# energy needed to raise 300 gal 8 C
1135.6 * 1000 * 8 = 9084800 calories
# 9084800 calorie is 10563.6 watt-hour.

Two 500 watt heaters will pump in 1000 watts of heat per hour, run them for
about 10hrs to heat 300 gallons 8 C, assuming no heat loss to the air and
ground.

-S

"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
I put my pacu (fake looking pirranah) and 1 tiger barb and swordfish in
my pond and 5 brown clawed frogs after a fish tank leak. After 2 weeks
the frogs doubled in size the tiger barb is fine the swords are ok and
the pacu are huge. I had put (2) 500 watt heaters in and the water is
about 72-74 The heaters help a lot otherwise the water goes to 62 at
night. Can I keep them in the pond all summer? They seem to love it and
the turtle dont catch them. The pond is about 300 gallons. Thank you


Besides for the cost as others have pointed out I would say you could safely
keep them there all summer. I did this last summer with Guppies, Moonlight
Gouramis, Flying foxes, a Bristlenose and Kuhli loaches (this was after my
tank burst all over the lounge floor leaving me no choice but to save the
fish by dumping them in the pond!!) They shared the pond with 5 Comets and 5
Shubunkins and everyone was fine, the Guppies even managed to breed and
surprisingly most of the fry made it! I think its a great idea (besides for
the electrical costs that is) Good luck.
--
Kind Regards
Cameron

Ok Thank you all. If the heaters run 10 hours that will cost me 30.00
per month... 1000 watts per hour is 1 kilowatt times 10 cents per
kilowatt. hmmmm Can they survive at 68? Im not trying to waist
electricity. But if it ran 24/7 it would be 2.40 a day. That can add up
quick. How warm do most ponds get in the summer (on average) I never
used to check the temp with goldfish. But will they get hurt if the temp
goes to 68? Or is there a cutoff temp to avoid. Thanks all for comments

Maybe the temp. will be warmer as the summer rolls in and keep the
heaters from running. I hope.. lol

"DD DDD" wrote in message
...
Ok Thank you all. If the heaters run 10 hours that will cost me 30.00
per month... 1000 watts per hour is 1 kilowatt times 10 cents per
kilowatt. hmmmm Can they survive at 68? Im not trying to waist
electricity. But if it ran 24/7 it would be 2.40 a day. That can add up
quick. How warm do most ponds get in the summer (on average) I never
used to check the temp with goldfish. But will they get hurt if the temp
goes to 68? Or is there a cutoff temp to avoid. Thanks all for comments


Not sure about what temp range goldfish like, just an idea worth exploring..
Solar heater?
Such as the ones used in pools? The only problem I could see is that you'd
need a radiator/closed system, the pond gunk would probably quickly clog up
the solar water heaters. But that would rapidly turn into an expensive
project.

-S