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Cold water bucket pond in DC Area


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Hey All - Anybody ever try to do a small water above ground pond (~20g) in the mid-Atlantic area (Maryland-based here) during the winter? Not looking to do anything crazy, but just more more curious to see if it's possible and what fish I could potentially stock it with. 

Thanks and happy Monday!

Happy fish keeping!

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I've done this in the past (I'm in MD too) and generally kept various goldfish, but these were in 100 gal troughs. In the Mid Atlantic area the temps are not conducive for a lot of species since I've had some tubs freeze drastically due to the lack of insulation and them being above ground. If you can find a way to insulate the sides as well as have constant water flow then you can run into less issues with freezing. 

The permanent trough I setup was for my Dad and has a mag pump that feeds to a trickle filter. Since doing this the trough doesn't seem to get a solid layer of ice on the top. He had gone through and used heavy insulation to wrap the trough, and then build a cinderblock frame around it.

Lots of us east coasters seem to be more apt to a seasonal tubbing setup and bring in the stock for the winter.

Best of luck with your tub!

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On 9/16/2021 at 8:26 AM, Captain Salad said:

Medaka rice fish are winter proof option, maybe not a bucket though but depends how big it is I guess, could work, worth checking out as a winter pond fish that's a bit different? 

Yup, check out @Ryo Watanabe’s YouTube channel. He has multiple Ricefish tubs outdide in a similar climate. They seem to be close to the house and in clay pots if that helps. 
Like @Tihshho I’ve done Goldfish with great success, even in an area with regular freezing temps. You’ll want a bigger container for them of course. 

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The thing about the east coast is that the temps are way different than what others on the west coast experience. I personally wouldn't want to keep rice fish outside here as the temps can be below zero on some days. In DC you get tons of wind if you're near the Potomac. With the average temp being in the teens/low 20's I think that would be too extreme for smaller species outside. If we were talking the 40's average with the occasional mid 30's that's one thing. 

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On 9/16/2021 at 1:01 PM, JoshStover said:

If you heavily mulch around it I think you’d be ok. I’ve pulled it off just not quite as small here in the mountains of WV

In order for this to work you're going to need to have a deep tub and have 10-12" of it sunken into the ground or thickly insulated with mulch. This approach will work, but I'm not sure the limits for some species. Carp species seem to be OK IME. 

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On 9/16/2021 at 2:41 PM, Tihshho said:

In order for this to work you're going to need to have a deep tub and have 10-12" of it sunken into the ground or thickly insulated with mulch. This approach will work, but I'm not sure the limits for some species. Carp species seem to be OK IME. 

For sure. I did it with a 40 gallon stock tank that I think is 16” high. I piled the mulch and it insulated well and also gave a little heat from it composting. 

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I'm really interested in this topic as well, and intend to relocate to the same DC area in January. How big of a container would you need to do this with for medaka rice fish, assuming that you use the mulch pile technique? Do you just leave the pond without plants or anything else, just water and fish? I don't plan to attempt this in the middle of winter this year around, but may try next winter.

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