Galvanized Trough - Epoxy coat or not?

[theotheragentm]

Does anyone have experience using a galvanized container for a pond without a liner or would I need to epoxy coat it? If epoxy is necessary, is there a link to the product and a tutorial on application?  I would use soap and water to wash it out initially to make sure I removed any oils whether or not I put an epoxy layer over it.

[Kriskm]

I have a five foot diameter galvanized water trough that I've been using as a pond for a couple of years now. I read up on this a ton before buying, and the info was confusing because some people were fine using it as is, but others were not. It all comes down to your local water supply. If you have fairly hard water, you're probably fine, because very little of the zinc is going to leach out into the water. If you have soft water, like I do here near Seattle, the zinc will probably leach out enough to hurt the fish. I etched the inside of mine first with a product from Home Depot for preparing metal to paint, then painted the inside with Drylok. DIY tank makers use Drylok on the inside of plywood tanks, and I've used it before on a tank background with no ill effects. It's worked fine so far, and will prolong the life of the galvanized trough.

[theotheragentm]

Thanks for the reply. My water is 8.0 out of the tap, so it's probably not going to leech much it sounds like from your research. I may end up coating anyway. Tossing the idea back and forth in my head right now. This will likely be a winter project for me anyway.

What do you have in your pond that goes through the winter up there? I'm in Southern CA by the beach, so if it overwinters for you, it'll definitely work for me.

[Kriskm]

I have 5 young koi. My first winter with this trough, we had a lot of snow and I lost all but one fish. This last winter I threw in a 200 W heater for the cold months when it can get below freezing at night, and they all did great. The heater only kept the water at about 38, but that was enough to help the fish. The koi will eventually outgrow this setup, of course--probably next summer. Then I'll either need to rehome them or upgrade the pond. Gold fish would do fine as well. You have more options down there, but I haven't looked into pond fish for warmer areas.

[TJOBrien]

On 10/6/2020 at 4:17 PM, Kriskm said:

I have 5 young koi. My first winter with this trough, we had a lot of snow and I lost all but one fish. This last winter I threw in a 200 W heater for the cold months when it can get below freezing at night, and they all did great. The heater only kept the water at about 38, but that was enough to help the fish. The koi will eventually outgrow this setup, of course--probably next summer. Then I'll either need to rehome them or upgrade the pond. Gold fish would do fine as well. You have more options down there, but I haven't looked into pond fish for warmer areas.

@Kriskm is this still working for you? 

Edited December 19, 2023 by TJOBrien