Outdoor pond question!

[k0olmini]

So I’ve been looking around and people have been saying outdoor ponds can be done year round California. I currently live in South California. Does this mean I can literally have fish in there all the time without worrying about it getting too cold? 

[igalysh]

How cold does it get in South California? I live in Virginia and keep gold fish and minnows year round in a 600+ gallon above ground tank. I get days below freezing but not long enough to create more than a 1/4 inch thick ice on top. As long as the water doesn't freeze solid and I keep a hole open when the top ices over, the fish are good. You just need to pick fish that can handle the yearly temperature range. Gold fish handle a wide temperature range.

Ivan

[k0olmini]

The lowest it gets is around 50F we get some hot summers though, 100-100F

[Fishyman6611]

I in Santa Barbara County and have a 300G pond outside with sword tails, gold fish and a pleco. Started in May so I haven't had a full Winter yet.  

[PineSong]

On 7/22/2022 at 2:05 PM, k0olmini said:

So I’ve been looking around and people have been saying outdoor ponds can be done year round California. I currently live in South California. Does this mean I can literally have fish in there all the time without worrying about it getting too cold? 

Yes it does. You want to choose fish that can tolerate the range of temps for your area. Species that like cold water or do not like rapid shifts in water temps might need a lot of water volume to buffer temperature changes over the course of the day. So you might want a 110 gallon stock tank rather than a 30 gallon whiskey barrel pond, etc. especially if it will be in direct sunlight and heat up in the hot part of the day. A great resource for learning about ponds is this book: 

https://www.amazon.com/Tub-Pond-Handbook-Comprehensive-Maintaining/dp/1521928061/ref=sr_1_1?crid=37W3468AK6FPN&keywords=coletti+ponds&qid=1658530819&sprefix=coletti%20ponds%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-1

My pond is 110 gallons, half sun and half shade and water temps vary by as much as 20 degrees per day and my fish (guppies, white clouds, swordtails) are fine.

[Expectorating_Aubergine]

I live in Southern California, yes. I have a 500 gal pond with guppies,platties,, two texas cichlids, a convict and too many plants to list. No heater, pump or anything. In ground. Had a pacu in there for about 2 years before the raccoons happened...

[modified lung]

I live in northern CA and have two 300 gal ponds. The lowest water temp has been ~45°F. In full sun the high is 104°F. After moving them next the the stucco garage with only morning sun, the high has only been 86°F. Ricefish, white clouds, flag fish, rosy red minnows, koi, goldfish, neocardenia shrimp have been out all year long.