Pond in direct sun

[Jbird08]

We have an approximately 6x4x2.5 ft pond with a waterfall in front of our house, it was here when we moved on so we cleaned it out and filled it and all of that fun stuff and even put 3 fish in it. Well the water seems to get very warm due to lack of shade and us living in Florida! We talked about buying one of those coolaroo's this week but if there is something else we can try we are up for anything... As for the fish they are MIA as of this afternoon when I went to do a water change... The water gets dark fast (probably due to the high exposure to sunlight I'm guessing) so we don't normally see them during the day so i didnt notice they were missing until this afternoon. In guessing a raccoon decided to treat himself to a free meal!! Anyone have any suggestions on keeping the fish safe from being dinner?

 

[tarpon]

Uhmmm one of those collapsible shade things could provide shade which =less algae and would protect them from aerial predators. Bc they wouldn't be able to see them

 

[tarpon]

Someone else said to get a large blue herring statue and it keeps predators like raccoons away

 

[jetajockey]

Get some floating plants. Duckweed, water lettuce, anything with lilypads work well also. It keeps the temp down and gives the fish places to hide. You could always put chickenwire over it, or some kind of fencing up around the pond to keep the animals out as well, although it may not be too visually appealing.

 

[Pondaholic]

Shade is your cure... as far as the coons, maybe some dogs?

 

[Maya]

Floating plants! Shade and a place to hide. You could plant an ornamental tree or two as well.

 

[jmilana]

To clear the water: I used a Skysail! I started out with patio umbrellas, and graduated to bigger things when they seemed effective. Plants helped too. But the real cure was the UV sterilizer. Once that was installed, the water was crystal clear. For the predators: I installed pigeon spikes attached to rubber strips just under the surface of the water around the perimeter of the pond. I also put really bright lights above the pond attached to motion sensors. Raccoons don't like bright light. I never had a repeat of the initial incursion. Good luck!

 

[Jbird08]

Well I just night put those pigeon spikes all through the flower bed since our dogs like digging in there and now started jumping in the pond, good thing there aren't any fish in there now! Well until we get more fish we have some major changes to make...something keep dogs/predators out, shade..ornamental tree plants coolaroo..and maybe a uv light just for shits n giggles! I haven't the slightest clue how to keep the dogs out of there without it looking tacky..any ideas?

 

[jmilana]

Pigeon spikes as predator deterrent

I forgot to mention that I put them in the water at night and took them out in the morning. The rubber strips were rolls of rubber baseboard. I put screws through the bottom of the base and into the spikes.

 

[rdnelson99]

Get a little bit of Water Hyacinth. My wife buys just a few plants every spring and it grows like Kudzu. If you are from FL. you know what Kudzu is like. You have to thin it out a lot throughout the summer but it has very long roots that the fish can hide in, give great cover and the fish love to eat the roots. It is a win win all the way around. Only draw back is thinning it out now and then.

 

[martinique]

How is this project coming along? I was think about getting a pond for my backyard once I get my fence up. I live in Florida and I wasnt sure how well a pond with fish would do down here. Theres not a lot of shade in my backyard and I am worried I might fry the fish.

If you find a good solution for the shade issue please let me know

 

[MacDracor]

Floating plants do wonders for shade. But also, consider planting a small tree near (but not right next to) the pond, if possible. It may not help much during the hottest hours of the day, but it could extend the warmup and cooldown times of morning and evening.
There's a device for deterring predators. It's like a sprinkler with a motion sensor. I'll try to find it online.