New to Ponds - Heater Question

[Reefmonkey]

I live in subtropical Houston, so winter temps are pretty high. Average highs in January are in the 60s, average lows are in mid-high 40s. I have a 100 gallon pond, in a sheltered location close to the house. It has South American cichlids in it. I have several questions about heaters.

1. What kind and wattage of heater would you recommend for my setup?

2. I really know nothing about how pond heaters would differ from aquarium heaters, so I wonder how do you keep the pond heater from coming in contact with and melting a preformed liner?

 

[snwsk8r8]

im sure a reg pond heater that floats should be ok

 

[Reefmonkey]

Ah, they float, cool, thanks. I'll have to stop by Nelson Water Gardens and pick one up sometime before October (will be in Japan the month of October)

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I thought most floating heaters were just used to keep ice from forming, but I might be wrong.

Is the pond inground or above ground?

100 gallons of aquarium water, assuming a tank temp of ~10 degrees F from room temp usually takes 300 watts or so. With a 30 degree difference it might be closer to 900 watts.

 

[finny al]

I have a 90 gallon preformed and successfully used a regular aquarium heater last winter. The suction cups held it off the side of the pond and it heated the pond just fine (I have fancy goldfish in it). I know that they aren't techically rated for outdoor use, but it seemed to work out just fine. So far as I know, the ones that float are primarily just to keep the surface of the pond from completely freezing over.

 

[Reefmonkey]

It's inground.

 

[piranha]

Pond heaters are actually de-icers. They will cycle on at 35 degrees F and off at 46 degrees F. A suggestion for a small pre-formed pond would be an aquarium external inline heater by Hydor. There would be nothing in the pond to damage it. You would have to keep the heater from the elements and of course on a GFCI receptacle. As the aquarium general rule goes 5 watts per gallon. These heaters come in two sizes 200 and 300 watt. If you used both it would work for a 100 gallon pond. You need small submersible pumps to connect them to or have one on the return side of an external cannister.