200 Gal Livestock Trough Pond

[Swampgorilla]

I need to figure out what to do with my life ... please help me, LOL

I had an indoor 133 gallon aquarium which RUPTURED about a week ago and put water all over the floor. The tank is totaled - unrepairable.

I have three goldfish. One fairly large Oranda about 5.5 inches. One largish Fancy Goldfish about 5 inches and a small Butterfly Telescope that's about two inches. The fish were "rescued" from the aquarium calamity and are now living in two 20 gallon rubbermaid trashcans with plenty of filtration and I have cycled sponges in there so the water is doing well.

But that's temporary. I really don't want to spend $4,000 dollars again on a big aquarium and quite frankly the damage the casualty did to my house angers me so much I don't even want to fool with more water in the house.

I have a covered patio outside my back door. I live in Southern Louisiana on the Gulf Coast, just east of New Orleans in Slidell.

I was thinking about getting a 200 gallon livestock water trough - galvanized steel and setting it up on my patio and homing my three fish in that tank. I can get water troughs for a "song" down here. My aunt runs a feed store.

But here's my questions ...

1. Normally indoor GOLDFISH keepers shoot for 8-10 times the tank volume for filtration. So a 200 gallon tank would equal a filter with a throughput of 1600 - 2000 gph. No problem, I've found them online but it seems like a lot of water flow through a 5'8" water trough. Will I be safe with doing this or will the current be to strong for the fish to thrive?

2. It gets ... well, I would plan on it getting (in extreme cases) up to 107 degrees F outside here in the summer. I have no clue what high temps will do to the temperature of water in a 200 gallon water trough but I suspect I could have temps in excess of 80 degrees quite easily. Are there any options for "chilling" the water to keep it cooler than, at least - 75 degrees?

3. Man, it rarely gets below the 30's here in the winter - but even that is too cold to keep the goldfish from hibernating (I think). So I'll need some kind of heater, correct? Any suggestions?

I hope I have this posted in the correct section of the forum, since I'm new here. If not - I'm sorry and maybe the mod can move it to the proper location?

Anyway ... thanks in advance for any answers I can get here!

P.S. - Also - let me know if you think this plan is a pipe dream. I'm just trying to figure out a solution to my problem. I may well have to go back to an indoor tank even though I really do not wish to.

 

[Wailua Boy]

I would use a Rubbermaid type trough over galvanized metal, it will run cooler and occasionally galvanized metals can leach toxins also. You can also cut down on filtration by planting fast growing water plants, in fact I raise goldfish in 200g acrylic half domes that are unfiltered but heavily planted with water lilies etc.

 

[Swampgorilla]

The RubberMaid is a strong possibility if I can find one that is economical and has the right dimensions. The patio is not that wide ... and it just seemed that the long'ish galvanized tank would fit better. I do plan to encase whatever tank I get in an insulated frame to cut down on heating / cooling costs.

I'm absolutely sure, given my bad luck with plants - I would be unable to "grow" my own filter. Though I would certainly love too and it would cut electrical costs, plus unnecessary current in the water and noise. Ten years in indoor fish tanks ... and so many wasted away plants I can't count!!

But seriously, if I had the confidence that my plants would work out - I'd do that in a heartbeat but every plan I've had with live plants has failed. I still plan to put some into whatever tank I get - but I'm not confident I won't be ripping them out after they're faded brown and torn to shreds.