Ponds in the Greenhouse

[Dantheman]

this is cool but would several smaller containers be better or worse then one large one.

[Ross]

Originally Posted by Dantheman

this is cool but would several smaller containers be better or worse then one large one.

The total water surface for evaporation is what they need. Small containers aren't bad. Large containers aren't bad. Swamp coolers drip water over a very large surface (like several square meters) and also use fans to blow air through this wetted surface. The evaporation cools the air. It's great when the humidity is low, like here in the Great Lakes States or Southwest US, but in UK might not work as efficiently.

[betwixtimes]

Koi need LOTS of air, which is probably why they didn't fair so well in the koi pond. My Fiance was an aquatic landscaper specializing in Koi ponds---and I had joked about getting koi for my grandmothers pond, he said it would need a fountain for aeration and a filter. Although they can live in rather shallow water (for their size)

[Gin]

Here is my low tech. pond ,cow feed was in the container .
It does help with humidity but also have an under bench mister with a fan blowing over the floor and an over head mister hooked to a high pressure pump fed by rain water which i rarely use .

[dounoharm]

the humidity problem is tough...i ended up buying a jaybird aquafogger which works fine for me. i usually keep a tub of water in the gh for dunking and overwintering some pond plants, but a tub of still water doesnt do much for humidity i think....i would like a fountain but i dont have much room. plants EVERYWHERE! even under the benches....

[Tsuchibuta]

In terms of "sucking" heat actually it would do just the opposite if set up properly. Water is much more difficult to heat and cool than air and would actually serve as thermal mass in the greenhouse so as long as you aren't starting your greenhouse at a very cool temperature (inside the greenhouse) the the added water would actually help to regulate the heat. I use 3 large black tubs along the south wall under my benches for this purpose in my greenhouse. It also helps to warm the water up that use to water my plants with. In fact you can buy "water walls" just for this purpose. In terms of ponds I read somewhere awhile back of a guy that grew fingerling tilapia under his benches in his greenhouse and had fresh edible fish year round. You would just have to be carefully what pesticides you used on your plants so you don't cause harm to the fish.

[schwing]

Well, just wanted to update anyone who was curious about the pond. We went ahead and put one in. We bought a pre-formed pond from Lowes. I think it said it was 50 or 60 gallons. It took quite a bit of work to dig out and level the area where it went. We also bought a bio-filter that had a really strong pump and it had a diverter which we ran to a pond UV "filter".

We also put in six $0.17 goldfish in there for a mini Koi pond feel.

The plants that are floating in there are (I think) water hyacinth and something else I don't remember. We visited a local pond company and since it was the end of the season, they just gave us a couple things for our pond that were just going to die over the winter in theirs. Awful nice of them!

The only real problem we have is sometimes a little moss will get stuck in the water bell and cause it to splash too much and water splashes out of the pond.

It has really helped with the humidity and it is a really nice and relaxing sound when sitting in the GH. Definitely worth the time and effort we put in to it.

-ken

[Ross]

Good for you Ken. Let me know how it works. I have one just like this outdoors and it freezes in the winter. Yours should do better.