Setting Up A 'Temperate' Pond

I have been extremely interested in keeping temperate fish for a while now and having no space for another tank in the home I decided to construct a small heated mini-pond from wooden sleepers in my garden.
The climate is not too extreme where I am situated so I came up with the idea of expanding into the garden.
9 200 mm x 100 mm x 1200 mm sleepers were used for the basic structure which was then lined with 25mm insulation to prevent heat loss.
The capacity is approximately 300 litres with the filter.
Heating is provided by 2 x 300 watt titanium heaters which are connected
to an Inkbird Temperature controller.
My intention was to have some Shiners in the pond so I went for high flow with a large capacity pressure filter. The pump is rated at 4000 lph so I am guessing I am getting about 3000 lph based on the size of the tubing used etc.
I also wrapped the filter and pipes with thermal insulation to prevent heat loss during circulation.
The pond is covered with a clear plastic insulated sheet to prevent heat loss during the winter months this will be removed during the day when it gets a bit warmer.
The circulated water is currently returned to the pond just below the surface of the water. I also have a return above water level for use during the summer months.
I have attached some pictures of the pond during construction.

Setting up.
Construction was started in October 2017.
The pond was initially filled with tap water and water conditioner added.
I also used cycle and food to get the filter going.
Temperature is set to 19 centigrade with a 1 degree drop.
Added oxygenating plants (Elodea) and rocks with java moss and Anubias attached. These are all growing well.
I installed a Seneye device to monitor the temperature / ammonia levels etc.
During this month I changed a small percentage of the water using aquarium water from my tank on a daily basis (I still continue to do this).
This was left for a month after which I added 5 White Cloud Mountain Minnows from the temperate section of my LFS.
Ammonia levels went up slightly to about 0.02 ppm then dropped to 0.01 after about a week Currently the level is averaging 0.005 ppm.
The PH averages out to about 7.5.
I have been gradually stocking the pond since then and it now contains
8 x Rainbow Shiners, 6 x Red Shiners and 10 White Cloud Mountain Minnows.
I have also added a few nerite snails and there is a small population of MTS present.
Once the 2 x 300W heaters cut in it takes about 1 hour to increase the water temperature by 1 degree. Normal heating period is about 1-3 hours per day, however, during the recent cold spell the heating period increased to 4-5 hours per day.
All the inhabitants are doing fine. They are feeding well and spend most of their time towards the bottom of the pond darting about in the flow from the outlet pipe.
I have taken some underwater video footage using a cheap waterproof camera. It's not brilliant but at least I can see the fish in their environment. I will try to find a way to share this for your perusal.

Fantastic. 

Great idea to expand to a pond when you run out of room in the house.

Great fish as well. I have rainbow shiners in my river tank, as well as WCMM in my temperate tank. I don't have any red shiners, but I have seen them at an LFS. What a great mix of colours.

Thinking about the summer temperature problem. I could stick some silver tinted solar film onto the cover. This would reflect heat away from the water surface. Also a gap under the cover would allow air to flow across the water surface. The downside of this would be the effect on plant growth.
Alternatively I could stretch a mesh across the surface to stop predation and leave it open. This will allow me to cascade the water back into the pond via the filter which will assist with aeration and provide a cooling effect.

I’m on the South Coast in Portsmouth.  During the recent bad spell the temperature fell to about -3.0 and the heaters were on 5-6 times a day for about an hour. Temperature averaged about 18.2 C during the cold spell.
The heating cuts in at 17.6 C according to my Seneye. The Seneye is about -0.5 C out and I haven’t bothered to set the trim adjustment.
I’ll post a picture of the temperature graph from the Seneye for the last month to show how the heating fared during this period. I’ll try and stretch it a bit so it doesn’t look too cluttered.

That graph looks as if your heaters are coping well with current conditions.

I've had more struggles with keeping tanks cool during the summer. I have a few temperate tanks, and some are more of a problem than others. I've seen my axolotl tank go through a couple of warm summers, and eventually bought a chiller unit for them because they can die at temperatures =>24C.
Shade, air movement and water movement are all very helpful, as you've already considered. Before buying the chiller I also floated ice packs in the axolotl tank (sealed in ziploc bags, to be on the safe side), used fans at the top of the tank, and did large water changes daily, but it wasn't easy to keep >400L cold enough.
Considering the weather in the UK you probably have quite a while to implement suitable precautions before the warm weather arrives. 

Got the tag wrong on the last post. Hopefully this one will work :- #Invalid YouTube Link include https#

The link to my video, hopefully this one works :-
https://youtu.be/ksHuxrgA0Ok

Those are some active & perky fish.
Adorable. 

Wow - lovely. What voracious feeders they are! 

Sounds good!

Just a thought 're the gravel though... if its darker than the current base it may hinder your view of the fish... it would make maintenance less easy too...  that said it will likely enhance the look greatly! Can you see the base from the surface?

There is another benefit to having gravel on the bottom - it will be home to a whole host of micro-organisms that are of benefit to a tank/pond.

Yep, I am going to go with the gravel. I have also ordered a few aquatic planters, liner and aquatic soil.
I will probably get a few Aponotegen Henkelianus for the planters they grow to about 40cm and will be OK with the temperature. I was also thinking about Hornwort as a stem plant.

The aponogeton helenkus have lovely leaves, they'll look fantastic. 

I hadn't noticed that @Sue
I read it as hornwort 

I've added homework, I mean hornwort , to my tank recently. I like it and the way it drapes - a lovely canopy effect - but is a downside: the fish food gets trapped in it, so I have to give it a prodding post-mealtimes to release the food particles caught up in it.

[Message edited. I had thought there was a second downside but, having re-investigated just to be sure, I realise I was wrong and so have reneged the second downside I had mentioned.]

I recently purchased a couple of bags of river pebbles from a local hardware store. They were classified as suitable for aquatic use. 1 bag has been washed and spread out over half of the base of the pond. I can actually see the fish now without too much difficulty. The other half will be completed in a couple of days.
The Aponotogen Henkelianus (4 bulbs) have been planted in a basket. I have used Westland aquatic soil for this purpose. I have also got 1 sprig of hornwort and placed this in the same planter temporarily until I put another one in place. The planters are 23  x 23 x 13 so I would imagine 1 would be OK for the 4 Aponogeton bulbs. I can always relocate a couple of bulbs at a later date.
I am going to place the rocks covered in Java Moss next to the planters hoping that the moss will creep over the exterior mesh to disguise it.
I am also considering cutting a hole in the side of one of the planters and upturning it to create a ‘cave’. I have some small Java Fern plantlets and a Anubias to attach to the mesh. These should eventually cover it.
The Java Moss is growing profusely so I would imagine it will start spreading across the pebbles as well.
I have also added a dozen Amano Shrimp to assist with Algae removal.
I would also like to add some more fish. I’m thinking either Golden Barbs or Odessa Barbs (perhaps both).
Stocking would be 12 x Golden or 6 x Golden + 6 x Odessa.
I think these would complement the Shiners and WCMMs.

That sounds absolutely brilliant   

I would never have thought about keeping shrimp outdoors, though of course you can with your heated system. Like the idea of how you're doing the planting, including the cave idea... or could it be part of a raised area of the pond I wonder???

Must be great being able to see the fish more now... I cam imagine you wanting to get fish which look different from above... something most of us never have to think about!

Couple of pics of the bottom of the pond with the river pebbles in place. The Java Moss attached to the rocks look almost 'fern like' from above.  You can also see the top of the hornwort which has now reached the surface. It must be growing about 4" a day. The Aponotogen bulbs have also started sprouting leaves.

Great pics Dave... 

I can't fault your logic @daveyng   

Forgot to mention, I also added a dozen 'largish' Amano's towards the end of last week. I have seen them wandering over the pebbles and on the java moss.
I was considering getting a couple of hillstream loaches once a biofilm/algae has established itself on the pebbles.
There is plenty of flow and the temperature is fine for them. I haven't kept them before so it would be something new for me. Any thoughts on this idea ?

Temperature should be fine as you say. Re flow, hillstreams are adapted to take a lot of linear flow - the sort of flow in a river that we would struggle to stand up in. People often set up river manifolds for them.  That said they dont 'need' this type of flow it's just what is found in their natural environment.

I would suggest if you get a few you might need to consider supplementing the amount of food available to them with something like repashy soilent green or algae wafers unless you are getting quite a significant amount of algae growth? 

They are lovely fish for sure. I would love to have a river tank to keep them in. @Littlefish have you kept hillstreams?

I did see the Sewellia Lineolata on sale at my LFS. They look quite striking so I would probably go for them. I have Algae wafers and sinking wafers which I use for the Shrimp and Catfish in my tank. I have Been putting a couple of sinking wafers in the pond for the Amanos. They love them.
How many Sewellia would you suggest ?. I would probably go for 2-3.
The flow in the pond is not really linear but it is quite turbulent around the return from the filter. The Shiners tend to shoal in this area, swimming against the current. I also have the option of directing the flow to a ‘pump’ water feature, which I will start using when it gets a bit warmer. This will assist in keeping the oxygen levels up. I would imagine that I’m circulating something approaching 3000 lph counting losses.
One thing I have noticed with the fish in this environment is their behaviour. They seem to be more aware of their surroundings and they all tend to stay together as a group (regardless of species). They only venture up to the surface when they know it’s feeding time.

I have taken to shading the pond over the last three days for a few hours during the peak sunlight period. Temperature currently is around 21C. I had a problem with rising pH during these periods. This seems to have alleviated that problem as well as curbing the temperature rise. I’m using a sheet of  “silvered”  insulation (bit like bubble wrap) which also reflects heat over the area that catches the Sun. There is also an insulated hard plastic cover over the entire pond. I am thinking about using a “bank” of fans which I can put in the space between the hard cover and the water surface. I’m hoping the evaporative effect will cool the water. I use a small one on my aquarium and it seems to work.

I have used fans previously to cool my axolotl tank, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tropical-Freshwater-Aquarium-Cooling-FS-604/dp/B00DGR5RQ6  and I found that it worked well if you only need to drop the temperature slightly, perhaps a degree or two. Combined with shade, and regular water changes this may be enough in all but the warmest of summers.
I've also floated ice packs in the tank to help.
Eventually I purchased a chiller, which was quite expensive.