saltwater pond ?

[wally8252]

alright maybe I will get laughed out of here , but has anyone tried it?, I have been doing saltwater reef tanks for 10 years now, and have a pond in the backyard that I thought I might turn into saltwater. Being in california, southern half the weathers good enough that if I went with fish local to the area they should survive ? I thought maybe a shark some starfish and a few fish, try and keep the load down to a minimum. whats everyones opinion? do able? crazy? also the water quality in southern cali beachs is down right bad , so I thought maybe it's possible to do this?

ok commence with the laughter

 

[wally8252]

also I have a friend who dives who will get me what I want to stock it with so I know that what ever I put in has not been trashed on , or caught in a tramatic way

 

[AngelFishFan]

i dont think its a dumb idea... but its probably going to be more money and effort than you are looking for.... Its hard enough to keep a fresh water pond clean, clear, and fish being healty.... let alone salt... But ill let everyone else add their ideas... this is just my opinion....

 

[RogerMcAllen]

If the pond is indoors, then sure, it is just a big aquarium.

Outdoors can be a problem. In the summer heat a lot of water can evaporate, and raise your salinity. A good rain and you would have the opposite effect.

A third factor is viewing the fish. Common pond fish are goldfish and other brightly colored surface feeders. With a pond, it might be very hard to see the inverts and anything else that likes to sit on the bottom.

Lasly if you do it, make sure you get a pump rated for SW.

 

[AngelFishFan]

yeah, thats something i never even thought of... and what about the protein skimmer?! it would be the size of a garage..... :LOL:

 

[fishfreek]

SKimmer would probaly be one of those large 6' varietys.

Evap as has been pointed out would be your worst problem. If you evaporated 5+gal a day then you would need to keep that up with some kind of auto topoff. That would keep you from going insane and never being able to leave the pond for a day or more.

Do you have a good feel for the temperature swings? What have you observed as the low - high temps for the water.

 

[Guest]

Definitely an intriguing idea. In addition to what's been posted above, I don't know if EPDM or other pond liners are rated for Salt water. You didn't say if it made with a liner or if it's a preformed plastic type. Either way you have to find out how it would rect to salt.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Saltwater Ponds

I know a guy who has an outdoor saltwater pond. Whenever I go to his house it's the first thing I look at. His pond is quite big and at an estimate it takes up about a 1/2 an acre of land. Pretty much the only way you can keep one is if you live near saltwater and have an artisan well. The artisan well will bring up saltwater from the ground depending on where you live. I live in Florida and since the groundwater is pretty much salty throughout Florida it's not really hard to keep a saltwater pond. He also has a liner in his pond, but everything seems to be okay :?. I don't know the pH level, salinity level, or anything else like that, but considering that he is keeping brackishwater fish that he caught from the Indian River Lagoon in his pond, he probably has a salinity level that suites brackishwater fish. Another thing that you might want to consider before maintaining a saltwater/brackishwater pond is the quality and quantity of the food. This setup might be costly and hard to maintain.

 

[beachbumin]

Sounds like a cool idea to me!!! If you do it I would love to see some pics! Best of luck to ya

 

[duaumun]

Hey, if you do do it, i would like to comment on your fish selection. First, the shark will probably jump out. If you did not know, shark owners often bolt the lids down to prevent jumping. Also, the shark would tear the sea stars apart. Post any pics if you do it. Show it in the making and all. Good Luck!

 

[youronlysin]

There is a saltwater specialty shop here in town called Idaho Saltwater Emporium that has an 1800 gallon petting tank indoors. I'd say its not more than 2 feet deep atthe deepest and has a few different sharks, stingrays and a multitude of other beautiful fish in it. It is built right on the floor and you can lean over the 2 foot wall and touch the fish if you like. They feed the sharks everyday at 2 pm and encourage people to "pet" the fish. They dont have a very good picture of the petting tank, except for a picture of it under construction. I also dont know how they filter it, but you can get contact information from their website and ask them. I can take some pictures of it myself if anyone would like some.

http://www.idahosaltwateremporium.com/Field.html

 

[Blazeherd2306]

If the pond is big enough the shark probably won't jump out?