Am I crazy thinking about a salt water lagunn in my backyard

[lovefishing]

My backyard is is layed out (but not built yet) for approximately a 2500 Gallon Koi pond and I was thinking instead to build a salt water pond. It sounds much cooler to me having some leopard sharks putting around instead of some dormant Koi. The area is in direct sunlight. Am I crazy? I hear salt water is much more work then fresh water. I plan on spending some money on the project so I can design the appropriate pump systems as needed. Anybody know anybody who has something like that and was it a nightmare?

 

[Hara]

unless you are independantly wealthy, it is not a doable idea. The maintenance costs (not to mention the work) would be phenomenal. The set up would be the cheapest part of the whole enterprise.

 

[Brenden]

Stick with freshwater. You would have to cover it to keep the SG from going crazy when it rains. Then salt pumps etc. Going to seaworld twice a week would be easier and cheaper.

 

[lovefishing]

Thanks for the input,

Koi pond construction is estimated to be in the 25,000 range for concrete construction. Once designed and built what kinda maintence could I expect? I was hoping it was one of those things were if I built it right it with the right filters, skimmers ect it wouldnt become a nightmare. What kinda maintence and work would it require?

 

[lovefishing]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess its off to seaworld.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I live in Florida and know a couple of people who have saltwater ponds. The saltwater comes from comes from the groundwater. I think they have to go deeper for the saltwater, but I will make sure to ask. I don't know if you can do it in California, but because Florida is low-lying and surrounded by saltwater, it can be pumped up using an artisan well (keep in mind I know nothing of ponds). One of my dad's friends has a saltwater pond thats about 100 feet by 50 feet and about 15 feet deep, about 560,000 gallons. He keeps native fish in there that can tolerate brackishwater (in case it rains) and its really amazing to see, especially when they get fed. Since he works as a charter captain and always has leftover fish, he feeds the scraps to the fish.

From what I saw, in his pond, he has a couple of tarpon, a cobia (thats about 35lbs), some jacks, snook, black drums, redfish, grouper, and is thinking about adding some bull sharks. All of the fish in the pond were caught by him and he transported them using a huge container. He also adds live bait to the pond in case he goes away. Even though they are native Florida fish, they act just like aquarium fish and beg for food.

So a saltwater pond can be done without using bags of salt, you just have to live in the right place .

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

fwiw,

I went to cancun this year for vacation and they had a man made lagoon next to the pool large enought to swim and snorkel in. I swam in the whole thing and did not see any type of filtration besides the rockwork and sand. they had set up some pump to send in fresh sw from the beach and an overflow to return back to the beach. pretty cool fish in there.

 

[Legmaker]

saltwater pond

One of my lfs has recently started and is trying to market a saltwater pond.. He has a fairly large one up and going. He has a 50/50 mesh shade over it to reduce the florida heat. He said the temp wasn't a problem (but he is trying to sell the concept). He has a multitude of fish, corals, snails and clams in it now. To me it seems like a waste if you plan to use the smaller fish (You can't see them as well as in a tank). Rain would be the other issue. email me if you want a contact on more info.
ecro32@aol.com,
Ed

 

[Brenden]

As hard as it is to keep everything in check in a tank that is in a controlled enviroment I think you are asking for trouble putting it in the outdoors were you lose control of the surroundings. If you have access to a unlimited supply of saltwater it is possible even with rain etc as you would constantly have fresh salt water coming in and going out but even then your source would have to be off the coast a ways to avoid fresh drain water and pollutants.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

The guy I know has had no problem with his pond. The only fish he had die was one of his cobia, but that is because it was picked on by a comorant. He has an artisan well that brings up saltwater instead of freshwater. I'm not sure of his parameters (keep in mind his pond holds 560,000 gal of water), but his fish are thriving. This may contribute in part that he uses native fish he caught, which would be more tolerant. I'm guessing you could only do this on coastal states. He lives only 6 miles from the beach. If you live close to saltwater then I'm sure you could easily create a saltwater pond with the money only contributed to the pond and artisan well. Once we move we will also make a saltwater pond.

 

[pearsont74]

i know a guy on the water that did one....he pumped water in from the canal he is on....on the intercoastal here in stpete and his doing good....alot of work though
he also used native fla fish

 

[schoeplein]

Sounds like if you lived that close to the ocean it would be easier to simply snorkel?

Salt is cheaper in bulk.

If you had a fish-store/pool-sized filtration system with tons of liverock you could possibly pull it off. Water changes would be the only issue. Well, that and light. If you plan on using the sun, plan on replacing hundreds of gallons of fresh clean water every couple days.....

 

[MYTY1705]

Not sure on the hundreds of gallons every couple of days. My backyard pool looses about 2" of water a month on a 24' diameter pool. That is a total of 113 cubic ft of water which turns out to 845 gallons per month. Or about 30 gallons a day.

A 24' pools hols 18050 gallons of water and in Lubbock Texas in the summer at about 96-100 degrees the water stay at about 76-80 degrees.
($3500 for pool) ($30 increase in water bill to fill, $5 a month to top off and water changes) ($30 for salt to make 200 gal, $700 a month for 25% once a month) ($2700 for salt to start)

with 2 pool pump systems for flow you would have plenty of flow. ($300 for extra pump)

Sun would provide plenty of light for anthing in the pool especailly if just having fowlr system. (free)

27075 lbs of live rock for 1.5 lbs per gallon ($160,000 from lr.com, or $23,000 from hirocks.com)

heater for winter time. ($800 per unit, two needed, $1600)

skimmer would be a PITA!!! ($700???)

Plexi panel for viewing woult need to be 1" thick. ($500) ($200 for parts)

so about $40,000 for initial set op of a 24' diameter aquarium. and about $1000 a month in upkeep including food (but not water treatments like calcium and ph buffers).

 

[pearsont74]

well....the guy i know pulls water directly out of the ocean and overflows back into the ocean....so he never has to top off

 

[Blazeherd2306]

The guy I know uses an artisan well, so no top off, salt bags, protein skimmers, live rock, filters, and no heater (uses native fish). You can see his fish perfectly, maybe because of all the algae he added to it. For food, he either catches live bait or feeds them scraps of yellowfin tuna (he's a charter captain and therefore gets fish daily.) If you use native fish then no heater is necessary. Besides the native fish are more interesting.

You could also pull water from the ocean, river, or canal if you live close any of these.

Using these methods, your expenses only come from building the pond and the artisan well.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

I thought an artesian well relied on a hill or something to create pressure on the groundwater to bring the water up.

If that is true then wouldn't the water be fresh?

 

[lovefishing]

Thank everyone for the feedback

Although I liked the concept after hearing some of your advice I gave the guy a deposit today for a rubber liner Koi Pond. Fresh water it is. About 2500 gallons. Thanks again.

 

[Brenden]

You will not be sorry

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Some areas in Florida have saltwater intrusion in the groundwater. I don't know if there are any other states that have saltwater intrusion.

 

[Guest]

I dunno about saltwater ponds. For one, a cross section view is a bit more interesting than a top view, IMO. However, if we are talking about sharks etc, may that can be interesting from a top view.

Wouldn't saltwater ponds with wild carnivores be a humane society issue or a zoning issue or something? I am just coming up with these without putting too much thought to it. Sorry.

Man, SW ponds can be a headache. I mean, heating, salinity, nitrates, wildlife trying to get your SW pond creatures, bears, etc. I dunno. It sounds like trouble. But if there were people who pulled that off, Kudos!