10' Pond Build

Have you considered a school of cardinalfish? It's not really something you see all that much... Perhaps a couple dozen threadfin cardinals?
Or what about one of the smaller sea robin species? Those are really cool. There's an aquarium near us that has one in their stingray touch tank, and it's one of the silliest little fish ever. Also, they make noise!
 
Have you considered a school of cardinalfish? It's not really something you see all that much... Perhaps a couple dozen threadfin cardinals?
Or what about one of the smaller sea robin species? Those are really cool. There's an aquarium near us that has one in their stingray touch tank, and it's one of the silliest little fish ever. Also, they make noise!

I think that a sea robin would be a really good "top down" fish! I have caught many of these guys with a hook and line in South Florida on surprisingly large bait. I'd be afraid that many of my smaller fish would wind up as snacks however.

As for a large cardinal school, I really like this idea. I'd have to go with a larger species like Apogon aureus or A. compressus (The former being very difficult to find IME). I have a couple larger wrasse species that will likely be a problem with any of the smaller species.

Another option for a shoaling fish that I have been looking into is a medium size school of Monodactylus argenteus. They do get to be on the larger side, but tend to stick together and don't break down into pairs as some of the cardinal species do.
 
There are a lot of smaller robin species, though. Perhaps a marine biologist could tell you which of them are smaller? I know there's one kind that's like 6" or so at full size.

Monos and scats? That would be cool, they're neat fish.

Have you considered lookdowns as an option? I personally think they're neat. Really active, though...
Would a snowflake eel be an option? I'm not sure about their compatibility, but it seems like you're keeping mostly large-ish fish that a snowflake couldn't eat.
You should get a handful of yellowtail damsels. They kind of half-school around corals and such, and they mostly avoid the attention of larger fish from what I've seen. There's a bunch of the little guys in the touch tank I'm remembering, as well as in a shark touch tank (little sharks) and they're pretty neat. Plus, $20 should get you like 10 of them.
Sea moth?
Maybe a small flounder species? Or a ray?
I know you probably have a plan, I'm just chucking ideas at you.
What's the biggest guy you have planned? Biggest mouth?

Ooh- you should stick a couple of mangrove propagules on top of your rock islands. You could let them grow nice and huge.
Are you going for kind of a bay-type look? Like the sandbed/rock/coral areas that aren't quite reefs? Because if so, I vote for a couple big piece of driftwood.

Hey, I bet you could chuck a lot of 'pest' crabs in there. They'd either be fine (too small to kill things) or they'd be snacks.
 
There are a lot of smaller robin species, though. Perhaps a marine biologist could tell you which of them are smaller? I know there's one kind that's like 6" or so at full size.

Monos and scats? That would be cool, they're neat fish.

Have you considered lookdowns as an option? I personally think they're neat. Really active, though...
Would a snowflake eel be an option? I'm not sure about their compatibility, but it seems like you're keeping mostly large-ish fish that a snowflake couldn't eat.
You should get a handful of yellowtail damsels. They kind of half-school around corals and such, and they mostly avoid the attention of larger fish from what I've seen. There's a bunch of the little guys in the touch tank I'm remembering, as well as in a shark touch tank (little sharks) and they're pretty neat. Plus, $20 should get you like 10 of them.
Sea moth?
Maybe a small flounder species? Or a ray?
I know you probably have a plan, I'm just chucking ideas at you.
What's the biggest guy you have planned? Biggest mouth?

Ooh- you should stick a couple of mangrove propagules on top of your rock islands. You could let them grow nice and huge.
Are you going for kind of a bay-type look? Like the sandbed/rock/coral areas that aren't quite reefs? Because if so, I vote for a couple big piece of driftwood.

Hey, I bet you could chuck a lot of 'pest' crabs in there. They'd either be fine (too small to kill things) or they'd be snacks.



Your stocking ideas are very much appreciated! My stocking plan is more of a rough outline, so I'm always looking for ideas.

The fish with the greatest potential to eat smaller tankmates will be my Surge Wrasse (Thalassoma purpureum). Even though it's currently only a 4.5" initial phase, I have to keep it's eventual size potential in mind and stock accordingly. I do have several small groups of damsels (including yellowtail damsels) which will hopefully stand a chance with a large amount of rock.

I do plan on adding a few mangroves to the "lagoon" side of the pool. My idea is to submerge and fill a small (40 gallon or so) kidney shaped preformed pond liner with sand (which will also add some of the benefits of a DSB) and surround it with LR/base rock to hide the liner. This should give the mangroves a place to take root without having the potential of them puncturing the main liner... That would be bad...
 
I think my next investment will be a real camera, but here are a few more cell phone pics in the mean time.

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The yellow/blue tangs are still on the thin side, but I have definitely noticed an increased appetite since going from QT to the pond. In addition to regular feedings, I'm making it a point to keep nori available for them at all times.
 
What will you do when algae covers up those nice corals etc.?

By the way it looks awesome. Defifnitely a different perspective on the fish than the usual side view.
 
What will you do when algae covers up those nice corals etc.?

By the way it looks awesome. Defifnitely a different perspective on the fish than the usual side view.

Funny you should mention that! I used a toothbrush to scrub some algae/diatoms off of the corals earlier today! I actually think they look a little goofy in there, and the algae was an improvement to some of them. I may move the majority of them to the "reef crest" area where the surface agitation prevents clear viewing, and spend the extra time to make some more realistic looking corals for the lagoon side.
 
I think they look pretty good. I was just concerned that they will get covered up with algae and lose their nice colors. They will still keep the shape, though.
 
Oh man this is awesome!! i thought going scuba diving in hawaii would be like this but it wasnt..... at least in the touristy area. This is so much nicer than my experience. Now if only my house had a room this big.....
 
Regarding monthly costs, in a system of this size something to consider investing in could be a solar panel. I would imagine everything just starts adding up.

Nice pics! The fish look great! Keep up the updates! 👍
 
If you're going to get a camera, why not spend a bit extra and get an underwater camera? They work just fine on land, and you can stick them underwater to aim them at fish.

Do you have a cleaner wrasse? I'd suggest one... With all those fish, I bet you can keep one alive, and most things don't eat cleaners.
What about- hmm... What are those fish with the barbels on their mouth, the ones that play in the sand? Grunts? Aha- goatfish! Those are fun. I vote you get some goatfish.
Jackknife fish?
Hi-hat?
Engineer goby or two?
Filefish?
 
If you're going to get a camera, why not spend a bit extra and get an underwater camera? They work just fine on land, and you can stick them underwater to aim them at fish.

That's a good idea, GoPro! I used mine on my tank and I only have the silver hero3+ , comes out great!!
 
Regarding monthly costs, in a system of this size something to consider investing in could be a solar panel. I would imagine everything just starts adding up.

Nice pics! The fish look great! Keep up the updates! 👍

A very good idea, and something that I hadn't thought of. I have a lot of space outside that I could put one. Will definitely look into it!
 
If you're going to get a camera, why not spend a bit extra and get an underwater camera? They work just fine on land, and you can stick them underwater to aim them at fish.

Do you have a cleaner wrasse? I'd suggest one... With all those fish, I bet you can keep one alive, and most things don't eat cleaners.
What about- hmm... What are those fish with the barbels on their mouth, the ones that play in the sand? Grunts? Aha- goatfish! Those are fun. I vote you get some goatfish.
Jackknife fish?
Hi-hat?
Engineer goby or two?
Filefish?

Thanks again for the suggestions! I'm not sure how well a cleaner wrasse would do even in a heavily stocked pond, but I think that a smaller species of goatfish would make a nice addition! I have a Bristletail filefish (Acreichthys tomentosus) and am keeping an eye out for other possibilities.
 
Oh man this is awesome!! i thought going scuba diving in hawaii would be like this but it wasnt..... at least in the touristy area. This is so much nicer than my experience. Now if only my house had a room this big.....

Yeah, diving snorkeling can be hit or miss. And thank you for the compliment!
 
A very good idea, and something that I hadn't thought of. I have a lot of space outside that I could put one. Will definitely look into it!


I was talking about it with my friend/electrician and he does solar panels as well. On a decent panel that will power your lights and a few other things it comes out to a total costs of 500-750. With converters and everything. He has 3 panels and powers all his electronics in his truck and has plenty left over. So definitely it isn't that expensive in the long run. The panel doesn't have to be that big.

I will look into these. I get down to the FL Keys quite often, so I would have other applications for it as well!


Water is cold down here now but I soon I'm going to use it! Where are you located? I'm in key largo.
 
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