marine pond or outdoor aquarium

[toonces]

hey all,
i think this is an appropriate thread for the advanced forum.

i'm moving into a new rental house here in the monterey, ca area. the house has new hardwood floors, and i am not allowed to keep an aquarium in the house.

i'm toying with the idea of setting up either a marine pond or an outdoor aquarium.

in either case, i'd be using natural sunlight and weather/waterproof pumps to move water. i'm curious if anyone else has tried something like this.

i have a nice area for an inground pond as well as a nice patio area where i could set up an aquarium outside. the weather is temperate, so i could go cool water or simply put a heater in to keep the water warm.

i'm not sure if i have any specific questions right now other than to see if anyone else has tried such a project. this is kind of a bummer, but i prefer to think of it as an opportunity to try something new for a few years.

thanks,
toonces

 

[JamesJR]

This would be very difficult to do.
You would have at least these obstacles to overcome.
1). You have to figure out how to keep the salinity stable. Evaporation would have to be kept up with and you would have to figure out how to keep the rainwater out to keep it from dilluting the tank.

2). you would have to keep the temperature stable throughout the year. An outdoor tank is very difficult to keep a stable temperature.

3). You would have to figure out a way to keep debris, dust and living things from getting into your tank.

There are probably other things that would make this difficult. It is possible but I think it would be pretty hard to do.

 

[Zaphod]

this guy has has his frag system outside

http://www.o2manyfish.com/System_Pics.htm

 

[toonces]

thanks for the link. i took a look through his site. it doesn't have any details about the outside tanks other than a brief line that indicates that he has a tank 6' underground that is used for geothermal cooling.

i'm not so worried about keeping the evaporation made up, or debris out- both of those are easy enough to control.

temp stability is the hardest part, without using a heater and chiller system. i'm not sure how to resolve that exactly.

 

[raskal311]

Garret IMO has a much better system that is much more cost effective. I’ve talked to him a few times before and he’s very willing to share his design. Come over to his place and buy a few frags and I’m sure he’ll give you all the info you need. I think he’s in Costa Mesa not to far from you.

www.garretts-acropolis.com

 

[PIECEOFTHEREEF]

If you can go deep enough in the gruond it will help keep your tank cool. And remember the larger you go the more stable things will be. I have a 15000 gallon salt water pond and have no trouble turning my ro unit on for a couple of days (twise a month) to take care of the evaporation. Haveing a tank you can dive in is like no other.

 

[JamesJR]

That sounds incredible! please post pics!

 

[Gobydood]

Wow!!!

I would love to see pictures of that!!

Lou

 

[WarrenG]

Monterey has a fairly stable air temperature, day to day and month to month-being so close to the sea and its breezes. The ground temp would be very stable too so the more surface area in contct with the ground the more stable the water temperature would be too.

The water temps in the Bay vary from about 45 in February to near 70 on the surface in late summer. There are thermoclines too and the fish seem to manage okay, and the invertebrates and strawberry anemones do well too.

I think you can try to keep things that normally live in the ocean around there and they would handle the temps fine. The trick for keeping the anemones and similar will be lots of planktonic foods, like they have in the Bay.

Scuba diving is very popular around there and perhaps you can collect the animals for your pond/tank yourself, as well as learning about their natural environment. I would pass on trying to collect any sea lions for your pond-they get real onery when you're trying to put them into an ice chest for transport.



This guy Steve has a nice temperate reef and is helpful.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=722059

 

[toonces]

thanks for the info.
I guess i should have posted a bit more about my specific situation. i'm in a rental for 2 years only, and can't really do too much to the house/yard that i can't repair back to its original condition when i leave.
i have an old 60 gallon cube that i am considering setting up on the outside patio. i had considered doing a pond, but in looking at where it would be and the amount of work to install it, i'm leaning to simply keep an aquarium outside.

like warreng said, the temps are relatively stable here, and i think if i keep it in relatively indirect sunlight the temps might be stable enough for hardy tidepool like creatures. i do dive and might collect my own livestock depending on the collecting regulations- i'll have to look into that first.

rather than go temperate, i've also considered keeping a reef-like setup since the natural sunlight would probably work really well for corals. using a heater, i think it might be possible to keep the water warm enough during the night/day, as long as the sunlight doesn't warm the water too much. it might be a matter of setting the tank up with no life in it, and logging the temps for a week or two to see how much the temp varies during the day and night.

 

[ezcompany]

i would hate to imagine what stuff will enter your tank with rain water and its run offs. if you're going to use natural sunlight, you would need an artificial canopy that will close and open accordingly. if you're going through a week of rain, then you would need to supplement some light as well, unless you want nature to take its course, as this happens in the wild as well. i'm sure your pond wouldn't get too hot as it is outdoors, but keeping it warm would be the bigger challenge.

 

[Dave Legacy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8427726#post8427726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarrenG

Scuba diving is very popular around there and perhaps you can collect the animals for your pond/tank yourself, as well as learning about their natural environment. I would pass on trying to collect any sea lions for your pond-they get real onery when you're trying to put them into an ice chest for transport.

Monterey Bay is our Nation's largest Marine Sanctuary, even the slightest thought of molesting it's inhabitants warrants a fine. Don't forget that DF&G Wardens are often times in plain clothing. I'd suggest looking, but not touching.

Good luck with your pond! I'm so jealous that you live in Monterey, CA.

 

[toonces]

well, that's not precisely true.

i actually live in carmel, and there are areas in pacific grove and along the coast that are legal to collect. i don't know what the precise limits to collecting are, so I will have to do research if i decide to go that route.

i would prefer to not get into a long discussion of collecting regulations. i've been collecting marine life my whole life, and i know how to find out what's legal and where it's legal to collect.

 

[JamesJR]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8448347#post8448347 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dave Legacy
Monterey Bay is our Nation's largest Marine Sanctuary, even the slightest thought of molesting it's inhabitants warrants a fine. Don't forget that DF&G Wardens are often times in plain clothing. I'd suggest looking, but not touching.

Good luck with your pond! I'm so jealous that you live in Monterey, CA.

Actually, This summer they just passed legislation to make the Johnston atoll and surrounding areas a national marine sanctuary and I think it is now the largest.

 

[Dave Legacy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8450435#post8450435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JamesJR
Actually, This summer they just passed legislation to make the Johnston atoll and surrounding areas a national marine sanctuary and I think it is now the largest.

Maybe the Monterey Bay Marine Sanctuary is the Continental United State's largest... but I think you may be right. Reguardless, it's big and beautiful. =)

 

[JamesJR]

Yeah, the more proteted areas the better.

 

[toonces]

don't disagree there. i actually worked on the noaa marine sanctuaries program before i got recalled back onto active duty, and it was very rewarding. the oceans are a mess, and i'm all for any steps we can take to help protect them.