Reef Ponds: Which creatures can handle 90°F in style?

[MadReefist]

Unfortunately not much direct 'reef pond' data seems to come up. Of course a lot of my thinking is in exploring the outer boundaries of things.

In me small scale outdoor FW aquaponic setup the water is about 90°F this time of year. Chilling it down 10°F? Impractical!

I suppose knowing which critters can handle the lower side in the winter here, although heating seems far far easier. But if there were 'reef' hobby types that could deal with both extremes that'd be awesome data too!

All input here would be much appreciated!

 

[ericarenee]

What i would consider doing is Digging some DEEP WELLS . MAYBE 4 of them down in the ground and run coil pex piping down creating a connected loop for your water to pass thru. The ground temp down there should stay stable year round.... The number of wells you would need would depend on the size of your pond and water circulation .......

Geo thermo cooling and heating . If you get the depth and length of coil right with the correct water flow it should maintain lower water temps in the summer and keep it stable in the winter..............

I think the only option short of heaters and Chillers......
We have a Indoor pond .

 

[billsreef]

Erica is on the money withu going for geothermal cooling. Works well. As for reef creatures that can handle 90F, there aren't any. Even tidepool and estuarine Critters that can handle 90F can only do so for a few hours at a time.

 

[BonsaiNut]

I think you need to start by defining the scope of your system. What do you want to keep? Fish only? No problem, just dig a pond, epoxy it, and put a shade cover over it - done. SPS corals and a full blown reef? Did a pond, put a greenhouse over it, and A/C the greenhouse

I am only half kidding. What type of "pond" are you hoping to design? I have a deep koi pond in shade here in Southern California, and though my swimming pool gets in the high 80's or even 90 on a super hot day, my pond never even gets to 80.

 

[MadReefist]

Right now its mostly thought experiments on what sorts of things could manage inside such a thing. Surely there are lifeforms that could do it. Enough of them might make a thing cool enough to elicit purpose. "Reef" being a relative term.

 

[ichthyogeek]

The only ones that I can think of are the more tidal forms of tigger-pods. There are also a few tide-pool species, but those usually only stay there until the tides come back. It'd have to be a fish that can withstand low oxygen levels, almost stagnant water as well. Most of the reef fish we keep come from areas pretty deep in the ocean, where cool-ish water with lots of dissolved oxygen is present. Maybe a goby species?

As long as those thought experiments stay inside your head. To put saltwater tropicals, especially reef fish, inside a pond that gets that hot would be inhumane in my view.