Saltwater pond
- Thread starter Shubox57
- Start date
May be tough, I would think it would have to have a rubber liner in it or be made out of concrete. Not sure what the long term effects of salt water would be on a rubber liner. Then what are you going to do about rain throwing off your salinity? Then depending on where you are at in the country you will have to take care of heating/cooling. I've seen it done under a home in the Fl keys, then it was covered by the home to prevent water runoff from rain, didn't have to worry about the sun overheating it, I believe they did have a master filter room.
blackwolf1778
New member
rain water
rain water
i did some reading on this subject before and that was my biggest concern was rain water but later learned that rain water sits on top of salt water so as long as your water overflow is tuned in and skimmer. you in theory will skim it right off the top with minimal salinity effect..
my issue that held me back was the amount of heat it would take to maintain it durring winter and the chiller needed to cool in direct sun in the summer..
would be amazing to have one though!!
rain water
i did some reading on this subject before and that was my biggest concern was rain water but later learned that rain water sits on top of salt water so as long as your water overflow is tuned in and skimmer. you in theory will skim it right off the top with minimal salinity effect..
my issue that held me back was the amount of heat it would take to maintain it durring winter and the chiller needed to cool in direct sun in the summer..
would be amazing to have one though!!
My local aquarium, the Waikiki Aquarium, has a bunch of outdoor tanks and ponds. An Acro tank, clam tank, reef pond. All are amazingly beautiful. Makes me want to move my tank outside to get that natural sunlight! Apparently the rain water doesn't affect the salinity. And with these hurricanes coming this weekend, they didn't even cover them.
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r-balljunkie
Registered Reefer
are you near the ocean?
something like this stateside would be very difficult. I visited Bali Aquarich's facility and it was his revision 2.0 design.
if you couldnt pull seawater into your pond....it might be a heckova endeavor.
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something like this stateside would be very difficult. I visited Bali Aquarich's facility and it was his revision 2.0 design.
if you couldnt pull seawater into your pond....it might be a heckova endeavor.
<a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r158/cchavis/August%20SE%20Asia%20vaca%20rr/10AugustAquarichTour161_zps234e2f27.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 10AugustAquarichTour161_zps234e2f27.jpg"/></a>
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One of out local reefers runs an outdoor above ground system. Overall with below ground cooling tanks (tanks burried in the ground used to cool the water) he has about a 1000 gallon system and is in the process of adding a second system.
http://www.garretts-acropolis.com/
http://www.garretts-acropolis.com/
Good point with the evaporation rate cancelling out any problems from rain water. Other problem, maybe its just in areas with bad pollution but I thought rain had nitrates in it. Only other problem I see you will have to take care of is birds, all you need is one crane or wren see what you are doing and they.will eat everthing in there
karimwassef
Active member
With a system that large, you would need to rethink your methods and expectations compared to an inside tank. You're in the realm of saltwater farming and need to look at how it's done there.
I've seen it done, but only where the region's temperature aligns with a reef - Hawaii, Florida, etc...
Minnesota would not be a good option, for example.
Where weather is extreme, you'll need to consider what farmers do: greenhouses. Basically, you'll need to create a structure to house the pond while making use of the sunlight.
Rain is not a big deal, even when exposed. You will need to monitor and adjust if needed, but in that size, it'll work.
Predation is also not a big deal overall. I called some saltwater farmers in southern TX and they didn't know what I was concerned about. Their response was - it may happen, but they're not going to swarm the pond. Having enough hiding places should be fine.
Of the ones I've seen, the real threat is making a giant warm yellow water pool of green hair algae in a slow stagnant saltwater pond - yuck.
Huge storms of dirt, animal activity (feces, etc...), dirty rain, insects, etc... Think of a team of polluting experts out there.
Flow and gas exchange- you will need to move a lot of water constantly to make this work. You will need cliffs and waterfalls to create anywhere near the surface action you need.
Your power bill will be massive.
Export - your skimmers would need to be small buildings that are built on site - think aquaculture farmers.
I considered this, but it was out of my $$$ range to do it right. I was hoping nature would foot part of the bill, but that's only true if the ocean is a pipe away.
If I were to consider it again, I'd make an internal pool/greenhouse room to make the project less painful.
I've seen it done, but only where the region's temperature aligns with a reef - Hawaii, Florida, etc...
Minnesota would not be a good option, for example.
Where weather is extreme, you'll need to consider what farmers do: greenhouses. Basically, you'll need to create a structure to house the pond while making use of the sunlight.
Rain is not a big deal, even when exposed. You will need to monitor and adjust if needed, but in that size, it'll work.
Predation is also not a big deal overall. I called some saltwater farmers in southern TX and they didn't know what I was concerned about. Their response was - it may happen, but they're not going to swarm the pond. Having enough hiding places should be fine.
Of the ones I've seen, the real threat is making a giant warm yellow water pool of green hair algae in a slow stagnant saltwater pond - yuck.
Huge storms of dirt, animal activity (feces, etc...), dirty rain, insects, etc... Think of a team of polluting experts out there.
Flow and gas exchange- you will need to move a lot of water constantly to make this work. You will need cliffs and waterfalls to create anywhere near the surface action you need.
Your power bill will be massive.
Export - your skimmers would need to be small buildings that are built on site - think aquaculture farmers.
I considered this, but it was out of my $$$ range to do it right. I was hoping nature would foot part of the bill, but that's only true if the ocean is a pipe away.
If I were to consider it again, I'd make an internal pool/greenhouse room to make the project less painful.
fishgate
Active member
Maryland? It is way too cold here. You could never afford to heat it. If you were on the bay or Annapolis on the water or something like that you could run it from the ocean with continuous circulation. But all you could keep would be indigenous fish to this area. Not practical really no matter where you are. You are talking like 10s if not 100s of thousands to maintain something like that.
Fun to think about. And the ATO is the cheapest part, $1000 for a simple 2" (if you have 60+psi water) float valve, for evaporation.
More fun to think about the protein skimmers. Lets start with a decent but not fast turn over, 120 minutes\1M=8333 GPM. You need 6 RK2000PE for $50,000 each and 2 semi's to bring them in. You WILL use ozone in the skimmers, add $150,000 plus a air-conditioned room. The skimmers can be outside but you will need 5 trucks full of cement for the house sized slab they sit on. You need 3-phase power and the venturi pumps will total 11KwH. Ozone another couple kwH. But that's a fraction of what the main circulation pumps will draw. You will need cooling and heating no matter where you are. Either big chillers or big gas boilers, or both. Your electric bill is going to be over $40k a month. If your chillers don't run much...
More fun to think about the protein skimmers. Lets start with a decent but not fast turn over, 120 minutes\1M=8333 GPM. You need 6 RK2000PE for $50,000 each and 2 semi's to bring them in. You WILL use ozone in the skimmers, add $150,000 plus a air-conditioned room. The skimmers can be outside but you will need 5 trucks full of cement for the house sized slab they sit on. You need 3-phase power and the venturi pumps will total 11KwH. Ozone another couple kwH. But that's a fraction of what the main circulation pumps will draw. You will need cooling and heating no matter where you are. Either big chillers or big gas boilers, or both. Your electric bill is going to be over $40k a month. If your chillers don't run much...
