Has anyone heard of a salt water garden pond?

[poconojoe]

Just sitting here on a rainy day and it came to me...anyone ever heard of someone having a salt water garden pond?
People have indoor aquariums both fresh and salt water. Why not a salt water pond? Some of those salt water fish are very cool and are sometimes very colorful. Plus you can also have corals and urchins.
I'm not a salt water enthusiast, so maybe this is just a crazy idea.

 

[JamieB]

If you live in a tropical area, I suppose it could be done. But keeping water conditions right might be hard, with rain and evaporation, no wildlife could drink from it.

 

[poconojoe]

Yeah, I suppose it would be a challenge to keep the salinity correct due to rain.
And I didn't think about the wildlife drinkability. There's always lots of critters drinking from our pond.
Crazy idea...I guess. Plus the fact that there are plenty of good looking fresh water fish, plants, frogs, snails, turtles etc. So, keeping the salt water aquariums inside would be best.

 

[Stephen Noble]

Just sitting here on a rainy day and it came to me...anyone ever heard of someone having a salt water garden pond?
People have indoor aquariums both fresh and salt water. Why not a salt water pond? Some of those salt water fish are very cool and are sometimes very colorful. Plus you can also have corals and urchins.
I'm not a salt water enthusiast, so maybe this is just a crazy idea.

Not a crazy idea. A quick internet check reveals several people claim to have done it. But as mentioned above, it will be challenging. Perhaps you might consider trying a brackish water pond first? Many brackish water species are very tolerant of water chemistry and temperature swings. Just a thought.

 

[JamieB]

If you’re in a climate that can support it, you could do one, try a raised pond. Above ground, maybe with a viewing panel in the side! That could be easier to monitor, especially if it’s on the porch.

 

[ROW FISH]

While visiting Hawaii some of the hotels had saltwater tropical ponds outside with sharks sea turtles, rays, and lots of colorful tropical fish . However, If I had to guess they just pumped see water up from the shore somewhere or had a large holding pond to treat and cycle the water as I did not see an abundance of equipment in the local vicinity of the ponds.

 

[ramoth41]

Actually I did a salt pond! In 2009 we needed to to-do our 125 gallon reef tank. Not having a place to put everything I suggested a pond. Next thing I knew they are in the yard digging a hole!! That's how our pond started! From mid July till the 1st snow in Oct we had a The Tide Pool. Complete with what we called a reverse protein skimmer\ waterfall. The biggest challenge was heat. But after we put a tarp over it it was great! BTW I'm in NE Ohio! Not very tropical! Lol

 

[MitchM]

Short term, fun, interesting, hopefully educational project.
Long term, bad idea.
That's it.

 

[ramoth41]

I disagree.. If we had a way to put a green house over it we could have kept it out side. And if you do live in a tropical or warm area it would work long term. There are folks running Coral farms in Florida and California are doing just that. And yes it was an interesting experience. Our corals and fish loved the natural light showing off colors I didn't know they had!

 

[MitchM]

It depends on what you consider long term.
If you have corals in a saltwater environment, then they will constantly be putting down a calcium carbonate skeleton plus trace minerals as they grow and will need those mineral components (in addition to various organic matter for nutrition) replenished in order to survive and continue growing. Corals also require minimum temperatures and water circulation, depending on the species, in order to live.

 

[ramoth41]

Well having had salt water reef tanks for some 20 yrs I can safely say I did it long term.. purchases of live corals and fish in the US these days are cultured. Yes there are still wild caught, but,the community of saltwater is working very hard on that. In fact most saltwater hobbyist are very aware of problems & refuse to purchase wild, & would rather trade with others in the hobby. I've even sent corals to a group of scientists trying to restore parts of a reef in the South Pacific. And salt mixes have all the nutrition & trace minerals for growth. Foods and good husbandry, water changes,the right equipment & and all the same ideas for keeping pond apply! Information is key! Our 125 gallon reef.

 

[Jhn]

I believe MitchM is referring to keeping a saltwater pond long term outdoors not being the best idea, not keeping saltwater/reef tanks long term. As he and I both keep saltwater tanks and have done so long term. I wouldn’t keep them outside in a pond though, could I do it sure, but would things go wrong because I can’t control what is going into my pond long term......absolutely.....not just rain, temp. swings, keeping the water warm in the winter, poop from ducks, herons, geese, deer, and a slew of other issues.

 

[addy1]

Nice tank, I had salt water for a bit, but never did extremely well with it.

 

[MitchM]

@Jhn 's right, I was referring to outside reef ponds.
I've been keeping reefs since 1979, so I also have a bit on knowledge there.
Good for you for being proactive in coral aquaculture.
You folks in the US have a lot more options available to you compared to us here in Canada.