Considering a Tropical Pond

Duncan6618

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2009
313
5
16
Texas
I have an inground swimming pool that we don't use and it has been an ugly green mess for about two years since the pumps went out. I've just been keeping comets in it to eat the mosquito larva. My wife wants to get the backyard fixed up at the end of the year and is okay with the idea of turning it into a pond as long as it looks nice, otherwise she wants it filled in since we have never used it.

So I am thinking about trying to turn it into a tropical pond. The pool is shaped like a kidney bean and is 35' long x 16' wide and is 3 1/2' deep at the shallow end and goes down to 10' on the deep end. It has a large sand filter as well as a polaris for sucking up leaves and stuff. That did a pretty good job keeping the pool clean before the pumps went out.

So now the questions...

Would the sand filter be enough filtration if I make it a pond?

What do people do to maintain temps on tropical ponds? I'm in south texas so our winters our usually fairly mild but we do get cold fronts that can drop the temps as low as the 20's for periods of time (week or so). I was thinking if I turn off the filter, cover most of it with a clear plastic tarp and then keep drop a large heater in the deep end that I could maintain a warm area for the fish during the cold spells. Do you think that would work?

Any type of advice is appreciated. I don't know anything about ponds.
 

Muske

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 14, 2007
4,023
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Mundelein IL
Any pics. of the pool?

How handy are you?
Throw some more skimmers and run them to aux. filtration, bog maybe...
 

njackson

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 12, 2007
1,203
1
68
york, uk
that a big pond, if i had a pond that size i would have a wels catfish, any pics.
what fish are you getting for the pond.
 

Eoibio

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 18, 2008
2,809
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WOW That would be a bit over 29300 gallons..

I think that filter would do but a bit of over filteration is always good :D
 

yogurt_21

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2009
1,087
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AZ, USA
probabally going to need an addtional diy setup for filtration, check out tuggards thread for ideas.

you may want to consider a uv to take care of algae until the filters mature.

for texas winters just coil some black tubing on the roof of your house and run a pump through it. that's how we heat pools in AZ. should only have to cover it if you're worried about debris

the key is going to be filtration so going as beefy on that as you can will be the best thing you can do for success. then seeing how much turnover you cna get. how many gph do your current pumps push out?
 

Duncan6618

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2009
313
5
16
Texas
Muske;3342840; said:
Any pics. of the pool?

How handy are you?
Throw some more skimmers and run them to aux. filtration, bog maybe...
I'm pretty handy but I want to hire out to get the major work done. Then I think I can setup any type of DIY bog filter myself if it needs one. I need to get the deck rebuilt and I also wanted to get the plaster resurfaced since it's old ugly white plaster. I wanted to keep it so it could be easily turnd back into a pool in case we ever decide to sell the house. I was thinking of either Quartzscapes or Stonescapes surfaces. Here's link's to the color/suface choices. Any thoughts on color dark/light?
http://www.nptgonline.com/nptg_national/quartzscapes_main.html
http://www.nptgonline.com/nptg_national/stonescapes_main.html

I think the uv is a good idea. I saw on Emporer Aquatics website that they make big inline ones for pools.

If I get the same type pump or get this one rebuilt it's 2hp and 5700 gph.

Here's pics of the current mess I have...



 

Duncan6618

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 15, 2009
313
5
16
Texas
njackson;3342892; said:
what fish are you getting for the pond.
I don't really know yet since I've just started thinking about this. I've been researching some posibilities.

Some hypostomus plecos for sure since they will keep the plaster clean. They are living in the San Antonio river so I know they can make it through our winters.

I found an article on lower temperature tolerance of Pacu for aquaculture in temperature areas. They said after Pacu are 2 years old they could tolerate overwintering down to 45F for short periods. So they might be a good choice.

I really wanted some cichla but I aaccording to an article on their lower temperature tolerance they're pretty sensitive to cooler temps. I think it said they started dying when the tempps got down to the mid 60's. So I probably should stay away from them. Maybe substitute some largemouth bass instead.

I'm still need to search for info on temp tolerance of some of the bigger catfish TSN, RT's etc. Wels might be a bit much though, I don't want anything that could eat my dog if he gets in the pool lol.
 

Muske

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 14, 2007
4,023
0
0
Mundelein IL
I have found many more snails than fish in my skimmer.

An ocational fish from time to time, but if found quickly enough, I throw them back in the pond w/no side effects. I have to fish females out everyday in the spring during spawning activities. If left for a day or two in the skimmer, they can get pretty messed up. Lots of torn fins, missing scales, or death. All preventable if the water level stays up or the fish are big.
 
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