Would This be possible?

divemaster99

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
It wouldn't be for a while but if I put in a large outdoor pond (MINIMUM 10,000 gallons, I'd do as large as my pocket would allow me at the time if setting it up) would it be possible for me to successfully keep both natives and tropicals in the same pond and have all species thrive or would I be better of making a separate pond for each?

A rough idea I had for stock would be something like this (obviously the number of species and amount if each species I'd keep would be dependent on pond size and I would almost definitely not keep every listed species)-

Natives: Bluegills, Pumpkinseeds, Green Sunfish, LMBs, SMBs, Bullheads, Channel Catfish, Gar, Pike, Suckers, Yellow Perch,Walleye, and White Sturgeon.

Other Coolwater Fish: Common Carp and Koi

Tropicals: Arowana, Arapaima, Giant Gourami, P-Bass, RTC, TSN, RTCxTSN, other larger Pimelodid Catfish, Pangasius sps, and a few others.

The pond would be filtered so waste isn't a large issue.

I live in southern PA so winters can either be fairly mild some years or they can be like last winter (brutally murderous to where many other local hobbyists lost a TON of Koi and Goldfish). I'd heat the water in the winter need be but I'd need a good temperature to set it to that all fish will thrive year round.

So is my dream doable or like I said above, would I be better off making two sewerage ponds?
 
that_fish_Guy

that_fish_Guy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2013
2,087
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With only 3,000 gallons you can't keep all those big cats or an airapima together even with 5,000 gallons it's probably a no go. Adding natives will only worsen it


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divemaster99

divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
4,795
385
107
Pittsburgh, PA
that_fish_Guy said:
With only 3,000 gallons you can't keep all those big cats or an airapima together even with 5,000 gallons it's probably a no go. Adding natives will only worsen it


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Ok, yeah I thought that may be a bit small. It's hard for me to envision what the dimensions on those would be since that already huge.
How about I change the minimum volume to 10,000 gallons or more. That'll be a lot of bonuses to save up but I'll do it :)
 
that_fish_Guy

that_fish_Guy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2013
2,087
313
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I'm really not trying to come off as being a douche but talk is cheep and it's hard for people to take things seriously when it's just ideas being tossed around and no real plan is in motion. A lot of people say, "oh I will save for such and such tank/ pond it will take a while but I will get it and put in said fish" and they never really end up doing it. Lots of people on this site talk of getting RTC's arapimas , and other big cat/fish hybrids saying they have a pond being built or they plan to get a big pond and you quit seeing updates of them once the fish get 1-2 foot.... Wonder why.... People don't really build those ponds they talk of or ever upgrade they never really do, in their minds everything is sugar coated but in reality they just don't pull off all that they say. Nobody on this site will believe you when you're throwing out numbers about how big of a pond you are saving for until things are already in the works and set in motion. I suggest to you to not think about getting any of the fish mentioned in you're original post until you have the pond either built or in the works or until it's started on or funds are already there. then people will start to take you serious. When you start off saying you are saving for a 3,000 gallon minimum pond and then toss out something like 10,000 gallons understand that's a pretty big jump in size and price and work and filtration and its really hard to believe someone who says that. For ALL of the fish you've mentioned consider a possibly larger pond 10,000 gallons is a lot but when you think about it really how big is 10,000 gallons for all if those fish? How big of a bio load will you have? What will you use as filtration etc. and how far can you go with that size of pond? For an airapima alone I think a pond that's at least 15-20ft long and wide is needed (these beasts get massive!)as an all out absolute minimum let alone all the other fish who will get 4 foot or more! Build said pond first then come talk about stocking. It's kinda hard to say everything I have to say because I can say a lot but anyone can "SAY" anything about what they are saving for or what they are going to do but how many can really pull it off? don't get me wrong I'm not trying to shoot you down or criticize you I'm just listing things based on previous times. Maybe someone with more expire nice than me on these fish will chime in and help more


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C

Chub_by

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Jan 30, 2012
4,900
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Right, I have talked a lot about getting bigger tanks/ponds in the past, and I always did (!), although hardly anyone online believed I would, so I don't really have a reason not to believe you. BUT,you can just absolutely and completely forget heating a 10,000 gal pond. Even if you built a greenhouse around it, you would have to invest $1k+ for the heating and several hundred bucks a month for electricity.
If you're serious about getting a pond,here's some advice, get a big one, but it doesn't have to be immense, you can keep lots of stuff in 2-5k gallons, and put some cool natives or European/northern asian fish in there.
And, what you are doing already, Plan plan plan! Planning is the most important thing with ponds (I didn't do enough of it)
 
M

MDFishTanks

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2013
222
10
33
MD
First: I know everyone won't agree with mixing the species, but it's worked for me for 2 years now. I move them all inside to an above ground pool in the winter. I know they can live outside during the winter but I bring them in.

I have a 5000 gallon pond with white perch, yellow perch, sunfish, warmouths, bluegills, tilapia, brown and black bullheads, channel cats, goldfish, and baby red and yellow belly sliders that are the size of a quarter and koi of all sizes. All eat the same pellets, I test the water 3 times and week, and I havent had any issues at all. All cohabitating fine. It's interesting seeing how they all interact with each other...you can sit and watch for hours. All kinds of visitors come to the pond from dragonflies to frogs.

Please make sure you get good water turnover and filtration. That is key!

IMG_20140814_134742_532[1].jpg2.jpg3.jpg

[video=youtube;A0k2MHBOw4k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0k2MHBOw4k[/video]

IMG_20140814_134742_532[1].jpg

2.jpg

3.jpg
 
M

MDFishTanks

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2013
222
10
33
MD
One other key thing. Over budget. We spent a lot of money. Plants, stones, etc. I can't even tell you the total but I have every receipt. One day when I get bored I will add it up, but I know it was a lot. Picking up things here and there all the time. My wife wanted the pond to look good so I did it. Do it right= do it once.

I'm running two 7000gph pressurized filters with a 36w UV light, one aerator and a home made filter inside of the waterfall. I have a 3000gph pump at the bottom always moving water on all levels so the oxygen is distributed through out all of the layers of the water and not just the top.
 
M

MDFishTanks

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2013
222
10
33
MD
that_fish_Guy said:
I'm really not trying to come off as being a douche but talk is cheep and it's hard for people to take things seriously when it's just ideas being tossed around and no real plan is in motion. A lot of people say, "oh I will save for such and such tank/ pond it will take a while but I will get it and put in said fish" and they never really end up doing it. Lots of people on this site talk of getting RTC's arapimas , and other big cat/fish hybrids saying they have a pond being built or they plan to get a big pond and you quit seeing updates of them once the fish get 1-2 foot.... Wonder why.... People don't really build those ponds they talk of or ever upgrade they never really do, in their minds everything is sugar coated but in reality they just don't pull off all that they say. Nobody on this site will believe you when you're throwing out numbers about how big of a pond you are saving for until things are already in the works and set in motion. I suggest to you to not think about getting any of the fish mentioned in you're original post until you have the pond either built or in the works or until it's started on or funds are already there. then people will start to take you serious. When you start off saying you are saving for a 3,000 gallon minimum pond and then toss out something like 10,000 gallons understand that's a pretty big jump in size and price and work and filtration and its really hard to believe someone who says that. For ALL of the fish you've mentioned consider a possibly larger pond 10,000 gallons is a lot but when you think about it really how big is 10,000 gallons for all if those fish? How big of a bio load will you have? What will you use as filtration etc. and how far can you go with that size of pond? For an airapima alone I think a pond that's at least 15-20ft long and wide is needed (these beasts get massive!)as an all out absolute minimum let alone all the other fish who will get 4 foot or more! Build said pond first then come talk about stocking. It's kinda hard to say everything I have to say because I can say a lot but anyone can "SAY" anything about what they are saving for or what they are going to do but how many can really pull it off? don't get me wrong I'm not trying to shoot you down or criticize you I'm just listing things based on previous times. Maybe someone with more expire nice than me on these fish will chime in and help more


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Click to expand...
I do see where that_fish_guy is coming from. People like to see things in motion, pictures, videos, diagrams, something more to go off of than just saying what you want to do. I didn't even think about what I was going to stock besides a few small koi and now here I am with all kinds of species in my pond. I really just looked at post on here, saw what I wanted to do and started digging. Once I did that I started posting about it.

I can use myself as an example. I started building a huge indoor pond in my basement in a room that we don't use...it's still there, unfinished because I haven't had the time because my wife and I have been traveling so much and I've been working on our landscaping projects. I plan to go back to finishing that once it starts getting cool again...until then is sits and waits.
1.png2.JPG3.JPG

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fatboy8

fatboy8

Piranha
MFK Member
Mar 9, 2012
794
245
76
Philadelphia
MDFishTanks how many gallons is that planned indoor pond. Looks great I'd love to have something like that some day. As for this pond I agree with that_fish_Guy 100% its a great idea but once you really look into it, it never happens. I talked about just doing a 1,000 gallon pond in my parents back yard but realized this isn't happening until I have my own place. A lot of things I did not think about before came into play as well like if I did it I would of had to fence my yard in since I need the pond to have a minimum 4ft depth so its under the frost line. So right there was $500-$1000 and thats before digging. Second, what to do with the dirt I just dug out of the 11'x17'x4.5' hole. So theres another fee there just to haul all that dirt away since I don't own a dump truck. I mean I can only imagine the mountain of dirt that a 10,000 gallon pond would produce. Not only that unless you own a backhoe God bless if you plan to dig it by hand. There's a possibility if you live in a urban or suburban area that your local code enforcement may not allow something that size being constructed. And the pond liner I can only imagine the price tag for the foot print you'd choose to do on this. I know it was touched on before by Chub_by there is absolutely no way to heat a pond that size. This sounds like a great idea but I do not think you've really actually looked into the logistics of doing this. You're way better off IMO to build a 750-1,000 pond see how that goes and then go bigger from there. Ponds are not cheap.
 
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MDFishTanks

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2013
222
10
33
MD
fatboy8 - it's only going to be 1440 gallons..but I think that's pretty good for an indoor tank/pond.


To heat that, you'd need a pool heater for roughly 800-2000.00 and then your electric bill will jump about 1000-1500.00 a month depending on how many hours per day you run it.
 
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