What to do with this pond...?

[foothead]

Hi everyone, new member. I have been keeping fish for quite some time now, mainly cichlids, but this project is a bit beyond my knowledge.

So in our backyard, there is a large pond in my backyard, which my dad made back in the 80s. Since then, it has fallen into disreapair and been completely overrun by some stupid plant he scooped out of the bayou. It is about 8 feet long, in a circle, with another small section coming off. I estimate it being about 3 feet deep, but there is quite a bit of gravel on the bottom. The whole thing is lined with concrete.

Anyway, I wanted to completely redo this pond, but was curious about converting it into a tropical tank of some sort. I live in Southern Louisiana, so it is quite warm most of the year. I know that a large heater would be needed for the winter, but the summer should be fine. My dad says he used to keep plecos in it, just to give you an idea. He used to have to scoop them out a couple of times a year when there was a hard freeze, but other than that they were fine.

As far as fish, I wanted something medium sized that has a good bit of color. I have not decided all the species that I want, but the current ones I was thinking are kissing gouramis, african cichlids, and possibly some NA cichlids.

Going saltwater would be awesome, but I have not worked out what to do when there is a heavy rain. If you know anything about this, please let me know.

So what do you all think? Is anything like this doable? I am mainly trying to get a feel for it right now, and I will most likely redo the pond in the summer.

Thanks in advance

 

[billyismybigfish]

got pictures?

 

[BAYOU boy 437]

hey foot head i live in south louisiana down in hahnville.. i have a backyard pond with. these types of cichlids: i have two red texas , reg. texas, red terrors(mayans),
and one flowerhorn, and a couple of local sunfish, and a silver arowana, a spotted gar, and a gator gar. but wind winter approches i have a tank in my shed i put the cichlids in but the gars and arowana are fine all winter but i kept my two red terrors in this summer to experiment with and they were fine. but i had two big *** heaters in it srry for so much info. but figured u would like to know from anotha local boy

oh yea and im tryin with a farm hybred monoculus pbass this summa

 

[foothead]

got pictures?

I do not right now, but I will be sure to take some next time I am at my dad's house.

hey foot head i live in south louisiana down in hahnville.. i have a backyard pond with. these types of cichlids: i have two red texas , reg. texas, red terrors(mayans),
and one flowerhorn, and a couple of local sunfish, and a silver arowana, a spotted gar, and a gator gar. but wind winter approches i have a tank in my shed i put the cichlids in but the gars and arowana are fine all winter but i kept my two red terrors in this summer to experiment with and they were fine. but i had two big *** heaters in it srry for so much info. but figured u would like to know from anotha local boy

oh yea and im tryin with a farm hybred monoculus pbass this summa

wow thanks, this helps a lot. How well did heaters do during the last winter, when it froze like every day? I want to have the pond more or less self sustaining because I know my dad will forget to scoop the fish out pretty quickly. I do have a 135 gallon tank that I could put the fish in during winter, but I think it would be too much for such a small tank.

Anyone have info on a way to maintain salinity in outdoor sw ponds? I am sure that I could rig something up to dispense concentrated saltwater, but I would rather a commercial product if available.

I was thinking of tapping the alarm of a digital salinity meter, and building a circuit that allows it to control a sprinkler valve, which could siphon saltwater out of a barrel into the sump area. Good idea or no?

Leaves also pose a problem because there is a large tree right next to it. Am I right in assuming that these would be okay as ling as there are not tons of them?

A ray pond would be pretty awesome, if it is possible. I have yet to see anyone do an outdoor saltwater pond, so I am not sure how well they would fare with so many variables.

 

[BAYOU boy 437]

the heaters some what did there jobs.... some days i had to break ice off the top of the water..... and some days i didnt.... and for leaves you can do wat i did to stop leaves bcause i too have a tree in my yard... i outlined my pond with pvc from home depot ... then me nd my dad made like roof over the pond, then we put a fine mesh we got from lowes over the pond wallah no mo leaves..... and as far as a saltwater pond i been looking to convert my pond to sw but idk how the salinity will be controlled im still trying to figure out a way to handle this problem but i think ill take the mesh of my pvc shed and put tin on it were no fresh water will mix in ...... if that works out for me then ill stock wit local game fish, maybe four redfish, a drum or two, a couple of speckle trout and white trout and hardheads cats and cocahoe minnows and other baitfish.. and i neva thought of it but i catch rays all the time maybe one of those to.... and ill convert my gars to saltwater