i know this might be a stupid question but...

[Cheeser]

can i grow corals in a saltwater pond? maybe using the sun as light? i live in south tx where theres always plenty of sun... but if not im sure i can set up some lighting.
i have one pond thats like 50 gallons and one thats like 300 gallons.

 

[wontonflip]

You could...heat would be a factor though unless the volume big enough I would think.

 

[Bebop]

I'm not sure if lighting would really be your #1 concern. How would you regulate temperature? In such a small space, I imagine the temp would change drastically. If you had one day where the temp drops below 60 (much less 50 or 40) it would be tough to keep the pond warm. And on the opposite end, any temp over 90 would be really hard to cool I imagine.

Also, how would you manage the water quality? All it would take is a little bit of contaminated runoff that gets into your pond and it would be game over. Not to mention increased evaporation from the sun or lowered salinity from rain.

I'm sure you could do it, it shouldn't be too different than a regular tank, but personally, I think it would be more trouble than it's worth. :/

 

[Cheeser]

nice...im gonna do a little more research but i think this might be something fun to get into...
is there something i can get to regulate the temp? like a heater/chiller controller?

 

[Gizmo]

You mean a outdoor pond right. That's a cool idea Iv'e pondered it. One major concern I think would be salanity, it would be hard to keep stable. Every time it rained it could bring it down especially a hard rain.

 

[Cheeser]

yeah outdoors...it doesnt rain too much around here. but yeah i would need to figure out a way to cover it from time to time if need be.

 

[Cheeser]

im probably gonna start off on a small scale like maybe a 20 gallon pond and some hardier coral frags just to work out the kinks and at least get a taste of what problems i might run into if i wanna go bigger. which i eventually will if all goes well.

 

[little_fish]

How are you going to see the corals?

 

[Cheeser]

well i mainly wanna farm them......i know it sounds crazy...ive seen vids on youtube of people doing it in the ocean off the coast.....

 

[fastrd400]

Oh Lord!

 

[little_fish]

In that case, more power to you.