Kiddie pool as over-summer tank????

B

Blue goldfish

AC Members
Sep 15, 2002
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TN
Hey i have this great (hopefully) idea. I thought about keeping fish in a med-lg sized kiddie pool over this summer. Mainly i'm talking about some of my goldfish fry and catfish. I also wanted to keep a kiddie pool in the house that contains local minnows and crayfish. What do ya'll think????? This way i can keep plants, raise some fish, and raise crayfish which i feed to various fish i have....mainly my madtom. I'll also have to think up a way to filter it without having to buy a pond filter....maybe a DIY filter that uses a power head???? I've got all kinds of ideas floating in my head........but the others involve a lot of something.....money. This one doesn't. So how about it??? If you have any ideas like this one or ideas about how to filter it let me know. :D :D :D
I need a hobby..........:cool:
 
That doesn't sound like too bad of an idea. The biggest problem I'd see is heat. Have you ever measured the temperature of the water in one of those pools after sitting in the summer sun for just a few days? You'd have to put it in just about complete shade, open on the sides so it has a few hours of sun for the plants.
 
I did this a few years back when I worked at the LFS. I did it for three summers in a row and it was lots of fun, grew a ton of fish and plants for the shop. I would get 25 swordtails and about a dozen cories and by the end of summer, I had over one hundred swords and 50 or so baby cories( plus the original adults). Throw in bunch plants like Green Hygro, Elodea, or Ludwigia and you'll have a ton of that to get back to the LFS for cash or credit (just let them float). The plants will be the filter, so you don't need a mechanical one,and as Gulf Coast said, you want to shoot for half a day in the sun- half a day in the shade. Place your pool accordingly. Try to get morning sun and afternoon shade. You don't even have to feed the fish much as you'll get all kinds of goodies in there( infusoria, mosquito larvae, etc). It's a great project, have fun with it!!
ROY
 
i thought i posted a reply last night but its not here, i did this with guppies last year and in october i had like a million of them. you can build a filter out of a rubbermaid box it will cost you about 20 bucks for everything and media and like 25-30 for the pump. i have a larger one for my koi pond. john
 
Originally posted by Blue goldfish
Hey i have this great (hopefully) idea...... I also wanted to keep a kiddie pool in the house that contains local minnows and crayfish. ......I need a hobby..........:cool:
Click to expand...
Well, I'm not sure what your 'home-life' situation is, but there would be no kiddie pool set-up inside here. I was thinking you might want to put more effort into this idea and make it an outdoor pond! It will have to be shaded since it's way too shallow and the temperature of the water will 'sky-rocket' during the day. You need to dig out a hold and put the pool in it. Hope there won't be too much wind that will push sand, leaves and other stuff in it. It should be aeriated in at least 3 places, so you need to have an extension cord run to it on a GFI (ground-fault-interrupt) socket for safety. You might want to get a small water turtle or 2 and have some rocks on top of each other so they can climb out ocassionally....

We have a small outdoor "water-garden" here that you can see of the Indoor/Outdoor Pond forum. With a bit of sweat, you can have a nice looking "pond".... Check "A Few More Pics" posted in that Forum. :cool:
 
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I did that last summer, and it worked out ok, but you do have to worry about overheateing. even up here in maine the water got too warm for my goldfish. besides the heat, water changes was kind of a drag, either get a pump or prepare to be scooping out buckets. another thing though, make sure its alright with your local laws, and don't be surprised to find your fish missing one morning, since what ever animals around would get them, my fish all got eatten in two nights by something, towards the end of the summper.
 
An outdoor pool pond is a great idea. If you have a little extra money farms stores sell a heavy duty stock tank that is 2 feet deep and 8 feet across that can handle a lot of abuse so you can use it year after year. It even has a drain valve which is very nice.

Algae and water clarity is a major problem if you don't have any kind of circulation. Even a small powerhead or fountain makes a world of difference and makes the fish much more active. Fish that are next to impossible to breed indoors will get into the mood when out in the "elements" Aquarium plants also grow like crazy and can be pruned and brought back in the fall along with the fish.

Indoor ponds have a serious drawback and that is evaporation. Your house will end up feeling like a sauna unless you fashion some sort of cover for your indoor pond. In my opinion fish look much better from the side than from the top so when indoors they go behind glass where I can appreciate them.
 
The more I hear about this the more I think I will do one. Are you supposed to use substrate in the pool or just leave it bare? also is a filter necessary or can I just put a bunch of plants in there?
 
This is a great idea. Last summer, I used a tote container and it worked fantastically. This year I am planning on using sealed flowerpots and doing small water gardens, with different livebearers and pygmy sunfish. I am also planning on using a few larger tubs for breeding Daphnia and Scuds. These things make great breeding ground for live foods. Something I am not gonna pass up this year.
jim
 
I did it a few years back and controled the temp extremes buy diging a mote around the container 8"wide as deep as you can get it,then bury a camper hose(drinking water safe and cheap)place one end to drain into container the other end conect to a power head with a good sponge filter on it.Thje water traveling under ground cools the water in high heat and warms it early and late in the season.
My friend is curantly instaling a large pond with heat pump type warming cooling system we think it should keep a temp of 40-45 when everyone else has 20" of ice for the cost of a 120w pump:D
 
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