My 1700L pond/tank (with Oscars and Turtles)

[mrgoodkat]

Hey Guys,

I don't know how to classify it since it is not really a tank, but then it is not really a garden pond either ;) So i just post it here. It's on my balcony.

That's my little spare time killer. I build it about 7 months ago, so I don't have pictures of the building process. I made it pouring waterproof concrete and then gluing tiles inside. The size is approximately 3m*1.5m*35cm with a total volume of about 1700L (~9.8'*5'*14" / 440 g)

Currently I have:

11 Tiger Oscars
1 Peacock Bass
3 Columbian Sharks
1 Ancistrus
5 Red-Eared Slider
1 Siamese Crocodile


Plant-wise I only got a few patches Java Fern, the turtles eat everything else, they still manage to rip out a few leaves as it is.

The tank is stocked with small and medium sized Tilapia and some other small fish for everybody to eat. I also feed some cucumber slices for the turtles and pork for the oscars on special occasions.


From the technical side, I got a 2000 L/h (530 g/h) power head and a combined filter with UV light, bio-balls and filter pads. Keeps the water nice and clean. pH is about 6.6 and ammonia <0.02ppm. *w3

I got a few underwater LED lamps for nice effects at night. I just love sitting on the balcony with a beer and watch the fish in the evening.


Here a few pics (I just linked my pics from my account on the AF, hope that's ok, was faster than uploading everything again.):


Oscar Log


Large Columbian Shark


Croc and Slider


Croc only



As I can only post 4 pics, here is the link to the photobucket gallery:
http://s1245.photobucket.com/albums/...mrgoodkat1707/

I hope you like it.

[Fishkeeper]

So do you have plans for the croc when he gets big enough to eat your fish?

[Aeonflame]

Thats quite a collection of fish and reptiles! How deep is the pond? it looks a bit shallow in the photos. I assume that the tank is cycled and you just had a bit of an ammonia spike.

[Aeonflame]

I have pasted the rest of the photos here

[mrgoodkat]

@Fishkeeper: The croc is going to go back to the croc farm once it gets too big for the pond

@Aeonflame: Thank you very much for pasting the photos. The pond is about 35cm deep, I agree it is a little shallow, but I'm worried about the weight and the decreased distance to the rim if I add more water. As mentioned it is located on my balcony (actually the roof above the living room)
The pond is cycled, I used half/half lake and tap water + primer the first time and had that running for about a week with only Tilapia.
Ammonia is less than 0.02ppm according to the Seachem scale.

[Fishkeeper]

That pond (I would call it a pond) is amazing! Question: what are the clear tubes around the bamboo for? Do they function as pots?

[mrgoodkat]

Thank you so much for your feedback.

Those are glass vases, keep the turtles away from the bamboo and prevent the fertilizer from getting into the pond water. There is no connection between the vase water and the pond water.

[Cyberra]

I'm amused by the pic of the turtle on top of the croc ^^

[Old Marine]

It looks Great! Thank You for sharing, I love the Croc I lived in South Florida and have fished among the Alligators they are truely amazing creatures, I know a Croc is a little more Cranky than the Alligator

[Crispy]

nice pond. always cool to see such projects finished.

why not let the bamboo and other potted plants pull nitrates from the pond instead of fertilizing them on their own? would make more sense to me to have all the plants filtering the water.