Indoor Fish Pond

[Lewcifer]

Hello all, I am new here and new to fish in general (long time reptile/amphibian guy)...I just moved into a new house in Mexico City with a 320 gallon in ground fish tank/pond. It was used to keep fish previously (years ago), and I am looking to put it back into use. I still have some work to do (repaint/seal it), and was intending on putting koi in it. It is not very deep, but it's about 10 feet long by 4 feet wide (I will try to get a pic up this weekend). I am looking for advice/suggestions on what kind of fish (if koi isn't the best choice, or if they can be kept with another type of fish as well) to populate it with as well as what to go with as far as pump/filter set up. I have never had fish before, and I will certainly be doing more research before I am ready to set it up.

 

[phishyphil]

Hi maste, welcome to the FF.net. Introduce yourself over at the Welcome to the Tropical Fish Forum first mate, you will get more of a response if you intro yourself

The depth of the koi pond will determine its ability to survive in harsh winter conditions, Here in the uk the minimum tank depth for Koi is around 5-6 feet, this is to ensure swiming conditions underneath any ice, and the minimum length is around 5 Foot by 5 Foot, But the larger you go the better really.

How deep is the pond?

Koi will probably be out if its no deeper then say 4 foot in new mexico but i could be wrong as I only keep smaller gold fish in the pond, try reposting this in the Cold water Section

If you introduce yourself first in the link, then ask a MOD nicely they may move this for you

 

[BigbruiserAl]

its indoor mate so winetr wont be a main concern unless its a shed

 

[DrRob]

logic would state that, if it's 320 gallon, and 10 feet by 4 feet on top, then it should be 8 feet deep on average. Unless I have my maths wrong.

 

[bae1994]

it would be about 1.4 feet deep

I'd heat it and have some rays in it

 

[Lewcifer]

Sorry for the late reply guys...I have avaraged about 3-4 hours of sleep/night this week so it's been rough. Finally got a little rest and snapped the pics as promised:
This should give you an idea of the area I'm working with:

This should give you an idea of the depth:

Here is a pic of one of the busted/leaky lights that I need to replace:

The whole area is going to need to be sanded/repainted/resealed and the light bulbs need to be replaced as well. I am looking to do this all on a budget so all of that work I will do, but like I said in my previous post, I don't even know where to start as to what size/type of pump/filter I need to get or what type(s) of fish I should look to put in it...

 

[Malawi MaD]

That will look awesome hope you keep this post going as you update .. Think it could be a little to shallow for koi but why not try a tropical pond? If it's indoors it should hold its temperature well.

 

[Joekoing]

It's not deep enough for Koi, even small Koi need at least 3 feet. It'd be best to actually build up around it, that way you're not damaging the structure of the house, and you get a nice big pond.

Filtration for a koi pond is also going to be rather expensive, and take up a fair bit of space. Most koi ponds are built with a bottom drain in order to keep them as clean as possible, head over to the koi magazine forum, there's a pond build section that'll give you a much better idea of the scale and work needed for a koi pond.

 

[Mark Z.]

That is really cool! And with the windows, you may be able to get some water lilies. Maybe a small fountain?

I wonder if you could paint and seal the whole thing with spray used for pick-up truck beds?

A dark base with goldfish and comets would look great.

Enjoy it,
Mark

 

[Tizer]

personally i cant see it being a viable habitiat as is stands, as the other poster said, if you could put 2 foot of brick work around it to a depth of 2 and a half foot, you could get away with koi.

 

[moochy13]

i think from an aesthetic point of view it would be a crime to build up round it.

i would much rather find suitable fish for it as is if possible, than change the pond to take big fish. failing that, i would only build the sides up to the minimum needed for small fish. the idea of coming home at night, with your pond nicely lit, some foliage in/around it, minor scaping on the bottom and being able to watch your fish "in the floor" would be amazing. and more interesting than 'another' koi pond.

the only problem i see (less so even with a 2 inch 'wall') is stopping general everyday dirt getting in the water. may not be a huge problem though.

 

[Lewcifer]

Thanks for all the feedback! Unfortunately, the house is leased and I am not looking to undertake any construction projects (especially out of my own pocket - I will only live here until next summer), even if it is something as simple as a short brick wall to extend the depth...I should also mention that this is being done with money that is being raised and is a communal upgrade for the other 9 roommates and future tenants. I would really like to keep the budget under $1,000.00 all said and done. Since the verdict is that it is too shallow for koi, what other suggestions might anyone have? I think we may be able to do a turtle and/or some newts as well. The house is not centrally heated (or cooled), as the weather here is similar to SoCal's, but I think it gets cooler in the winter. Plus, the house is massive and it would cost a lot of money to centrally heat or cool it...

 

[Mark Z.]

I would do goldfish and comets. They are cheap and colorful. You need something colorful so that you can see them looking from above.

I wouldn't do newts, as you may have them wandering around the house!

Good luck!
Mark

 

[Tizer]

communal upgrade... get a bar installed instead

 

[Lewcifer]

communal upgrade... get a bar installed instead

We have a bar. It's HUGE...I was standing on the bar counter top to take the first picture.