Jaysee

Does anyone have a brackish pond....can it be done?

Elodea

I think it'll be hard to keep the salinity levels stable if it's out in the sun all day, or is it indoors?

Jaysee

Outdoors I guess.

Elodea

Well then you need to control the evaporation somehow to keep the salinity from rising more and more until you add fresh water to it.

gremlin

Anything can be done, it is just how much work will it require . . .

The salt levels would have to be monitored very closely. Fresh water evaporates, leaving behind the mineral and salt content. If you topped it off with regular fresh water, you are still adding more minerals (and a certain amount of salt) without removing any. You would almost have to test the levels daily and then add distilled water or regular water or whatever depending on how the salinity is.

Another concern would be maintaining the temperature. What type of brackish fish would you want to keep and what are their temperature requirements?

sirdarksol

I don't think that evaporation would be much more of a concern than with a tank inside. Your biggest concerns are temperature of the water (which will either need to be tropical or temperate, the same as an indoor tank), surface area of the water compared to gallons (maybe a bit higher) and airflow (this would be the biggest difference).

Even better, though, is the fact that brackish fish not only tolerate minor salinity shifts, they actually prefer them. In most brackish areas, the salinity changes as you move through the water.

I agree that you definitely should not top off with the hose. But, there's a way to deal with that, too. A rain barrel (or multiple) could be used to fill the pond with mineral-free water.

gremlin

The evaporation would depend on where you are. Here, I can have a bowl of water sitting in the house and the water level will go down maybe 1/2 inch while at the same time, my out door pond that holds a whole lot more water, will go down by several inches.

I like the idea of a rain barrel to top off the pond. Maybe even rig some type of a float or something so the water would automatically keep the pond filled.

sirdarksol

Okay, good point on the evaporation. MN has really humid air most of the year. I can leave a dish outside on a sunny day and it's unlikely to completely evaporate.

The float idea is completely doable, I would think. Hook the float to either a pump in the barrel or to a simple nozzle on a hose coming from the barrel. That's a great idea.

Jaysee

Thank you all for the input. It was a late night idea I had, to have killies (bait) in a pond.