I live in a condo, and the patio is basically unused now that I've quit smoking (7 months! Yeah!). I'm thinking of making a custom acrylic tank (about 55"x55"x30") or make an enclosure and put a pre-made pond in it. There are of course size limitations - (55"W x 60"L) is about the most I can get in terms of surface size. Any suggestions? I'm sorta experienced now with aquariums, but for some reason having a big tank (or a small pond) tickles my fancy.

BTW, the patio gets more than 8 hours of sunlight (during the summer).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

 

Are you looking at a saltwater or freshwater acquarium?

 

Richard, the sun may be your biggest enemy here. My father had a backyard fountain/pond for awhile and tried to stock it with fish. Being relatively shallow, the pond offered little protection, and basically, the fished croaked from the heat. Be careful of this.

 

Aquariums are a lot of work. We have a little fresh water one and my wife has to change the water at least two to three times a month. And all the crap you have to buy to keep the water clean is incredible. It's her pet and so she does all the work.

Sunlight and the heat will be your biggest problem. You'll get algae growth and it will be much more difficult to keep the water temperature at a level suitable for the fish.

I also read that salt water tanks are much more difficult to maintain.

But on the plus side, if you don't mind doing all the work, the aquarium does look cool at night with all the lights on.

 

I would suggest to go with an indoor 135 gallon tank. I'm not a fan of outside fish ponds, since you can only see the fish from the top. I like to look at them from the side angle. Plus, most of the pond fishes are carps and large goldfishes.

I plan on getting a medium size 75 gallon tank when I get a house. Growing up I had a 5 gallon, 10 gallon, 20 gallon, and then a 75 gallon, oh yeah, of course everyone had the little goldfish bowls (which I kept fighting betas in).

I like mean, fish/meat eating fish(ex: Oscars, Red Devils, Jack Dempseys, Arrowannas). I would usually feed my fishes live goldfish or guppies.

You need a good filtering system in your aquarium. There's alot of maintenance, but sometimes it's worth it. Nothing better than seeing an Oscar chase and swallow up a few goldfishes.

 

Mingster:

Loads of good advice already I kept fish for many years. I'd definitely go for an indoor aquarioum, it's much easier to regulate the amount of natural/ artificial liht your tank receives. Algae can be an unsightly nightmare. Be sure to read up thoroughly on setting up a tank from scratch. Getting that right is half the battle and can save loads of aggro in the future. If you plan to have a mixed species(community) tank, you will need to know what sizes and species are compatible. Basically big fish eat little fish

Get the biggest tank your room/pocket will allow. No matter how big the size of your tank remember it is really only the surface area which permits the absorption of oxygen into the water which is vital for the health of the fish and any live plants you have. Those air bubble devices do not oxygenate the water in themselves, only by moving fresh water around at the surface do they improve the absorption rate. Nothing looks nicer than a beautifully set up tank in a lowly lit room at night. Sooo relaxing
Read as much as you can about it before you start

Oh gawd.. you've started me hankering again

 

thanks guys. the biggest reason why i want one on the patio is because of my turtle, Ricky. He's gotten too big for the 20 gallon tank, and even though he's fed on a regular basis, i know the SOB is biting at my gold fish! for example: i'm missing 1 small gold fish i KNOW he ate while we weren't looking, i mean, where else can it go?

also, turtles like sunlight, so i thought i move him there in a little pond or something so he can crawl around and get tanned.

 

LOL Now you mention the turtle

 

hehehehehe

Ricky is one cool turtle who likes the sun.

 

If you decide to do an outdoor pond, & have any questions, let me know...be happy to help!
http://home.kc.rr.com/mlyoung