wow, i havent posted here in a long time.

i have been contemplating redoing my ponds for a while now, but other things keep popping up and taking away my extra money.

i have been thinking about building a indoor pond enclosure. Basically making one of those sunrooms (and some screen) and putting an above ground pond(s) inside of it.

right now i am just getting ideas and pricing...

what i am mainly concerned about is climate control, i would have to have ventilation fans (dont want to bake the turtles and fish). i would also be about to control the weather (it wouldnt rain on my ponds and turtles, and on cold nights during the winter it would cut down on windchill.

i would imagine i would have to use artificial UV lights, because glass filters out UV, unless i use some sort of plexiglass.

other ideas i have are in addition to the ponds, to have an assortment of plants inside of it, as well as maybe other animals (in their own cages) such as some tree frogs and maybe a lizard or 2, and make it look like one big habitat.

like i say, i am in the very preliminary planning stages right now, but any suggestions and/or advice would be welcome.

I remember A LONG time ago, a woman in Calif. had her koi pond built to flow under her livingroom wall and into her livingroom. It was the neatest thing, of course HUGE bucks. I wonder if you could do that with a just a sun room. Keep the main section outside and bring in part under/thru the wall for the fish to visit.

Welcome back Jarrod. Been wondering where you've been.

Sounds like a neat undertaking. I don't know much about enclosing a pond, UV rqts. and stuff, but I commend you for doing it.

Have seen many a beautiful ponds inside Oriental resturants and such that get zero sun. Maybe the lights they use to display/highlight them are UV. I wish I could help.

How big of a pond were you planning on making? I guess that would really factor in to what you would need for UV lights and ventillation etc. I also am dreaming of an indoor pond but would have to keep it small, or my husband would FREAK!! Let us know what you find out in your research. I will post a couple of pictures of some neat ones I have been looking at!

Here are a few cool pictures I have found on the net that I like. The one with landscape ties is outdoors but I would bring it in and hang some lights over top of it. It would be cheap to make so it will probably be what I will be getting :(

that middle one is amazing!

I want one!

LOL, I don't know if the fish would care really where they lived but ya, I would love to have something indoors! Now I am getting obsessed with the idea. I would do it right now if I wasn't so concerned with the moisture issue. I know last year in our shop with only a 150 gallon pond and 2 ceiling fans running 24/7, and having 20 foot ceilings, the moisture issue was a real problem! That's why I got kicked out for this year! I am thinking though if I kept it kind of small and put a lid over it kind of like an aquarium only maybe peaked so you could see the fish better, the moisture would be retained better, but then..... what would the point be if you couldn't just sit on the ledge and watch the fish. I don't know but I am thinking very hard on this!! ;)

I am thinking I would love to build one in my basement, but reconsidered when I remembered my band practices down there! There would be lots of room,but I suspect the fishies wouldn't care too much for our volume. It would keep them rather stressed out I am sure. I can imagine finishing up Smoke On The Water, and finding all the fish floating on the water belly up!!! :lol:

That middle pic is calling for a serious 'DANG!!!'. After that I thought..'beam me up Scotty' and where are the whales?? :rolleyes: Ok, I'm a closet Trekkie. lol I wondered if that owner finished off all that knotty pine with marine polyurethane? I can't even fathom the time for researching that guy/girl put into that.

Hey, KK, where did you find that second indoor koi pond photo? Maybe we can ask the owner about it (aka rope them in here).

I picture myself enjoying a snack by that pond only to have a frisky 1.5 foot long koi jump out onto my lap!

Hhhhmm, I found it on the net quite awhile ago and saved the picture to dream about!!! I'll do some digging and see if I can find it again and let you know :D
I always wonder why people seem to build indoor ponds with only one end of access. I would like to be able to walk around at least 3 side of mine for cleaning and observing.

i talked about that sort of a while back... to have an above ground pond with acrylic so you could "see underwater"

the UV is important for the turtles and whatever other animals i put in there.

i know glass blocks UV... thats why you dont get sunburns sitting next to a window, but theres gotta be something that allows UV to pass through... if not, i can have artifiical lights, artificial light fixtures are gonna be the least of my worries.

its going to be a small pond... bigger than my 50 and 100 gallons now... i was thinking of a 2 seperate ponds (fish and turtles) that are combined with central filtration... basically 1 big pond, but seperate the turtles from the expensive fish. i was thinking about 1000 gallons.

Oh, that would be really neat. Especially to be able to share the filtration. I've seen a few ponds in pet stores and they didn't have anything for lights or UV. But, then again they probably aren't the healthiest fish in the world.

OMG that is the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Could you just imagine the HOURS of fish watching ok I will say it I would leave my husband for that LOL JJ (but I would consider it......maybe) :huh:

I wish I could find the link to that indoor pond! I have looked high and low for it, but can't seem to find it anywhere. Maybe someone took it off the net. It would sure be nice to talk to them and find out the details. Damn, I might have to give up my life of luxury and go back to work so I can afford one! I don't know if I would trade my husband for that pond, but I wouldn't mind to trade him for someone who at least liked them, LOL ;)