Using My Swimming Pool To Raise Fish In Winter?

[jaideeguy]

This may sound like a joke, but I'm seriously considering converting my pool into a fish farm during the cold winter months up here in Chiang Mai. I have had my pool for 4 yrs now and no one [kids included] gets into the water from Nov until after Feb.....yet I continue to maintain it just for looks, altho not as much.

It occurred to me that I might as well be raising fish during the winter months. after letting the chlorine dissipate, I could stock it with fingerling's [tabtim or maybe even trout as the water temp is cold??] in November and bypass [isolate] my pump so it wouldn't get clogged with fish poop, then in February, after I harvest the fish, I'll super chlorinate and add flocculant then vacuum to waste and i can reclaim my pool for human usage.

In the past, I have used klong and lake water to top it off and altho green at first it clears by above mentioned process.

Not only would I save money on chemicals and electricity, but I may even make a little profit from the fish to pay for the chems the rest of the year.

good idea??? or am I mad??

please tell me if there is any reason why not to do this??

As an experiment, I relocated a tabtim that was in our koi pond this morning to the swimming pool and he is doing ok, so far.

I have posted this on the 'swimming pool forum' and no replies....so I thought that maybe there are some knowledgable aquaculturists that could inform me and hopefully the mods will allow me to double post.

[wolfmanjack]

I am no expert on pools or fish but i don't see why it wouldn't work as long as the ph level is acceptable to the fish.

[Crushdepth]

Temperature is important. If its cold, fish will not grow much, unless they are coldwater varieties. Trout on the other hand tend to die if water gets too hot! So, you might need to have a look at what the water temperatures are like in your area before deciding what to put in.

Edit: A public swimming pool near my home town in Australia used to stock the pool with trout during the winter months. But that was basically for a bit of angling fun. We had some friends who did the same thing with their backyard pool during winter.

Edited January 16, 2009 by Crushdepth

[Smithson]

I think it could be done, you will need a pump and bio-filter of some sort. If your pumping the water you could set up a simple solar system to heat it during the day.

[wagner54]

This may sound like a joke, but I'm seriously considering converting my pool into a fish farm during the cold winter months up here in Chiang Mai. I have had my pool for 4 yrs now and no one [kids included] gets into the water from Nov until after Feb.....yet I continue to maintain it just for looks, altho not as much.

It occurred to me that I might as well be raising fish during the winter months. after letting the chlorine dissipate, I could stock it with fingerling's [tabtim or maybe even trout as the water temp is cold??] in November and bypass [isolate] my pump so it wouldn't get clogged with fish poop, then in February, after I harvest the fish, I'll super chlorinate and add flocculant then vacuum to waste and i can reclaim my pool for human usage.

In the past, I have used klong and lake water to top it off and altho green at first it clears by above mentioned process.

Not only would I save money on chemicals and electricity, but I may even make a little profit from the fish to pay for the chems the rest of the year.

good idea??? or am I mad??

please tell me if there is any reason why not to do this??

As an experiment, I relocated a tabtim that was in our koi pond this morning to the swimming pool and he is doing ok, so far.

I have posted this on the 'swimming pool forum' and no replies....so I thought that maybe there are some knowledgable aquaculturists that could inform me and hopefully the mods will allow me to double post.

I have raised pladuk in concrete ponds and they did just fine. Tabtim or planin will probably do just as well. I say go for it cuz you will never know unless you try. I don't think you will be able to raise trout though because even in the winter temps in CM are way to high for them, also for trout you would need a exchage lots of water daily. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress if you do it.

[egg6447]

good idea??? or am I mad??

please tell me if there is any reason why not to do this??

As an experiment, I relocated a tabtim that was in our koi pond this morning to the swimming pool and he is doing ok, so far.

I have posted this on the 'swimming pool forum' and no replies....so I thought that maybe there are some knowledgable aquaculturists that could inform me and hopefully the mods will allow me to double post.

mad no, crazy maybe.. lol seriously i like thinking out the box. i say why not. as others have said , trout???, i thought they need running water. what do i know. plenty of other breeds out there. go for it and good luck.

[bassman]

One problem that you may have is the time that it takes to raise a fish to marketable size. Don't know how long that you will convert your pool to a pond for in the cool season, but fish growth will be slower in the cool season as their metabolism slows and the short length of time. It would be excellent if you had a follow on pond to transfer the fish too once you converted back to a pool.

For personal consumption only...why not.

I would be very interested in following your results so please keep us posted. I have a few ponds on some land purchased last year that are currently not in production as they are on a flood plain and do flood to the creek annually (thus a short growth season). If you have success in your endeavor, I might have some insight for my own situation.

Good luck and my hat off to you!

Don