"Beano" wrote in message
ups.com...
I was pretty sure that a pond cost more to maintain than a tank...


It really depends on the circumstances and how you calculate it.

The cost per gallon per fishload for feeding a pond can be less, as
nature provides insects, larvae, worms and whatever else falls in.
However many ponders will at least feed very early and late in the
season, and it's usually large amounts of food ($$).

The cost per gallon for heating a pond can be zero in areas where no
heating is necessary. However in areas where the water will freeze, a
lot of money is spent on heaters to maintain a liquid hole for oxygen to
get down to the fish, generally more than it would cost to heat an
average aquarium all year.

Natural ponds don't even have filtration or electricity. However where
filtration is used, it's typically x0.5 to x1 volumes per hour, instead
of the x2 to x5 circulation rate used by aquariums, so the maintenance &
capital costs per gallon are lower in a pond. A 500g pond would use
about the same amount of electricity for filtering, as a 100g aquarium
(though it all depends on fishload too). Large filtration systems also
use more generic DIY equipment (Rubbermaid filters and pool pumps ;~), so
the cost per gallon is again reduced.

Ponds are larger, so even with a lower cost per gallon in some cases,
they can quickly become money pits, however economy of scale starts
kicking in. The sun's UV becomes your chlorine dechlorinator across the
large surface, the biomass bottom becomes more biological filtration, the
underground portion of the pond gets naturally heated and ponders quickly
learn to buy in bulk, and with no-name products (like a tray of Arm &
Hammer baking soda instead of pH stabilizers), and they can prepare and
freeze their own fish foods.

Also some things are not really comparable such as treating a pond with
antibiotics, which can easily cost $500 per treatment (and typically
requires 3 treatments), even with bulk purchases through vets or fish
farms.

Safe to say that when ponds cost more than aquariums, they can cost a LOT
more than aquariums ;~).
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