Saltwater Swimming Pool...With Fish???

Marco S · Oct 12, 2019

I realize this may be a stupid question and have done absolutely no research on it...but I'm going to ask it anyway. ;Happy

I am planning on putting in a swimming pool next year and was looking into the benefits of saltwater pools with sand on the bottom. I never really thought about it, but just saw an old video of Tank'd where they built a diving pool in someones house. It was more like a river that went through several rooms and was really cool. I know that is a TV show and some of what they do is questionable and probably just for TV, but what if???

Has anyone ever looked into or does anyone current have a swimming pool that they keep fish in? If so, what are the challenges and what type of fish would be OK to keep. Also, what type of budget am I looking at? I already planned on between $35 - $45K, but could probably throw in another $20 - $25K if needed. Anything more than that I would probably just save for the Bucket List once I decide it's time for that.

To be clear, I am talking about a swimming pool with fish, not a diving tank. Any info is much appreciated! ;Happy

Bramzor · Oct 12, 2019

What is the difference between swimming pool with fish and a diving tank?

Omgitsjoe · Oct 12, 2019

Please do this so I can sit at my keyboard and drool at the pure awesomeness!

Marco S · Oct 12, 2019

Bramzor said:
What is the difference between swimming pool with fish and a diving tank?

This would be a traditional swimming pool in a traditional shape, (large oval or rectangle of some sort) and used for swimming without requiring scuba gear. It would go from shallow to deep and not have viewing windows for starters...

CheckeredPants · Oct 12, 2019

I saw that episode too and was blown away! It was really neat. There’s also a place in Atlanta that was called Warehouse Aquarium (not sure what they changed their name to), but they have a swimming pool shell that’s been converted to a full blown reef with a sort of tide pool in the shallow end and open water drop off in the deep end.

While I can’t offer any advice on this area I’m here to tag along. I wouldn’t see why you couldn’t make this a reality really. Hopefully you get some good feedback here.

Marco S · Oct 12, 2019

Omgitsjoe said:
Please do this so I can sit at my keyboard and drool at the pure awesomeness!

That would be a pretty cool build thread. Although there wouldn't be any DIY stuff since I would leave it to the experts to do the work, but I would take lots of pictures along the way.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself since I don't even know if it's possible yet and if it is, if I could afford it. I'm going to start looking into it though and will reach out to some local companies to see what they have to say next week.

Halal Hotdog · Oct 12, 2019

Incredible idea. Here are my concerns.
1. Maintaining temperature is going to be tricky
2. Outdoor pool, you are open to environmental contamination.
3. Will have to maintain flow in all directions.
4. Without viewing panels might be tough to really enjoy it.
5. Monthly expense will be much higher with all additional equipment running
6. With this type of setup you may have to error on the side of very easy to keep fish rather than traditional reef fish.
7. Feeding will be interesting.

Sully6956 · Oct 12, 2019

The term saltwater swimming pool is a bit misleading. Saltwater swimming pools actually turn salt(NaCl) into chlorine through electrolysis. This chlorine is used to disinfect the water. There is still chlorine in the water just at a lower level than traditional pools.The salinity level of a saltwater pool is also roughly 1/10 of the ocean. Any fish you wanted to put in would die almost immediately I would imagine.

motortrendz · Oct 12, 2019

A saltwater pool is. Nowhere near the salinitly youd need for fish, if it rains too much or not enough youd have to chase salinity if you actually planned on keeping it at a fish tolerable level, temp would be interesting to maintain and probably super expensive.. and algae would ne a nuisance with direct sunlight that pool would be green all the time.

Although the idea is cool, I dont see a reality of it happening within reason anyway.

Alex808 · Oct 12, 2019

I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible. You’d have to have your typical systems in place to monitor and top off on a huge scale but if it’s an out door system exposed to the elements, be careful of seagulls if you’re on the coast?

Marco S · Oct 12, 2019

Halal Hotdog said:
Incredible idea. Here are my concerns.
1. Maintaining temperature is going to be tricky
2. Outdoor pool, you are open to environmental contamination.
3. Will have to maintain flow in all directions.
4. Without viewing panels might be tough to really enjoy it.
5. Monthly expense will be much higher with all additional equipment running
6. With this type of setup you may have to error on the side of very easy to keep fish rather than traditional reef fish.
7. Feeding will be interesting.

Those are some good concerns...maybe I could do a section of the pool separated with acrylic so parameters would be easier to keep in check and I wouldn't be swimming in fish food or poop.

Edit: The temp would be a problem since I am in AZ and it is over 100 for three months straight. Cooling would be pretty expensive. I do have a large family room that I rarely use that is right next to the garage and could potentially sacrifice both and use the space for a pretty large indoor pool, but that would probably get really expensive and I would have to park in the uncovered driveway...probably not worth it in the long run.

Alex808 · Oct 12, 2019

motortrendz said:
A saltwater pool is. Nowhere near the salinitly youd need for fish, if it rains too much or not enough youd have to chase salinity if you actually planned on keeping it at a fish tolerable level, temp would be interesting to maintain and probably super expensive.. and algae would ne a nuisance with direct sunlight that pool would be green all the time.

Although the idea is cool, I dont see a reality of it happening within reason anyway.

A deep enough pool wouldn’t have wild temp swings, especially if the color of the liner was a lighter color. Salinity with excess rain would definitely be a problem though. Especially a down pour.

motortrendz · Oct 12, 2019

I know up here (nj) during the summer my pool can get upward of 90 deg during the summer evaporate like crazy. And then I'd have to flush the water with cooler water to make it not a bath. But some cooler summers the water could be like 70 especially if we have cloudy or rainy weeks

Letterkenny · Oct 12, 2019

This has been done before but only for a day.

Katrina71 · Oct 12, 2019

Discovery Cove in Orlando is essentially a large scale version of this. Not sure if they could point you in the right direction, but an email is worth a shot.

flyline · Oct 12, 2019

I have a salt pool I. SoCal but it make chlorine in a cell would not work .... now I do remember knowing someone In Hawaii growing up who did have a real pool with salt fish in it... I think he pumped up water from a salt river behind his house though