Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

[bowman316]

I have a small 16 ft pool, that I bought at wal-mart a few years ago. I stopped putting clorine in it, and stated adding rock salt and some water softener salt to it. It still has some algee in it, but will the salt kill the algee?

I think that a 1/2 pound of salt will make one gallon of water as salty as the ocean. So for 1,000 gallons of water, 500 lbs of salt would be needed.

but I just want to make this as salty as the chesapeke bay, so that I can keep crabs alive in it. Do you think this would work to keep crabs and fish in, that I catch from the bay?

Would the algee be a problem, and will the salt kill the algee?

 

[avenger79]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

probably not. if you go to an aquarium shop they sell the right salt to mix in, BUT, it needs many more things. The water has to be "cycled" first to allow things to live in it. the PH and salinity and temp have to be correct, they would need structure to live in and then you would have to make sure they were compatible and would not simply eat each other.
crabs and lobster have a tendency to fight to the death when contained in a small area.
then there is the need for water flow and filters. so many things to be considered. I used to have a very nice salt aquarium, it took months to set up and get everything going. after it was set up it need weekly maint.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

to answer your other questions. no the salt will not kill the algae. some algae is beneficial and needed while other algae needs to be gotten rid of. there are snails and other critters that do that well.

to figure out the salinity you need a hydrometer. they are inexpensive and available at most fish/pet shops.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

sea life also feeds on algae. nesting places, shade.

 

[RollingWanderer]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

First, salts are not equal. If you really want to keep marine life, then you need to use a salt specific to marine aquariums.

What is your goal with this? Do you want to keep marine life alive for an extended period and have this pool an aquarium of sorts? Or, are you wanting a big "live-well" to keep things alive until you process them?

If you are thinking an extended period aquarium like setting...well, I'd suggest you may want to pass on this plan. I'm willing to bet it will end up costing you well into 5 digits to get things set up to a point that you can actually support life for more than a week or so. You're gonna need more filtration than you have, several more pumps just to provide additional water flow, water temperature control system, etc... It's possible, but $$$$$$$.

If you are thinking a big "live-well", then I'd suggest something smaller. I helped my uncle make a "live-well" out of a big rubbermaid type container for transferring catch into until he could deal with it. Doing this would be relatively cheap and easy.

-RW

 

[HappierWet]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

I don't know specifically about the salt mix, but most aquarium products specifically say not for use with fish intended for human consumption.

 

[bryan01601]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

a 16' round x 48" pool has about 5000 gallons in it. 1 bucket of instant ocean salt for salt water aquariums makes 160 gallons of water and costs 35.00 so you would need 32 buckets at a cost of 1120 . This is just one aspect you will need to consider as stated before.

FYI I had a 100 gallon salt water aquarium for several years and finally got out of it because it was costing me over 200.00 per month to run.

 

[ENSIGN]

Re: Making my pool saltwater to keep crabs in?

It's going to be cheaper to go out and buy steamed crabs