Barrel Pond

First topic message reminder :

So after finally wearing my boyfriend down I got him to agree to a half barrel pond in the backyard. I've had goldfish before and I even made a small pond out of a kid swimming pool once, but I have never done the barrel thing or had water plants. Does anyone have any tips?

Right now I have it filled with water to let the wood swell up to seal any gaps and I've scrubbed the inside with a grill brush. I'm not using a liner and I read online that you have to let it sit for as long as a month so that all the stuff left over from the whiskey can leach out. I also read that water hyacinth act as a natural filter for the water and they will help cycle the pond. Can anybody confirm this?

Here is what she looks like now. I'll be adding plants and goldfish as soon as I can.

Looking good!

Looks great. I will have to copy this idea someday.

I just need some of that plant! Where can I buy it?

razzbuten wrote:

I just need some of that plant! Where can I buy it?

I got all mine on ebay, just search for pond plants and a bunch should pop up.

Very nice!

don`t mean to step on anyones toes but water hyacinth is not legal in texas. and carries a$2000.00 a plant fine .

eep115 wrote:

don`t mean to step on anyones toes but water hyacinth is not legal in texas. and carries a$2000.00 a plant fine .

I was told that water hyacinth is illegal in some states but apparently it isnt in California. The woman I bought it from said that her plants are all legal and I would have no problem in CA.

What are you goin to use to filter it? like an HOB? maybe just a couple sponge filters?

Really cool Idea, and looks really simple and fun! thanks for posting it.

yes hyacinths is legal in alot of states,but not texas .wild birds brought in last year to my mud ponds and during the winter it covered them. ilike the barrel ponds wish i could do one like that for livebearers.

sandnuka wrote:

What are you goin to use to filter it? like an HOB? maybe just a couple sponge filters?

Really cool Idea, and looks really simple and fun! thanks for posting it.

I have a small backyard pond (plastic liner type). I started with a sponge type filter and there was no way it could keep up with the load of both fish waste and algae. The water go soupy green full of algae and I went and bought one of the UV little filters from home depot and threw it on there. In 2 days the water was crystal clear, and nothing but a little algae growing on my rocks and the side here and there.

razzbuten wrote:

sandnuka wrote:

What are you goin to use to filter it? like an HOB? maybe just a couple sponge filters?

Really cool Idea, and looks really simple and fun! thanks for posting it.

I have a small backyard pond (plastic liner type). I started with a sponge type filter and there was no way it could keep up with the load of both fish waste and algae. The water go soupy green full of algae and I went and bought one of the UV little filters from home depot and threw it on there. In 2 days the water was crystal clear, and nothing but a little algae growing on my rocks and the side here and there.

It has no filter. The plants keep the water clear and I just do water changes every week or so. I haven't had any problems with water quality in the months that I've had it set up. There are only 4 fish in there and they are pretty small so the bio load is small, if there were a lot of fish in there I would have to have a filter for sure. I wish I could afford a UV filter but its just not possible right now, plus I don't have any kind of power out there so I would have to figure out a way to power the thing.

buy an extension chord

This is my barrel pond

[img][/img]

COOL! lotsa barrels

Check out my new Barrel Pond post. It has the newest picture and a video.

https://usafishbox.forumotion.com/t6418-my-barrel-pond

I hate to be the one to disagree here. Your pond is nice, the plants are lovely! However, 4 goldfish, two of them being single-tails, in a 40g "pond" with no filter is not good. You have so many plants stuffed in there that I am surprised there is swimming room and single-tails need at least 20g each. I'm not sure how big the fish are, but once they hit about 3" each, you are going to need a bigger pond or a big filter.
Also, you talk about getting your water checked "every few weeks" and I believe you said you go to a place like Pet Smart to have this done. Do they give you actual numbers, or do they just say, "It's fine."? You need numbers as half of those poor pet store tards really don't know what they are talking about in there.
I would be very interested in hearing the exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. I have been keeping goldies for many years and I always use a 150g stock tank for my outside "pond" and it has a big filter and I never stock it with more than 6 fish at a time. Of course, some of my fish are about 8" w/out their tails, so they need more room.
My point is that if you want to keep your fish healthy, then you really need to research how tanks cycle and the affects of over-stocking. I'm not trying to be ugly or sound superior, but you have already had many ppl on here suggest getting a filter, at least, and not to overstock your pond. Goldfish put out far more waste than tropicals do and for them, you really need filtration. Just my two cents.

SeaWitch wrote:

I hate to be the one to disagree here. Your pond is nice, the plants are lovely! However, 4 goldfish, two of them being single-tails, in a 40g "pond" with no filter is not good. You have so many plants stuffed in there that I am surprised there is swimming room and single-tails need at least 20g each. I'm not sure how big the fish are, but once they hit about 3" each, you are going to need a bigger pond or a big filter.
Also, you talk about getting your water checked "every few weeks" and I believe you said you go to a place like Pet Smart to have this done. Do they give you actual numbers, or do they just say, "It's fine."? You need numbers as half of those poor pet store tards really don't know what they are talking about in there.
I would be very interested in hearing the exact numbers for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. I have been keeping goldies for many years and I always use a 150g stock tank for my outside "pond" and it has a big filter and I never stock it with more than 6 fish at a time. Of course, some of my fish are about 8" w/out their tails, so they need more room.
My point is that if you want to keep your fish healthy, then you really need to research how tanks cycle and the affects of over-stocking. I'm not trying to be ugly or sound superior, but you have already had many ppl on here suggest getting a filter, at least, and not to overstock your pond. Goldfish put out far more waste than tropicals do and for them, you really need filtration. Just my two cents.

No worries :) You have valid concerns I would probably tell someone in my position the same things. First of all you're right about Petsmart I worked there myself and yes most of the people who work there have NO idea what they are talking about. When I go to Petsmart I usually just test the water myself, they leave the test strips out on the podium and I figure why bother them when I can do it. Since you're interested I'll post the numbers for you next time I get the water tested, probably tomorrow or the next day. The only time I've seen any kind of problem with the water was a few months ago when it was raining for a week and a half and I couldn't do a water change, it had high ammonia but fortunately the fish looked ok and after I did a change everything was fine. All the fish are pretty small right now and I do plan on getting a bigger place for them asap. I started with this smaller one because I had never done a pond before and I didn't know how I was going to do so I didnt feel like spending too much... then I lost my job so unfortunately the fish will have to wait for their new home. As for the swimming room in the pond the only plant that's not a vine has a very shallow root system, most of the plant is floating on the top of the water, so I'm fairly confident that the fish have enough swimming room as the pond is about 2 feet deep. The green that you see below the surface in the pictures is mostly anachris, it floats or sinks depending on light and temperature, its in there to help oxygenate the water plus they like to eat bits of it. I'm actually in the process of removing some of the vines and creepers because they have grown a lot since I got them. Soon I'll also have to start pulling out some water hyacinth because its going to start growing out of control when it gets warmer.

Just curious...you say there are four fish in there but I just took the time to read the whole thread and I counted about 9 fish that were put in. 3 minnows...2 shabunkins...2 reg goldfish...2 orandas. What happened to the other 5 fish?

I do like the look & the naturalness of the pond with so little intervention. I am just wondering if some died or you moved them out?