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.

i like this really cool project!

cant wait to see it when its finished tight

Lookin' good!!

I went to Petsmart today and got two shubunkins for the barrel pond. Here are some pictures of them in a plastic bowl before I put them in the barrel and a picture of the pond. You can see a Rosie Minnow swimming around in the barrel :) The shubunkins are hiding in the plants.

lookin good!!!
u gonna throw a filter on that thing or is it an Ol NatRuaL type of thing?

Good luck. I would definitely throw a filter on it in the future.

Nope no filter. It's just gonna hang out. The plants will help with Oxygen and take a little of the bad stuff out of the water. Of course I'll be doing partial water changes.

Looking good so far. Bet it'll be great once those plants fill in.

Keep us posted.

Well good luck. It is starting to look good.

Yes you are going to need a filtration of some kind. Goldfish Pee and poop tons of ammonia. If there is no filter they will end up with ammonia burn. If there is no filter then you will have to do wc every day or at the least every other day. Also I'm sure you know that goldfish can grow to be 12" long. Is your barrel big enough for that?

Ya.. Looking at the water and the scum build up on it along with the waste load... You really need a filter.

ya a filter would be nice, at least a sponge filter or power head w/ a sponge attached to it.

Its been a long time! Sorry for the wait, its been really busy around here due to my new job. The pong is doing great :) I've added more plants and fish since I last posted and they are doing fantastic. As far as plants I now have water hyacinth, parrots feather and primrose creeper as well as the 40 or so anacharis that I started out with. I also have two red common goldfish in there that have been in there for about 4 months and I just added a red capped oranda and a black oranda.

I know some of you were concerned about there being no filter in there, but it has not been a problem. The water hyacinth and anacharis have done a REALLY good job of keeping the water oxyginated and I change a bit of the water regularly. I admit if it had a filter I wouldnt have to do as much maintenence but I dont mind. I test the water on a regualar basis and it has remained stable and I have had no drastic temperature changes.

If anyone wants to know exactly what I did so you can give it a try for yourself feel free to ask.

Here are some pictures of the pond as it is now. I may add a few more plants but other than that it is done.

looks pretty clean!!!
you did a good job with the plants!!!!

Very nice little pond! good luck! nice plants also..

I have 11 barrel pond I like that you can use them in a small spot

My water hyacinth bloomed :)

WOW that's great. Nice set up.

Very nice!

Thought I'd put up some more photos of my little pond. Enjoy








My black Oranda goldfish :) his name is Jupiter

looking good!!!! how often do you check on it and do WCs?
and how are you gona go about this pond during the winter time?

alkomist wrote:

looking good!!!! how often do you check on it and do WCs?
and how are you gona go about this pond during the winter time?

I check the fish everyday to see if any of them look sickly and I get the water tested every few weeks. A lot of the water evaporates so I have to top it off every other day or so, but I still change 1/4 to 1/3 of the water every two weeks and make sure to pick off any dying leaves off the plants so they dont decay in the water. I live in southern California so it doesn't get that cold during the winter. The plants are hardy varieties so they should be fine out in the cold and goldfish can live in very low temperatures so I'm not really worried about them.

I wanted to show you how fast Water Hyacinth grows. The first picture is from the first day I put it in the pond, the second is one I took today... It's only been a month!

Looks great!!

The plants that were given to me for the pond went absolutely crazy now they are in the goldfish pond and don't think they missed a beat moving them over.

Looking good!