Pond kit from Wal-mart

[Skittyfish]

Is there anything wrong with these kits? They are only $78. I think they are maybe 50 g and have a filter/pump and small water fall.

[Mantis_22]

Junk, Junk, JUNK skitty. Dont touch them. Go to lowes and get the 600 gallon ones. My mom has one and its the best thing ever. I actually know more about the pond than my own tanks. IF you need help just ask. I can get you pics if you like and part names.

[Skittyfish]

Yes, but MONEY can be an issue here. I don't work, so my husband has a huge say in this. He's willing to go for a small one, maybe a hundred gallons or so, and I can get the pump from bigal's. But, he saw the one at Wal-mart, so I am left trying to convince him of something else. I'll let you know how it goes.

[GulfCstAquarian]

If you're on a budget, check this out:
My 125g pond (http://home.earthlink.net/~ponjican/aquaria/pond.htm)
http://home.earthlink.net/~ponjican/aquaria/images/pond_042103t.jpg

It's a prefabricated pond that cost me $50. $30 for a pump with a prefilter and I was in business! The thing I like about this prefab piece is that you can get a lot more volume and depth for a given surface area. With a liner, it would be difficult to make walls with nearly vertical slopes such as this prefab has.
The kits that Lowe's has are definitely great, but if you're on a tight budget, then there's nothing you can do about it!

[Mantis_22]

Its not worth having a small pond IMO. My mom started with one of the smaller 100 gallons then one day we got the check book and got the biggest sucker at Lowes. It was well worth it and looks way better than the smaller one. I would save your $$$ and upgrade but its all in what your wanting to do with the pond plus where your gonna put it, I'll get pics later today and show you...

[ellehcim]

I bought a 90g pond kit from walmart, and i am quite pleased with it. I dont have lots of money to blow on expensive huge ponds, plus the one i bought fits perfectly in my garden area. The only thing im not excited about is the "waterfall" thingy it comes with, but I figure with plants and rocks it wont be so bad to look at. :) The pic is how it looked at the end of the day after we put it in, its looks different now since well mulched around it, when i get more pics i will show you:)

[ellehcim]

oops ..pic didnt post , let me try again

[ellehcim]

oh well, sorry i couldnt get it to post says its too big.:D

[Skittyfish]

That's the one...90 gallon, waterfall, frog fountain, and 600 gph pump. Does it have a filter? (my son wouldn't stand still long enough for me to read it all!)

And for the price I could get two and put them in sequence, essentially have 180 gallons!

[ellehcim]

It has a sponge filter attachment that goes on the pump. :)

[Skittyfish]

Thanks. I may be able to swing it then. I don't want 600g-3000g or more. I have two kids who will like nothing better than to try to swim with the fishes---if they think they can get away with it!

Besides, our pool is only 10,000 gallons:D ..Can't have a better pond than pool now can we?

[ellehcim]

http://watergardening.infopop.net/OpenTopic is a good forum to get info on ponds. No mater what you go with you will definatly enjoy your pond. I love mine even if it is not as big or as ornate as many of them out there:) I have seen a lot of set ups where people joined 2 pre fabs together and they look great:D

[Hawaii_Fantails]

Aloha!

That preformed pond kit with the spitting frog fountain is on sale at Walmart here too... so... is that one good or... not?

:) Wanting to make a garden pond...
Hawaii_Fantails

[rjl420]

I'll chime in on this one.....


Having been a 'ponder' for a little over 10 years. I can say one thing....

you will want your next pond to be bigger. :)

that being said, these preform jobbies are great for water garden use, and even small goldfish ponds. the depth is really the only thing I don't care for, most of them go a maximum of 18", which is barely deep enough for a good size pot (for plants ;) ). plants that do better in somewhat deep water don't seem to do as well, ie lillies. but as far as bang for your buck, the kits are a good starting point to get your feet wet.

edit: another thing about the depth that I forgot to bring up. that doesn't give the fish much hiding area to escape the likes of great blue herons or racoons, a net over the pond may be needed to protect the inhabitants.

[Mantis_22]

ok im getting pictures TODAY, i just wanna show you what ours looks like....

[Mantis_22]

heres one of the pics...

5 1/2 feet deep, firmly planted, 4 water pumps and 3 fountains. Bioloagical Filtration with UV Light Bypass Box. River substrate and alot of hard lillys and Elodea. 12 Goldfish vary from fantails to hybrids and calico...

[Mantis_22]

By the way, plants on the sides engulf and hang about 1 foot from the edge of the pool lol... Especially the fern

[Skittyfish]

And how much money was this?

[Mantis_22]

All the plants and fish were free
The Pond itself was a near 100 on sale believe it or not
The Pumps were around 30-40 for all of them at southern states
Chemicals were free
and the UV/Biological Filter was Free from a friend moving north..

Itself I would say on the cheap end you could kind a kit used for a difference of 200$ with all the goods. Im not too sure though. I can find prices if you want skitty...

[tricksterpup]

Actually i am a big fan of small ponds. .here are a few sites for whiskey barrel ponds..
http://www.jeffcook.com/pondpics.html
http://www.well.com/user/gjmurphy/pondindex.htm
give them a try.
jim

[Mantis_22]

LOL we had one of those once, it was like 4-5 years ago