BUCKET PONDS.

[MudskipperFan]

Bucket ponds.

They are pretty nice. Earlier this year I got a tall bucket, filled it up with water, and put some anacharis, ostracods, and snalls (which bred A LOT) and a guppie in it. It was fun. I just had a few snails growing on the anacharis, and they bred insanely, and there were about 1000+ snails! the anacharis grew a lot as well, and it grew 20 inches long, so I cut it up a lot. It was during Spring, so it was warm, and that is why it was successful. But after that I got really stupid and decided to put a banana peel in it thinking the snails would eat it, but it ruined the water and got mosquitoes. Then I dumped it out. The end.

I should try this again.

[Darkness9876]

Simply amazing.

Anyway, you should just get a half whiskey barrel and put a pond liner in it. Should cost about $50 at lowes or homedepot and last a lifetime.

[MudskipperFan]

Simply amazing.

Anyway, you should just get a half whiskey barrel and put a pond liner in it. Should cost about $50 at lowes or homedepot and last a lifetime.
No.
I'll just use the same bucket. I wish I still had it because then I could've sold some of the plants and snails. But oh ffffffffffffffffffffffffff.

[Darkness9876]

I doubt youll get people to buy the snails but maybe the plants however most people want quite a few plants to make it worth their time.

Good luck though

[MudskipperFan]

I doubt youll get people to buy the snails but maybe the plants however most people want quite a few plants to make it worth their time.

Good luck though
Nah, I don't want to sell anything at the moment. Also I have my other in ground pond.
If I were to get a bucket I would try to make it a tadpole/snail/plant only pond. (sorry about the random spaces my computer is being stupid and it keeps glitching.)
Maybe I should try it.
HMMMMMMMMMMMM...
Bag, this will be swell.

[pam916]

You can also use a small child's wading pool. I did that for a couple of summers and it was a great success. The plants loved it. I added guppies, mollies, platies and swordtails and they multiplied into the hundreds. The babies grew fast because there were all kinds of things growing in the water for them to eat. My rosie red minnows even raised babies in the homemade pond. It was a lot of fun and very inexpensive. The pool didn't cost more than $10 and I already had the sponge filter and pump.

The only problem with the plant/snail only pond would be the mosquitoes if you kept it outdoors.

[pik01]

You can also use a small child's wading pool. I did that for a couple of summers and it was a great success. The plants loved it. I added guppies, mollies, platies and swordtails and they multiplied into the hundreds. The babies grew fast because there were all kinds of things growing in the water for them to eat. My rosie red minnows even raised babies in the homemade pond. It was a lot of fun and very inexpensive. The pool didn't cost more than $10 and I already had the sponge filter and pump.

The only problem with the plant/snail only pond would be the mosquitoes if you kept it outdoors.

I'm surprised the wading pool itself lasted that long, I don't normally put a lot of stock in their construction. How big was it? Must've been awesome to watch :)

[finsNfur]

A banana peel? LOL

[pam916]

The children's wading pool was the hard thick plastic or whatever that stuff is, not the blow up kind. There are usually three different sizes that Walmart sells in the spring and I used the middle size, but you could use any size you wanted to. I am not sure how many gallons that it held. I put it on my covered front porch and did about a 1/3 water change every 3 or 4 days by draining water out of the pond into the yard and then adding water by putting the water hose in the pond and turning it on so the water was added slowly and then added dechlorinator. The first year the water turned green with algae and I didn't know how to get the algae out and the fish seemed to thrive in it so I didn't worry about it. The second year it turned green and I added some floating hornwort and the water turned crystal clear within a week or so and remained that way through the summer so I can only assume it was the hornwort that kept the algae from turning the water green. You don't have to worry about mosquitoes because the fish love them. Just a few observations in case anyone wanted to try it. Simple and inexpensive.

[Darkness9876]

If your worried about mosquitoes as well they won;t lay eggs where there is any substantial surface agitation.

[J double R]

the guppy must have died, as they are a relative of *gasp* mosquitofish! if that guppy was in there when the mosquito larvae hatched, it would have gone to town on em.

also... i know youve mentioned there are no native waterways nearby, but be careful where you dump things so as to not risk introducing even a single green leaf or an aquarium plant.

[pik01]

The children's wading pool was the hard thick plastic or whatever that stuff is, not the blow up kind. There are usually three different sizes that Walmart sells in the spring and I used the middle size, but you could use any size you wanted to. I am not sure how many gallons that it held. I put it on my covered front porch and did about a 1/3 water change every 3 or 4 days by draining water out of the pond into the yard and then adding water by putting the water hose in the pond and turning it on so the water was added slowly and then added dechlorinator. The first year the water turned green with algae and I didn't know how to get the algae out and the fish seemed to thrive in it so I didn't worry about it. The second year it turned green and I added some floating hornwort and the water turned crystal clear within a week or so and remained that way through the summer so I can only assume it was the hornwort that kept the algae from turning the water green. You don't have to worry about mosquitoes because the fish love them. Just a few observations in case anyone wanted to try it. Simple and inexpensive.

I think I will try this, how did you know how much dechlorinator to add?

[MudskipperFan]

Speaking of Mosquitofish, I recently caught 5 for my pond, and so far they work like a charm. There are no more mosquito larvae clogging up the pump and no more mosquitoes making the pond look ugly. The feeder guppies I put in there a month ago are doing good aswell, eating the leftovers of the food the goldfish eat. Both the gambusia and the guppies are okay. Plus they always get some mosquito food because every sunset, mosquitoes come and lay their eggs in the pond. Yes.

[J double R]

good that you got fish for it, as im almost positive that every county in California (i grew up in fresno county) has mosquito abatement laws that prohibit keeping bodies of water that harbor mosquitos.

as long as the fish keep them in check as is evident now, you should be good to go on that front. :)

[pam916]

I think I will try this, how did you know how much dechlorinator to add?

I just saw this post. I guessed at how many gallons it held and doubled the amount of dechlorinator it would require. If you really wanted to know you could take a one gallon or five gallon bucket and fill up the pond. If you try this pond idea, let me know how it works for you.

[GREENFEATHER]

You can also use a small child's wading pool. I did that for a couple of summers and it was a great success. The plants loved it. I added guppies, mollies, platies and swordtails and they multiplied into the hundreds. The babies grew fast because there were all kinds of things growing in the water for them to eat. My rosie red minnows even raised babies in the homemade pond. It was a lot of fun and very inexpensive. The pool didn't cost more than $10 and I already had the sponge filter and pump.

The only problem with the plant/snail only pond would be the mosquitoes if you kept it outdoors.


I'll tell you what will last a long time are bulk liquid containers. They are about 4x4x5 and they are thick LDPE material of 330 gallons. If you remove them from their metal cage and sunk them in the ground I think they would make a very good pond. Search Craigslist for "tote" in your area, they are going for $50-$100 and are usually used in the pharmaceutical industry and are cleaned before they're offered for recycling, cheap for a decent sized pond.

Tractor supply sells a stock watering tank that also works well, I've had one for 6 years now with no leaks.

[zzyzx85]

not quite a bucket but I have a 10g outside with moss and snails. unfortunately, it developed a crack and I'm going to transfer it over to an old 20L I've had sitting around.

Kinda fun having a pond where things just work with no expensive equipment.

[pam916]

I'll tell you what will last a long time are bulk liquid containers. They are about 4x4x5 and they are thick LDPE material of 330 gallons. If you remove them from their metal cage and sunk them in the ground I think they would make a very good pond. Search Craigslist for "tote" in your area, they are going for $50-$100 and are usually used in the pharmaceutical industry and are cleaned before they're offered for recycling, cheap for a decent sized pond.

Tractor supply sells a stock watering tank that also works well, I've had one for 6 years now with no leaks.

That is a really good idea, especially if you had goldfish or koi you wanted outside all year.

[BreellaBlue87]

That is a really good idea, especially if you had goldfish or koi you wanted outside all year.

unless you live where I do... where you have to go down at least 4 ft to avoid the frostline *grumbles*

[Flaringshutter]

I'll tell you what will last a long time are bulk liquid containers. They are about 4x4x5 and they are thick LDPE material of 330 gallons. If you remove them from their metal cage and sunk them in the ground I think they would make a very good pond. Search Craigslist for "tote" in your area, they are going for $50-$100 and are usually used in the pharmaceutical industry and are cleaned before they're offered for recycling, cheap for a decent sized pond.

I would worry about using plastic used by pharma companies, since plastic can and often does leach out chemicals over long periods of time. Who knows what the containers held previously? I wouldn't try it with any fish you're particularly attached to.

[GREENFEATHER]

I would worry about using plastic used by pharma companies, since plastic can and often does leach out chemicals over long periods of time. Who knows what the containers held previously? I wouldn't try it with any fish you're particularly attached to.


I've had them for 5 years now with no issues. The HD plasic is quite impervious and most of what is in the bulk containers is saline solution and lactated ringers.