true just word to the wise about it being a really really hardy plant that might be evasive in their parts of the neighborhood
bucket pond
- Thread starter moosefish09
- Start date
I had a roughly 600 gal pond and ran only the foam prefilter that came with the pump. I kept a few spare prefilters handy as they clog up with algae pretty quickly during the spring bloom, so I could be cleaning one and have another to run in the pond. It was heavily planted,had a vigorous waterfall, a frog, a snail or two, and anywhere from 4-15 goldfish at a time, depending on how long ago the racoon had been over for his fresh fish buffet :eek3:
As far as sinking it or not, depends on the look you want. Do you want it to look like a bathtub, or are you trying to disguise it? Somewhere on this forum there was a lovely pic of a pond done in a clawfoot tub. It sat on paving stones, I think, and was landscaped just like a fountain might be, as a little sculpture.
Jen
Found it! The pix are in the thread called 'bath tub pond???' post #29 by desertponder. Hope this helps.
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At the risk of being thrown out of the forum, I am not a fish expert(gasp!!)...my pond was more a watergarden with some fish than a fish pond with some plants. There are some beautiful, very tiny waterlilies available, that only get a spread of 1-3 feet. Just one would give you some good shade and hiding places for fishies. I think you could try the tropicals, being in a warmer place than I am, but they generally don't survive the winter in the pond, and I don't know how big they get.
There is a formula for inches of fish to surface area..."as a general rule, each inch of fish should have 6 square inches-1 square foot of water" but as I have read many, many times on these forums, goldfish are messy, messy little fishies, and they get bigger than they started in the little plastic baggie from the pet store! They can tolerate a bigger temperature change than some other fish, but not for extended periods of time ( also out of my pond book!) Might be a good idea to bury or insulate it for 'getting too hot' reasons as well as the freezing issue, come to think of it.
Jen
There is a formula for inches of fish to surface area..."as a general rule, each inch of fish should have 6 square inches-1 square foot of water" but as I have read many, many times on these forums, goldfish are messy, messy little fishies, and they get bigger than they started in the little plastic baggie from the pet store! They can tolerate a bigger temperature change than some other fish, but not for extended periods of time ( also out of my pond book!) Might be a good idea to bury or insulate it for 'getting too hot' reasons as well as the freezing issue, come to think of it.
Jen
use a water fountian they sell them at walmart you'll need water movement for oxygenation or the heat ofthe summer and no water movement will kill the fish
also trough will have more surface area to get oxygen in there , i had a large air driven sponge filter just for water movenment in my horses stock tank for my goldies i put in there every spring,.. and anacharis and frogbit on top but with no shade they both get kinda bad looking frogbit turns a purple color and anacharis is toast after a while IF in direct sun,.
i even weighted it down in a 100g trough
also google up a tractor supply store should be one aroun somewhere
they sell rummermaid troughs for under 100.00 and cheaper ones around 50.00 i have both and cheaper one is great for fish,.. just not large animals as they tend to shove them and crack the sides,.. but way tough for fish,..
also trough will have more surface area to get oxygen in there , i had a large air driven sponge filter just for water movenment in my horses stock tank for my goldies i put in there every spring,.. and anacharis and frogbit on top but with no shade they both get kinda bad looking frogbit turns a purple color and anacharis is toast after a while IF in direct sun,.
i even weighted it down in a 100g trough
also google up a tractor supply store should be one aroun somewhere
they sell rummermaid troughs for under 100.00 and cheaper ones around 50.00 i have both and cheaper one is great for fish,.. just not large animals as they tend to shove them and crack the sides,.. but way tough for fish,..
yes mosquito fish are gave away for free in the summer here in california we have a big west nile virus problem.
