My little pond now indoors

[Lillyan]

I have a tiny 35g laundry bin pond. It's been out on the deck since mid-summer. I have brought it in today, it keeps freezing over about 1in.
There are silver and pink Fat Head Minnows in there, I counted 11. :goldfish:
They are not fed or heated. I have been tossing extra floating plants in there. Today, I added five or six long stems of Wisteria, they are all over 15in long, some with ends growing out of the water. Sand was tossed in from my two 10g and 5g tanks, also. I will get pics when the water clears some.
I think they bred while it was outside, there are some tiny ones, smaller than the size when I bought the originals.
I've moved it into the garage, placed two small lights on it and filled it with fresh water.

I found a 50g laundry bin at Target for $16. I was thinking of getting it. Though, we are planing a large in ground pond as a spring project.

Does anyone know if there is a larger bin for a similar low price?
Do you guys think I should upgrade to the 50g bin or just wait for the new pong?

 

[FallenAngel]

I think that you should build an outdoor pond, as a summer project, like you suggested.

I'm in the process of building an outdoor pond at the moment, and it's fun but a lot of work. But the fish will thank you for it!

 

[petluvr]

It's gonna have to be awfully deep to not freeze solid during our winters.

 

[BettaFishMommy]

why not get the 50 gallon bin and have it ready for if/when you have to move fish indoors next winter?

 

[0tto]

yeah, i dont know how Virginia winters are but here in Wisconsin I get regularly a foot or more of ice on my spring fed pond. its about a 1/2 acre and 8 feet deep. How big is this pond you are planning?

 

[Lillyan]

I'm gonna get a floating de-icer for winter to keep a hole open for gas exchange.
I was thinking 15ft by 10ft, as for how deep, 2ft needs no permit. Middle of no where, 3ft we can easily do no problem, no one here will complain or care. They even like our run-away Rooster, lol.
15x10x3. I'm sure we will want a few Koi, how many could we have in that size?
The little fish by then will either be food or I will move them into a tank to be pets. Maybe they will survive or someone here will want to buy them, who knows.

I'm realizing now that if we get Koi or too many Goldfish, we will have to add a filter. So, we may not get Koi anytime soon and Goldfish would have to be few.
The Minnows survived on the plants[?] and water bugs, I'm guessing.
What do fish eat if you do not feed them?
How many Goldfish until I need a filter?

 

[0tto]

if you dont feed fish they eat each other IME. haha I've seen ponds about that size that use large sponge filters, they are cheap and fairly easy to use and do a decent job of mechanical and biological filtration. with a strong enough powerhead that could be a fairly economical solution.

 

[pbeemer]

a 50-gallon laundry bin might be a little thin-walled for filling with water. round is good; if it's rectangular, it is probably going to bow out on the sides and eventually crack near the corners (sad personal experience with a rectangular tote)

 

[BettaFishMommy]

you can make a wood frame to go around the tub to prevent bowing for long term use, or you can use bungee cords to wrap around it tightly if it will be temporary.

 

[Astarell]

I had a 50 gallon rain barrel as a goldfish pond indoors before I moved into a teeny tiny apartment. It is made to hold water, so no worries there. Also, changing the water was a breeze since it's also made to be drained. Just rubberband some screening over the valve at the bottom if you have small fish so they don't get sucked out; and the valve comes with a hose. (The black one in the picture) All I did was open the front door, put end of hose out of it, release valve and let some water out. Also, since it's sucking the water off the bottom it's going to take out a lot of the gunk that settles down there too. Then you just close the valve, let remaining water in hose drain out, and add new water. Easy peasy.

The barrel came with everything, didn't have to buy seperate. Partial screened clip-on lid that you could remove the screen center from and leave open-air, drain valve with hose, overflow hose (This one was at the top, I never used it). I went without a filter because water changes were so easy but it would be no problem to drop a sponge filter in there, because of the partial top the cords and stuff could be easily hidden. Heck, you could probably just feed them through the hole for the top overflow if you didn't attach the hose and not notice them even if you left the top off.

If you want plants, you can also get some small potted plants and tie them to the sides near the top if you leave the lid off. The top 3 or 4 inches had vertical bars (I assume for reinforcement) that extended about 1" into the barrel. Just drill a hole sideways through those and tie through there. Doesn't matter if it's above or below the waterline, I did below because then you didn't notice the zip ties that way.

Hope this helps!