I have been looking for a new home for my lone gold fish back draft and happily next spring hell be going in to Rita's pond.
Wile talking a bout it I had a thought and wanted to know what you pondies think of this idea getting one of those very large wooden plant pot that look like the bottom part of a barrel( ya know the ones I mean I hope ) could I put one of those liners in it lift if of the ground have a filter for it and put some fish in there with a grill over the top to stop my son "helping" or the cat from swiming

what do you think good idea/ bad idea/ needs more thought ?

not really large enough or more importantly deep enough for a pond really Rachael

ponds have to be deep enough so they don't freeze over in the winter i think it's 3 feet - although i may be corrected.

the gallon per fish rule is also more in a pond then a tank and by the time you have all the proper gear in there then I'm not sure that there will be much room in there

ty for that Ami

never mind it was a nice idea wile it lasted

ive never tried it but if its like 2ft deep it should be ok and the amount of water per goldy is only more important in a pond if you dont do frequent water changes and if you have some plants growing, elodea crispa being the best bet once again, then you wont need a filter if you do frequent water changes so you'd only need a pump

I've been on fc and asked there as well and they have said much the same thing and Im gonna see what Hectorsgaf s set up is like. I might have a problem getting the plants to say alive as i cant get the plants in my tank to grow.

i realy like this idea i can see it in the back garden now i can see it sitting on a plinth so the bottom ist to cold (would that affect the fish ?)with some small netting over the top to stop my son getting in and drowning him self or herrons (more likely bitterns ) and an old looking pump or may be a broken looking urn with water bubbaling throught it

if i had a liner in it (i think it will have to have it ?)will i need some soil ?or will gravle/sand be better ?
and would a shelf or a part of the top coved so they have some place to hide away be needed ?

what do you mean by a plinth? if you mean haveing it off the floor then dont do it as if its off the floor it'll get colder at the bottom which isnt good

o ok i thought it would be bad the other way but ok

I've been desperately wanting a pond but just don't have the space (and just convinced boyfriend to pay to turf the garden!)

One idea I was toying with however was getting a full height barrel type thing and bury it a foot or two down with maybe two foot above the ground. - Would that be enough to stop it freezing over? I guess you would also increase the volume of water making for happier fishies.

There are some great products available - pop up ponds and stuff which are so tempting but you just know the fish wont survive in them!

I just don't think a barrel is the answer.

They're not that wide and single tails can grow extremely big and love to "stretch their tails" by swimming side to side not up and down. When given the opportunity they are really fast at getting from one end to another.

in a barrel all they are going to be able to do is go round and round - sounds like a goldfish bowl to me and we all know what we think about those

With this topic I'm getting the vision of the kio that was rescued from a tub thing and he ended up with a bent spine from being cooped up - not a nice site beleive me

I know koi are bigger then goldies but i think it's still the same principle.

This isn't a rant - just my view I would rather keep fish in a larger pond which would be the centre peice of the garden something that you could appriciate and they would love.

My dad has just re-done his garden - he came round to the idea of having a pond but after all his stuff it's far too small a space so I'll wait until I have a garden big enough for what I want and the fish can be happy in

having listen to some opinions and read some articals ( and a scarie moment with my son at the lfs ) I have changed my mind .
yes it would have been nice and it would have looked nice but seeing how brendan got the grate of one of the ponds in a few second ive changed my mind