# natural set up in a small pond



## Tahsequah (May 1, 2006)

OK, I am messing around in the yard. I got me a whisky barrel liner and decided I like a little pond. Since I love the natural aquarium set up so much. I decided to copy it for my pond. I dug up some soil and layered it with 2 different size gravel I had around. Trimmed some of my algae buster plants and planted them in the soil. I picked up a small pump @ a garage sale. And have it trickle over some large rocks I fished out of the river in the mountains. It is sitting beside my porch steps under a Lilac bush. So it gets sun in the morning and shade in the afternoon. With the hot KS weather I thought it be a good idea. I even fished a snail out of my natural tank and it is happy running across the gravel. I never knew they can move that fast. 
My Dog and cat’s like the extra water to drink and I purchased 4 golden tail gold fish at Wal-Mart. And put them in the tank when the weather was stable at night. So I sit a lot and watch the fisheye’s. They are getting friendly and do not scatter every time I sit there. 
I also bought a water hyacinth. I now have the hyacinth, Ludwiga starts, Rotala Indica starts, the snail and my 4 goldfish in the Pond. I know come this fall it will go in the basement. Does any one done a pond like that or am I crazy lol. 
My Friends all have ponds and like mine a lot they also fighting green water so far so good the water been behaving. Well anyway that’s it.
here is a pic when I first set it up. I will add another picture tomorrow. 
Also it is about 25g


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

So how many gallons does it hold?


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Your pond sounds great! Do you have any photos of it? I'd love to see them.



> Does any one done a pond like that or am I crazy lol.


I have more than 20 small ponds set up this way. I don't know if that makes us both sane or both crazy! :biggrin: Here is a linkto a thread I started ages ago on the All Wet Thumb Forums about two of my ponds, if you are interested in seeing some photos of them.

From Alex.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Tahsequah said:


> My Friends all have ponds and like mine a lot they also fighting green water so far so good the water been behaving. Well anyway that's it.


Your scheme is *right-on*. Good plant growth (especially floating and emergent growth like this) will keep algae away.

Your setup reminds me of the whiskey barrel setup (about 25 gal) I had for my guppies one summer. No soil bottom, but it was great. Nutrients from the guppies and the sunlight made for some _spectacular_ plant growth. As soon as the floating Water Sprite took off, the green water disappeared. I harvested 100s of grow-out guppies from that whiskey barrel.

Several years ago I set up pond (100 gal stock tank) with soil/sand bottom for a water lily. It has worked out well, and frogs love it. It has to get major cleaning in the spring (muck removal and 100% water change), but otherwise its carefree with little algae.

http://www.marylandaquatic.com/retail/hgfamily.cfm?CatID=Environmental%20Products&FamilyID=Wetland%20Sanctuary%20Rafts

For all you pond hobbyists with big ponds, above is website for the latest thing.... Floating Islands. Here's an easy way to get more plant growth in your ponds for algae control. The owner of Maryland Aquatic Nurseries (Richard Schucks) is firm believer in using aquatic plants to control algae, and he's made it easier with his products.


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## Miss Fishy (May 13, 2006)

Floating Islands for plants - what a great idea! 

From Alex.


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## javalee (May 8, 2006)

Tahsequah,

Sounds great! I wanna go chill-out by your mini-pond! Yours sounds so beautiful. A whiskey barrel is the perfect size! I love that you added snails too--a mini ecosystem. I bet these ponds are great for local wildlife, as Diana mentioned the frogs. It would be cool to find what native animals use your pond too.

My mother has several old sugar kettles (the 100g kind they used to boil sugar cane in down here) with just water and goldfish in them. They always grew green-water and floating clumps of algae and she was using chemicals to keep it at bay. Once I discovered and understood Diana's method, I gave my mother some anacharis, water lettuce, salvinia and duckweed from my tanks. The nasty clumps of floating algae disappeared in a week! Unfortunately she removed the plants after the algae was gone  and the algae came right back. Now she understands and regularly takes my toss-outs from the aquarium. We can see the goldfish now!

The anacharis blooms with tiny white flowers above the surface (I've always had it in my aquarium and never knew it did this!) and has exploded with growth, the salvinia has turned a burnished red, and of course the goldfish eat all the duckweed. My mother is so pleased now.

Please take some pictures of your pond. I'd love to see what those common aquarium plants look like when grown outdoors!


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## Tahsequah (May 1, 2006)

Ok Guys I edited my orig post added pictures and info.
I set the pond up mothersday it is fairly new but I am having fun with it. I think I need to add a overflow since it suppose to storm tonight. 
Ty all for the question.


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## Tahsequah (May 1, 2006)

I looked at your pictures and loved them. I have to get me a little larger one now. I am hooked. So is my hubby. He thinks I need to do my 125g tank natural too. 
I guess we are just in love with the hobby.


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## turbomkt (Mar 31, 2004)

One of the local nurseries (Walter Andersen) has floating planters. In fact, they've got a pretty cool pond/stream set up at their main nursery including a fair number of pond plants (and some aquarium friendly plants!).


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## kelliope (Apr 13, 2006)

I love your set-up!!! It looks so nice and peaceful.

I think you are really going to enjoy your pond!

I did this some time ago, before I knew much about keeping fish. I wanted as natural a set up as possible. Of course, I hadn't yet read Diane's book and got talked out of having any kind of decent substrate in the beginning - although it is better now.

I bought a glazed urn from a water garden store, added a bit of gravel on the bottom and a potted plant. Then I added some floating plants and a bamboo spitter with pump.

Here are the original pictures:

http://www.kelliope.com/pond/pg/

I have since added an airstone, internal filter, added a laterite base with a gravel topper, and an internal pond light. The fish are doing very well and so are the plants.

Here are some more pics at the beginning of spring before the laterite and new plants:


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## Tahsequah (May 1, 2006)

Kelliope how big is your pond I like what you did. I Looked at all your pictures
Barb


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## kelliope (Apr 13, 2006)

I am not 100% positive, but I think it is in the 50-60 gallon range. Probably more like 50 gallons.

I am thinking of setting up something bigger for these fish this summer. Just have to convince my hubby!


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Now you just better hope raccoons, possums, or skunks don't eat your gold fish! Looks great.


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

You'll most likely have to do something larger when the goldies get larger. I doubt it'll handle the fish load.


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