My very first pond.. whiskey barrel style!

[Church]

Okay so I'm about to begin my first-ever pond. I'm moving into an apartment and won't have the luxury of keeping a big garden, so I'm gonna setup a whiskey barrel pond.

My questions are:

1) Can anyone point me to the "plantedtank.net" of ponds? Someplace where all the info I need is right there in one webpage?

2) Can anyone give me an idea of what lotus plants will comfortably reside in a whiskey barrel?

3) Is it feasible to do this with no filtration or heating at all?

I'm thinking I just want a nice tub of lotus and lily pads greeting me everytime I come to my front door. I was gonna put some mosquitofish in there, but I'm worried that they might not be able to handle temperature fluctuations? The reason why I think that is around here in their wild habitat they live in water which is 72 degrees F year-round. I imagine the temp in the whiskey barrel will climb in the middle of summer.

Any thoughts?

Feel free to link me to another thread if this has been done before.

I just feel like an extreme noob when it comes to ponds, and I need some direction. Thanks!

[RWaters]

There are many sites that give information about whiskey barrel ponds, but I don't know of any that are specifically geared towards them. You might find this link helpful - http://www.aquascapingworld.com/maga...r-Gardens.html

[Harris36]

There is a lot of reading on this site. Might be geared toward the bigger in-ground ponds though.

http://wetwebmedia.com/PondSubWebInd...0Sub%20Web.htm

Good luck

[Church]

Thanks for the info, guys!

Also, here's the whiskey barrel I'll be using:



It's made out of fiberglass, which I think means I won't need a liner. And it's only $30 at Lowe's. It's 19" diameter, which should be a good size, I think. I'll keep this thread updated as the plans progress...

[mistergreen]

go for water lilies instead of lotus. you're in florida so most plants should do fine. Lotus likes it hot all the time and they're big. Throw in some guppies or mosquito fish... Or paradise fish if you feel fancy. They can take cold weather.

It's always good to get some water movement but you can get by without.

[rich815]

Thanks for this post! I live in a huge condo loft and have a 250 sf private roof top that I use for a garden with large redwood planters and such. Was just thinking about how I could create something similar. I'll check out those links. Think a barrel is big enough for small koi?

[Kolkri]

No such thing as a small koi they all get huge so no it is not big enough.

[Wingsdlc]

You can check out my thread below also.

[Church]

^I just checked it out, and it's very nice. Are the calla lillies looking like they will flower? That would be cool! I love those flowers.

[Wingsdlc]

No the calla lilies are not doing too hot. I am not sure what the deal is. All the other plans are rocking it out though.

[RWaters]

Church - Any update on the whiskey barrel pond?

[Church]

Not yet. I'm not setting it up until I move to my new place, which isn't until Nov 1. I'm still in planning stages.