This morning, Little Chris (son) asked for either a 125g Albino Oscar aquarium or a pond. Since I don't have room for my old 6ft tank, I am surprising him with a pond. I just hope he doesn't get too disappointed when he find out its only a 6 gallon container pond. lol
I'd like to stock it with a few minnows, Ghost/Glass shrimp and duckweed/frogbit/dwarf water lettuce(?) for cover. It holds exactly 5g with stones and gravel/pebbles
I tested the water last night/this morning before I buried it and water temp was 58 deg at 3:30 am while air was 54 deg. Since its now 80% buried, I'm hoping it will stay in the low 60s at night
Am I destined for disaster with such a small pond? Suggestions, advice or criticism welcome.
*6g clay pot
*scattered gravel, large garden stones
*Ludwigia, horsetail, water lettuce
*4 1" feeder comet
I'm 99.9999999% ready for the install. Picked up a tube of GE silicone earlier today and will be adding some tabs to the bucket tomorrow evening. My son and I will be doing a rough set up without the stone hard scape then figure out what stone to use for the edging. Probably start the transformation this Saturday.
I think I have this filter figured out. Might be overkill for such a small container pond but better be safe than sorry.
3.5g bucket, 135gph tetra pump (?), 1/2" inlet, 1" outlet, drip tray 2" below bucket opening with quilt matting (mechanical), 2 bags (500mg x 2) ceramic rings on top of 5" of small lava rock in a mesh bag/panty hose (biological). I might use fine pond filter pad instead of the quilt batting I already have.
With all the graduations and Birthday parties out of the way, I was finally able to replace the 18g with this 28g heavy duty tub. Even though the foot print is twice as big, it still seems small. I think I'm going to replace the 28g with a DIY 4x2x2 raised pond and call it done. Maybe after summer or sometime before the x-mas Holidays.
I'm still using the old filter but once I pick up some flat rocks to hide the tub edges, I'll add the 3g bucket filter. I also picked up a 170gph pump to replace the 135gph.
btw, even though today was a warm 92° F outside, the pond stayed at a cool 73° F. Bring it on Summer :icon_cool
OK, I decided to stop by our local construction supply and picked up 60lbs of this rock. Not sure what it's called but I had a hard time washing it. The more I scrubbed, the more it ran dirty. Once it ran clear, I randomly placed them so I can see if I had enough. Once I get the rock layout down and add mulch, it should look halfway decent.
This a great small pond With that much light, I'd still try to add some more plants. I agree that a Ludwigia would likely need more light, but Potamogeton nodosus would probably work well. I'd probably still add Ludwigia anyway, but that's just cause they are my fav.
Receipt states that I purchases Sonora Flagstone. Brain fart.
I added sand then bricks so the flag stone sits flat on the tubs edge. Replaced the mulch and called it quits for now. I just need to pick up some black 3/4" and 1" hose.
I added 7 stems of anacharis(petco) and a few Water Hyacinth from a local lake for now. Since the floaters look like small islands in this tiny pond, I'm going to try my hand at some dwarf waterlilies.
Water Hycinth grew like crazy so I removed the mother plants and kept the smaller daughters. I also added some water lettuce and a few stems of hornwort. I'd like to add a few more potted plants but they would take up too much room. Goldfish and minnows are extremely happy and as active as can be.
It's currently running a DIY internal filter made out of a 1g Tupperware container, sponges and a 135gph pump. The 3g bucket trickle filter posted above is 100% complete. All I need to do is find a way to hide it and run some plumbing to it.
Pond has been thriving up until a few months ago when I got a hair algae/green water outbreak. No matter how many times I cleaned it, algae and green water returned. I did notice that the goldfish are much happier and have grown more in these last few months than they have all year.
3g bucket filter was put on hold due to the 175gph pump not being able to pump water 6' away to the filter. I figured I need at least a 400gph water pump. Fast forward to this Saturday. A Betta club member gave me this JBJ canister filter that has been sitting for 2+ years. She had it in her 175g then put it away when she switched to a sump filter. I brought it home and gave it a test run using a 40 breeder I had and surprisingly enough, it worked like a charm.
Wondering if the canister would work for my pond was going through my mind all day at work today. I know canisters are intended to be placed below a tank and in some cases, they will work at tank level but completely above a tank???
I was 200% sure it wasn't going to work but I gave it a try anyways. I filled up my kitchen sink when I got home, fired up the canister and instant success. Busted out the Pinkys foam filter pad, grabbed a bag of ceramic rings and headed towards the pond.
I'm still in shock that it's actually working. I have 2 layers of "Pinky's" foam pad in one tray and a small bag of ceramic rings on a second tray. That leaves me with 2 more trays. I'm thinking bio media for the bottom 2 trays , filter floss for the next tray and coarse/fine Pinkys filter pad combo for the top 2. (thoughts?)
BTW, Yes, I will hide the canister behind the plants and the built in UV lamp was a big + :hihi:
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