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March 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Container Pond Journal
A few months ago I set up two container ponds on my patio. I live in an apartment, so a regular pond was not an option. I set up both ponds in November of 2008. One pond is an old 55 gallon tank that I had laying around. The other is a 30 gallon rubbermade tub. I wanted my patio to look nice, so I stacked terra cotta cement bricks around the pond to hid the containers. I like the effect that it gives off. I think I may put a few potted plants on the wall.
I had to experiment a little bit with the fish that I was going to stock. I live in San Diego where the weather is very warm for the majority of the year. I wanted to find fish that I could keep outside year round instead of having to bring them inside in the winter. I put my 3 goldfish in the 55 gallon and they did fantastic. I have 2 Ryukins and 1 Oranda. They have thrived in the pond ever since I added them in. The cold winter months didn't seem to bother them at all. My 30 gallon pond was another story. It was too small for a goldfish, so I opted for livebearers. I learned that quickly that even in warm San Diego, livebearers cannot survive the cold outdoor months. I felt bad about the fish dying, but I had heard several sucess stories about keeping livebearers outdoors and didn't think it would be a problem. Now I have the 30 gallon pond stocked with white cloud minnows and a paradise fish. They have all done great for the month that I have had them in there and I hope that they continue to do so.
Both tubs have Java Fern and Anarchis that I planted when I first set up the tubs. I haven't had any problems with these plants. They are very easy to keep, even outdoors. I just stuck the roots into the pea gravel and didn't bother potting them. Two days ago, I added lillies to the pond. My dad has a 300 gallon pond in the front yard and has lots of lillies in that pond. He split the plants and repotted them so that I could add the plantlets that he took off to my pond. I have two in the 55 gallon and one in the 30 gallon. I have them potted with aquatic soil black plastic pots. Already you can see the tiny lily pads growing out of the plant. I can't wait until they mature. They will get gorgeous pink flowers on them.
Anyways, I have posted some pics of what the pond looks like now. Sorry for the bad quality. Its really hard not to get a glare off of the water. I expect since spring is almost hear, I will have a lot of growth and changes to document. I have never kept a pond before so this is an experiment for me  | 
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March 10th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Very cool. Nice option when you don't have room for a regular pond.
Do you have any problems with rainwater or overheating from the sun? Are they filtered? | |
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March 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Here are some up close pics of my goldies. They were taken when I had them inside in an aquarium, but at least this way you can see them a little better. The big black calico ryukin is Sumo, the white calico ryukin is Sassy, and the smaller oranda is Munchkin. | |
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March 10th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucy  Very cool. Nice option when you don't have room for a regular pond.
Do you have any problems with rainwater or overheating from the sun? Are they filtered? | Thanks Lucy
The rainwater just goes into the pond, when it fills the the top, it just spills over and drains off of my patio. I top off the pond as water evaporates, and I add prime every time I do that. So far it has not been hot enough for it to overheat, but on sunny days, the water hasn't gotten hotter than 65 degrees. The pond is in partial sun and partial shade, so I think that helps a bit. | |
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March 10th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| How relazing. | |
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March 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Last night my darling husband set the trash out on the patio instead of taking it out to the dumpster because we got home late. Of course trash and food attract animals  Many of our neighbors keep outdoor cats even though it is against the rules in our apartment complex. Well, a cat came onto our patio last night, dug through the trash and then pulled up all of the plants in my ponds!!!! At least none of the fish were harmed. I am going to add another level of bricks to the wall to make it harder for cats to reach into the pond. | |
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March 11th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Oh my goodness, when I first saw your post I was scared to read to the bottom.
I'm glad your fishies are ok, they're just beautiful. | |
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March 11th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks Lucy I saw my plants and was pretty mad, and after I had put them back in, I realized that I had completely forgotten to check and make sure the fishies were okay. They are fine though. I guess they are too fast for a cat, even though they are fat lil goldies 
Last edited by Lucy; March 11th, 2009 at 08:44 PM.
Reason: edited out stars | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Hi Kate,
I love your idea of your patio pond... very nice! Id love to try that myself, but having cats.. the temptation may be too great for them to pass up trying to 'spear' a fish. Glad to hear that your goldies were ok through that ordeal.
Id love to try an outdoor pond as well, but with the winter months here, it would have to be very very deep for the goldies to survive the winter. Which leads me to my next response. As a child visiting my grandparents home, next door to them the family had a real nice outdoor pond with goldies. For the life of me I cannot figure out how those fish survived every winter when the pond froze up. That is when someone told me that it had to be very deep.. that the bottom did not freeze, either way it seems pretty strange that they were able to survive, but I have seen a few other ponds here in the northeast with goldies that survive the winter. They must be some pretty hardy fish! | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks Kate
Thanks goodness I haven't had any other cat problems since that one night. It stays warm here so the pond doesn't freeze (if anything froze in southern cali I would be shocked). Goldfish are extremely hardy. I have not had a single health problem with these guys since I got them months and months ago. The pond is very low maintinance which I like, and it gives me an excuse to sit on my patio I don't get to spend much time outdoors, but I really appreciate the time that I spend on my patio watching my fishies. | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Do you have a filter? I'm really interested in doing this, but a filter for a big rubbermade tub would be expensive! I'm wondering if I could get away with it without a filter. | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I do not have a filter. Most container ponds do not. Here is the kicker...you have to stock it very densly with plants, stock extremely lightly (1 inch of fish per 5 gallons is usually recommended) and top off the evaporated water daily (make sure you add prime or any other water conditioner). About once a year, a container pond should be cleaned out and restarted to get all of the gunk and dirt out of the bottom. | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I'm hoping I'll be able to do this sometime! | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| If you get a chance you should try it. Its a really fun project | |
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March 18th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| I love your little container pond ) they are really pretty.
Just about anything can be used, depending on how much space you have and what you have around to use. I've had great ones from big plastic tubs that cattle feed came in. My daughter used a rigid inground pond form on her porch and surrounded it by potted herbs. So just let your imagination go and enjoy
Your so lucky to be able to leave yours out all year long.
Carol | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks Carol
I remember the pictures of your container ponds from the Plant Geek forum and I hope that mine can look that nice when the plants start to bloom. The rubermaid tub is already starting to bend and warp a little so I may try the stiff pond form or something with a little more sturdiness. This is really an experiment for me and a work in progress. I am glad I can leave it out all year long, but honestly, its not much to look at in the winter. The fish are still fun to watch though. I may add some livebearers this summer. When I tried to add them in the winter they didn't do well, but maybe they will adapt better to the winter if they are introduced to the pond during the warm summer months. | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Maybe adding the livebearers in the spring and letting them acclimate to the weather as it happens will make them more hardy next winter.
Here is something to make you drool and to encourage you to keep on using your imagination and enjoy your out side pond
carol | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly Maybe adding the livebearers in the spring and letting them acclimate to the weather as it happens will make them more hardy next winter.
Here is something to make you drool and to encourage you to keep on using your imagination and enjoy your out side pond
carol | oooo that is sooo very nice Carol!  Id love to have something like that myself.. but then would have to worry about where to put the fish during the winter months.. sigh....
Congrats to your daughter, the pond is gorgeous with all those potted plants around it.  | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate oooo that is sooo very nice Carol! Id love to have something like that myself.. but then would have to worry about where to put the fish during the winter months.. sigh....
Congrats to your daughter, the pond is gorgeous with all those potted plants around it. | I think mostly all she put in her pond was mosquito fish(nothing fancy). Just something to eat flying insects and fertilize the water for the plants. She had several lotus bloom in it which was her main focus.
Carol | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thats really a nice pond. I might be worried about the rainwater thing, though. A lot of rain picks up polutants in the air as it falls, which is one of the reasons acid rain is such a problem. If you lived out in the country it wouldn't be a huge deal, but San Diego is pretty busy, if you know what I mean. Maybe I'm overreacting... But we just learned about this in science class  | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly Maybe adding the livebearers in the spring and letting them acclimate to the weather as it happens will make them more hardy next winter.
Here is something to make you drool and to encourage you to keep on using your imagination and enjoy your out side pond
carol | Thats a good idea Maybe I will add some livebearers next month and see how it goes. Your daughter's pond is to die for!!! I absolutely love it I am gonna need to look into some potted plants for my patio (I have a tendency to kill them though). Do you think the goldies would do okay if a few livebearers shared their pond with them? I know that in regular aquariums they are not compatible due to temperatures, but since they are both going in outdoor ponds would it work? Obviously if they were to breed (which I am pretty sure they would) I would either set up another pond or give the offspring to the LFS. Quote:
Originally Posted by MeGustaUnaPez926 Thats really a nice pond. I might be worried about the rainwater thing, though. A lot of rain picks up polutants in the air as it falls, which is one of the reasons acid rain is such a problem. If you lived out in the country it wouldn't be a huge deal, but San Diego is pretty busy, if you know what I mean. Maybe I'm overreacting... But we just learned about this in science class | Thanks so much You about the acid rain, but I am not overly worried at the moment. I know lots of people, my parents included, that have fish ponds in San Diego. So far we haven't encountered any problems. | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Thats cool. If you do start to have issues though that could be something to rule out. Just a thought... | |
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March 19th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Hmmm
would that no filter rule work with a regular aquarium?
Would gravel vacing still be allowed? | |
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March 30th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| I got a couple of potted plants to put around my pond......Columbines and Renunculas (spelling?) Here's a pic: | |
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March 30th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Very pretty plants !
Carol | |
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April 20th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| MissMTS, I have a question about container ponds:
Could I start out with a very small fantail and keep it in a natural container pond around 27 gallons for 6 months without stunting it? I'd want to get a bigger container pond at that point, around 50 gallons or more. | |
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May 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Maddi, sorry I didn't see this question earlier. I think a goldfish would be fine alone in a 27 gallon for 6 months, but I would deffinetly upgrade after that.
Here are some new pics of the pond. My dad gave me a preformed pond as a housewarming gift for our new apartment. I haven't added many plants yet, but I am getting some more this weekend. Here is what it looks like so far. Please let me know if you guys have any suggestions! | |
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May 5th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| WOW..Looks great KATE!!!..How many gallons is it?? I bet your Goldies are loving it!!..They are swimming in style now | |
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May 5th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| It gonna look great! Is the bottom supported? | |
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