My grandpa and I have been deciding on building a pond that would be roughly around 400 gallons (US). The thing is that I wanted to see if I could do it for my senior project for high school

I'm going to be a junior this upcoming next year, and was planning on building a pond for my senior project (if it was allowed). But the thing is if I built the pond now, then I probably won't be able to make another pond as big as the one I built before, which would be lame if the smaller one was used for the project.

When I told my grandpa this it kinda bummed him out, but then we we're thinking about buying one of those pre-formed ponds. Then we would dig it into the ground and such.

This way will have a lil summer pond project and we'll get pond building feeling already when we do the big one.

My questions was do you need any kind of filteration for these small ponds or could we stock it with a lot of plants??? And if so what kind of filter should I use?
( SORRY FOR THE LONG READING)

5 people have viewed this thread, somebody has to know something

Patience is a virtue you know . At least two of those views have been by you.

Those preformed ponds are okay, I had a 90 gallon one for a couple years. They do need a filter if your going to have fish. I shouldn't be one to talk about pond filters too much though. The one I had on my 90 gallon pond could hardly be considered a filter. This summer I built a much larger pond with one of those rubber liners and I've got a UV filter on it. The water is CRYSTAL clear! It was never that way in the old pond

I aware that the smaller ponds (especially the pre-formed ones) are never going to be as nice as the biggers ones that you design yourself.

This pond is going to house a only a few fish, its mostly going to focus on plants. Until I get an ok from my school to see if I can do a bigger pond for my senior project.

So this little pond is kinda going to be a lil tease until next summer

I have a pre-formed pond, and I like it. I only have a small backyard so it fits nicely. However, once I have the space, I will certainly put a larger one in!

Here's a pic:

The preformed ponds can be very nice, infact just as relaxing as the larger ones. You can put some gold fish in, not koi they need 250 gallons per fish. Putting lots of plants in is a great idea because smaller ponds tend to heat up quicker during the day cool down faster at night because obviously there is as much water. The plants will help with the temps.

Good luck with the pond and please keep us posted. We would appreciate some pictures as well

Hey Squeeker that's a great looking pond!


Scott

well, we're still planning on that larger pond, but only until next summer we're going to begin constructing it...

i think i am going to pass up on the pre-form pond, but for a barrel pond..

i have been searching the google for websites and wanted to ask for some advice.... because i dont have ANY experiece with pond plants.

For a barrel it would be nice to put in a water lily, if you get a tropical make sure it is a smaller one as most get huge. The tropical water lilies IMHO are much nicer than the hardy but there are some nice hardy varities. I would then go with one or two (no more than two plants) cattails. Then get a salmon pink cana, those are by far the best looking canas. That should be enough. Or instead of putting the cattails in you could but in a black taro that would look cool, probably better. Do a search for pond plants, there are some very expensive places so don't get ripped off. There are some places with great prices and remember pond plants grow pretty fast in warmer water so if you get smaller plants but know your water is going to be pretty warm you'll have a full barrel in no time.

Pond plants are easy. The hardest one to grow IMHO is the Lotus. The lotus doesn't do well in a barrel so you have no worries there. But in a pond the lotus will be your pride and joy. You just have to remember that they will need re-potting most likely ever other year depending of course on plant size and pot size. If you need more info on them we'll help here or you can do a web search.

Scott

i live in Northwest weashington... an hour and half north of seattle... i dont think tropical lillies will work.... plus well the plants stay in the barrel all year around....

If your looking for all year round stuff for you barrel you'll want to use hardy lilies and cattails. Cana and Taro will not make the winter either. But you could use these plants as annuals instead of perenials.

do they need any special fertilizers are plant food???

sorry thats suppose to be ''or'' not ''are''..... so fertilizers or plant foods

You can get pond plant tabs. They're like a fertilizer pill you stick down in the soil. I fertilized my pond plants for awhile but the last two years I had my pond I didn't. I didn't notice any difference. I think it may be because the plants use some of the fish waste as fertilizer.


Oh, and cattails are like weeds, they grow and grow and grow. They don't care just as long as they have water. They can get out of control.


Scott