Well, I was not sure what forum to put this in, so I chose here, because the stock tank is outside and kind of "Pond Like"!

My son bought me the Rubbermaid 300 gal stock tank for an early "Mother's Day" present! Such a nice boy! I have been slowly getting it set-up under my patio. It was a place I felt would work with the heat and constant sunshine we get here. So I am hoping it works for most of the summer. I have a tarp hanging off the patio roof that is tied back and can be spread out to give more shade if needed!

Heres the tank when Erik rolled it into the backyard!


This is after it was cleaned and filled!

I added Fairy Moss and then started to add some of my Goldfish!

The Fairy Moss really makes a nice surface cover for shade!

This is with the filter running! I got a Pond Master 1700 running along with the sponge filters I had running in my temporary Rubbermaid tubs!

I have some live plants weighted down on the bottom, which I'm sure will become a "Salad Bar"!

Oh, I do have one question! Does rain water throw anything off in such a small tub? It doesn't rain much here, but when it does its uaually pretty hard. Do I need to do anything after a rain storm? The tub is at the open end of my covered patio, so it would get some rain water in it.

So incredibly jealous; I never get ANYTHING for mother's day!

Looks good - great start! How are the new inhabitants so far?

Thanks! Yeah it was quite the surprise to get it, but I was thrilled to say the least!

I moved goldfish that I already had, no new ones, into the tub, a couple at a time over the week and a half, and they are all doing great! They seemed a bit lost at first, but then decided they loved all the swimming space!

Nice! What a thoughful son! Now which goldies are now living in paradise?

I took my Ranchus and Lionheads and put them in there! Plus my big Black Moor!

Hey Lorrie, I'm so jealous BUT since we got the house-yeah!!!!! I am looking for the same tub here. There are tons of farms stores so I have people from work checking prices when they get feed. You can work out all the pond kinks then tell me how to do it-ll

Its so lovely Lola! The fish have tons of room. You are so lucky!! Now if only I can do something with these troughs... Great job hun!!

Looks great! I'm sure the fish are having a ball.

With respect to the rain... sometimes rain is a bit acid so maintaining a good kh level should help buffer the ph during a rain storm. Also, if there is anything above the tank that would catch the rain water and then fall into the pond you want to make sure that it doesn't leach anything.

Congratulations and happy Mother's Day!!! Your son is very thoughtful.

I cannot wait to see pictures of all of your very happy goldfish swimming around in their new digs! What a sweet and thoughtful present! Even trained the kids to buy you fish stuff, you truly are the Master. All kidding aside I'm thrilled for you and demand hope you will update us with pics through the summer.

I absolutely love it !! I was wondering if there were any pics of the filter system .... trying to get some ideas about that and just about everything technically (although, am about to search out the Pond Master 1700) so I think I got it covered from here. Thank you so much for sharing.... and I just love everything about your new pond !!

What a thoughtful gift !!-

you have exactly what I want!!! I am so jealous, I have to wait until we move until I get mine, I can't wait to read how yours goes so I can learn too

Oh wow! I'm so jealous1 I hope I can train my son like that one day! -It looks fantastic what a wonderful gift.

Thanks Rach! So far, all has gone well! I really like this filter I bought and the fish seem to really enjoy the fountain!


Thanks Erin! I bet you could just line those troughs with plastic pond liner material, cut to the size you need! That would be so neat!



Thanks Jim and also for the rain info! I can pull the tarp closed to prevent the rain from getting into the tub, but on the off chance that I was not at home, I wanted to be certain as to what would happen.
Oh, By the way, I'm keeping the tub lightly stocked on the slight chance your two Frogheads do not like your really big pond and what to come to the Southwest to a smaller pond! LOL!!!!!


Thanks Kat! Yes, my kids have it easy as to what to buy for Mom! And when they are in doubt, they play it safe and buy Petsmart gift cards!


Thanks Pinktoefunk! If you go to Petsolutions.com they have pics and the different size filters!


Thanks! I have wanted to do this for a while, my son just had me doing it sooner then planned!

Tomorrow I'm going to work on it a bit more and see what I can do differently! I bought some floating fake pond flowers tonight and have already added them!

Start when they are very young Mads! Its contant training and conditioning of their young minds! I think it used to be called "Brain Washing"! But I have an extremely close relationship with my three kids, and I am glad I do!

I think Erik thought if he bought me the 300 gal tub, some of the tanks inside the house would go! ! Boy was he mistaken! No plans for new fish but I must keep at least one or two fish in each tank to keep that cycle going.

That's a beautiful outside tank, Lola.
The fairy moss is wonderful, it really fits in with the tank.
I'm very glad to hear that your son bought that for you!
I would like to buy that for my mom.
But, I barely get allowance and my mom hates cleaning big tanks.
Anway, enjoy the tank.

Thanks Oreo! Yeah, I really like the fairy moss too, I think it looks nice plus makes nice shady places for the fish!

I decided to change to fountain head on my tub. The one I had in the first set of pics was nice but so loud and splashie, and being under the patio I did not want water flying everyplace. So I changed it to the one that kind of "Unbrellas" out! I like it better!





I really wanted to get some Water Lettuce to float on top, but just found out you can not have them here in TX!

Why can't you have them in TX?

I'm not sure, but everyone that sells them on ebay list the states they are not allowed to ship them to and TX is one! I guess they don't want them to clog up all the beautiful ponds, streams and lakes we have here in the desert!

I love the new fountian. The whole tank looks great. When I no longer have yard dogs Im goign to do something like this. Yours is so very nice. Gratz on the great present.

Thanks, I love it too! I have had alot of fun setting it up. I have two dogs, one being pretty big. She just stands there and stares down at the fish! Of course she does take the occassional drink.

I love the new fountain head Lola! The spray is beautiful.

Thanks Erin! I like this one so much better! Its more calming. With the other one I felt like I was at a wedding with the "Champagne Fountain"!

you see some great tanks on koko's, but if i was a goldfish your pond is where i would want to live !

Thanks! My goldfish are going to hate me when I have to bring them back in the house!

Gorgeous! Congrats on the new mini-pond. :-)

I hope I can get one when we move into a house too, but until then, keep posting pics!

The pond looks great!! i could only dream of having something like that! I also really like the new fountain

Wow! That's great.

I wish I had room for something like that, but I have just enough for my half barrel.

I never had a problem with rain in the half barrel. I guess it's not acid becasue it usually comes in from over the Pacific.

I like the second fountain head too.

Thanks Jen, Jon and Daniel! I appreciate your comments. I am so glad I put the different fountain head on. I just love sitting under my patio and listening to the water. Nice cup of coffee, tea, or glass of wine and a good book, Ahhhhhhhhhhh, life is good. Well, we will see how I feel about that once the summer heat sets in.

I have a lab/retriver. We keep a small kiddy pool in the back in the summer for her to swim in. That I am sure is what she would do to a pond. Not to mention think the goldfish were balls and try to catch them to play fetch with.

Vey nice and big stock tank Lola. Where did you buy the fountain and how much please?
I just bought 100-gallon stock tank this evenning. I paid $63 (before tax). I try to make green water before I introduce two smallest goldfish of mine in there. I am so exited now