I was wonderin' if anyone had any ideas for a (very cheap) pond I could have inside or on a patio for my goldfish? This is the same one who came down with ick; I decided to add a lot more salt and now have about 1 tablespoon per gallon. The ulcers he had have cleared up completely and there are just a few ick spots left.

He has been living in my 20-gallon tank for about six years now, and I was thinking he could use a little bigger space. Are most half-barrel ponds larger than 20 gallons? What's a decent filter for a pond like that?

Most half barrel ponds are no more than 20 or 30 gallons for the larger ones. Lerio used to sell 50 gallon tub ponds (I have one) but not any more. There are other pre-form ponds that are over 20 gallons. A filter around 100 to 200 gph should be enough.

Have you thought of looking for a second hand polyethylene stock feed tub? Not cheap new but maybe second hand.

HHHHhhmmmmm, I did have a good link for a do it yourself indoor pond. It looked pretty cheap and simple to build. Let me take a look around and see if the link is still out there. It might take me till tomorrow to find it and get it posted for you, but I'll look! I have used a stock feed tub and they work great but aren't that pleasing to the eye. I had mine in the garage.

I don't know if this is what you are looking for but I thought it was a nice little project at a low cost????? It's the one on the right side called Low cost indoor pond.


http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http...l%3Den%26sa%3DN

Thanks for the advice everyone; I'm wondering if this filter would work out for a small pond? http://www.petsolutions.com/default.aspx?I...228&SID=FROOGLE

The compact one, obviously. It says for up to 1000 gallons so I'm not sure if it'll create too much current, if the pond is only around 30ish gallons.

That indoor pond does look nice, but I'm hoping for something *extremely* cheap so it's a bit over my budget. I probably will be able to spend about $100 max; if I can't make a pond for that price I may just get a second-hand 55 gallon aquarium instead (I like the idea of a pond better though). If I decide to make the pond it'll be after I move 1,000 miles up north to Portland, and I'll be living in a small apartment, so I'll be real short on money and space both. If the pond's outside I'm sure I'll have to bring it indoors during the winter since it's zone 6 I think, and it will definitely freeze solid if I leave it out.

I'm also thinking about one of those internal power filters they make for aquariums, but I have used small ones and don't think much of them (the ones I've used were Whisper 10i filters). They tend to get dirty and they don't seem to cycle right. Maybe other internal filters are better?

One of the Bailey brothers from aquariumfish.net seems to have a barrel pond with a single goldfish and no filter (no plants either!), but I don't think that would work out too well.

Sorry if my post is a little hard to understand. It's late and I haven't been sleeping too well or concentrating right lately. :lol:

Hi Ralph! Well in a pinch, I have done this before: I took one of those larger rubbermaid containers (the big long ones for like 25$, Canadian) and nothched out a piece on one side and put a largish aquarium filter (the kind that hangs on the side of the aquarium) on there......presto, instant mini pond. I clipped one of those clip on reading lamps (like you would put on your headboard) on the side. The container holds the water really well and is easy to clean. I guess the only concern would be that you didn't have little kids or something that would pull on the sides or fall in there (heaven forbid). Hope this helps! Elaine

P.S. I have used one of those bio filters like you posted the link too. I had one on a 120 gal pond and it worked AWESOME. I just set it on 2 milk crates next to the pond.

Ralph, I hope you get some good sleep soon!

The filter you linked to doesn't seem to list the gph? It should be ok for a 30 gallon pond if the gph isn't over 300 gph or so. Also, I think it's an external filter (KK seems to verify that)? If not, there's not much room in the pond for a filter.

I've used Rubbermaid and Sterilite storage containers before for mini-ponds. I just hung a hang-on-tank filter over the edge of the 20 gallon Sterilite for a quarantine container. My 50 gallon Rubbermaid pond was in the ground for a few years but eventually started to bow.

Ralph

I don't know if you have Farm and Fleet stores in your area, but I picked up a 75 gallon poly stock tank for $69 last week to house turtles in my basement. It even has a drain plug on the side near the bottom that makes it super easy to drain into a sump or floor drain.

Don