TheShrimpGirl
Fish Fanatic
I've wanted to put in a nice water feature in the front garden of my house for a while now and have finally decided to just jump in.
So here's my game plan:
First we have the size of the feature. My plan is to have a small one. Probably about 35 gallons, which is about 5 cubic feet? Pros and cons of this size?
I have a question about liners,too. What works and what doesn't? I have a lot of visqueen, clear gardening plastic, laying around. Is this suitable?
I want it to be as natural as possible. I have a lot of river rock in various sizes and some plants at my disposal that are all native plants and thrive in my area. What are some pros and cons to a natural look? What about a sand substrate?
I have a couple of extra filters that came out of an old fish tank. Tetra Wispers one 10gal, one 15gal I believe. I had an idea to use these for the waterfall effect, since that is basically what they do anyway in a tank. If I fit a piece of rubber tubing over the intakes and run the tubing into the water below I'm wondering how much power they'd have. What do you think, good idea or bad?
The waterfall(s) would be small ones. Probably about a fooot long with a small slope down to the pond itself. This is what the tetra filters would have to do. I will shut everything down when it is supposed to freeze and use an aerator pump.
Around the feature I want to plant a few things. There is natural native plants surrounding this area, so I'll be integrating these.
As for fish. They'd be small ones of course. There are some native minnows that are legal in my area. I could also use some Mosquito Fish or a similar species that is fairly small and easily maintained. Perhaps a native crayfish if I don't go with fish. I was also thinking about red cherry shrimp, since they are very cold hardy shrimpa nd would do well in a pond this size.
What are your thoughts on a heater and some tropicals, like guppies in a pond this size? I've heard of them in my area and my neighbor does this.
As for pond dementions I'm thinking an oval shape that is a bit naturally shaped. An average width of 2 feet, length 3 feet, and a depth that tapers from about 1 foot deep to 0.5 feet deep for the fish to better regulate their temperature and for a better effect. Since this is a bit shallow I will plant a few top dwelling plants to help with shade and algae control.
Any tips or advice to make this work? Anything you'd do differently or you think won't work at all?
I look forward your advice.
So here's my game plan:
First we have the size of the feature. My plan is to have a small one. Probably about 35 gallons, which is about 5 cubic feet? Pros and cons of this size?
I have a question about liners,too. What works and what doesn't? I have a lot of visqueen, clear gardening plastic, laying around. Is this suitable?
I want it to be as natural as possible. I have a lot of river rock in various sizes and some plants at my disposal that are all native plants and thrive in my area. What are some pros and cons to a natural look? What about a sand substrate?
I have a couple of extra filters that came out of an old fish tank. Tetra Wispers one 10gal, one 15gal I believe. I had an idea to use these for the waterfall effect, since that is basically what they do anyway in a tank. If I fit a piece of rubber tubing over the intakes and run the tubing into the water below I'm wondering how much power they'd have. What do you think, good idea or bad?
The waterfall(s) would be small ones. Probably about a fooot long with a small slope down to the pond itself. This is what the tetra filters would have to do. I will shut everything down when it is supposed to freeze and use an aerator pump.
Around the feature I want to plant a few things. There is natural native plants surrounding this area, so I'll be integrating these.
As for fish. They'd be small ones of course. There are some native minnows that are legal in my area. I could also use some Mosquito Fish or a similar species that is fairly small and easily maintained. Perhaps a native crayfish if I don't go with fish. I was also thinking about red cherry shrimp, since they are very cold hardy shrimpa nd would do well in a pond this size.
What are your thoughts on a heater and some tropicals, like guppies in a pond this size? I've heard of them in my area and my neighbor does this.
As for pond dementions I'm thinking an oval shape that is a bit naturally shaped. An average width of 2 feet, length 3 feet, and a depth that tapers from about 1 foot deep to 0.5 feet deep for the fish to better regulate their temperature and for a better effect. Since this is a bit shallow I will plant a few top dwelling plants to help with shade and algae control.
Any tips or advice to make this work? Anything you'd do differently or you think won't work at all?
I look forward your advice.
