Half barrel pond vs aquarium

I have a plastic half barrel pond (see photo), initially created for the azolla (Carolina Mosquito Fern) floating water plant's fertilizer properties, and collect rain water, to help water next year's berry beds. The azolla hasn't spread over the surface as much as I thought it would, and now I'm accidently breeding mosquitoes!! I want to add feeder goldfish to eat the skeeters, but have been told I need a pump & filter to clean and oxygenate the water, and the fish won't live in the barrel during the winter months.

My question is, can I use a pump and filter system from a 25 gallon home aquarium, if I can shelter the pump from the elements (barrel pond holds ~ 27-1/2 gallons)? An added bonus would be to over-winter the fish and plants in the aquarium, too.

I have no experience with ponds, but have had many aquariums over the years.

I appreciate any help or ideas!
Thanks,
Bev

if you just want to keep skeeters down use a skeeter ring you can by at the local hardware, If you like the fish method as long as your barrel won't freeze solid your fish will make the winter. If you have plants in the water and you only have two or three fish you should be ok however if you put in a lot of fish you might consider a small pump and filter or even just a bubbler for the oxygen

I didn't want to use any chemicals on the skeeters for fear of affecting the plants, potential fish and other water critters, and the resulting 'fertilizer' for the berries.

Can a goldfish gorge itself to death? There are a lot of mosquitoes babies in that barrel, so I figured at least 10-12 of the feeder fish!! Would that be considered too many?

The bubbler sounds like a go idea! Thanks for all the info Jerry!

I've been to Wythville many times. Nice part of . Goldfish can eat themselves to death on commercial foods, but it's not too likely on live larvae. That's a lot of goldfish considering a 75 gal aquarium would comfortably hold about 6, full grown. I wouldn't put more than three in the barrell, especially with limited filtration. The sides are so exposed that winter water temps are going to be the same as air temps. Fishcicles? JerryH is giving good advice. Same concerns I have.

This message was edited Aug 1, 2008 10:25 AM

I'll just get a few goldfish and see how they do then. There's going to be a lattice fence on two sides of the barrel, but I don't know that we'll get it finished before winter. Maybe next year I can make things more cozy for them to have a safe winter. I guess I will need that aquarium after all.

Thanks to you both for the good advice and ideas!

You could get an aquarium heater for the winter. I don't think they are that expensive.

Thanks Laura, I'll check on a heater, might be cheaper than buying a used aquarium!

I would say go to the bait shop and get 3 or 4 small feeder goldfish. They will control your skeeters and other bugs very well. You will be surprised how quickly they can grow. As far as aeration is concerned an aquarium bubbler will work for a little while but would probably not do well long term because they are not designed for outdoor use. Small pond pumps can be purchased for nearly the same price and are designed for that purpose. The harbor freight store here has them all of the time. You can still use the same tubing and airstone though. Even if you did not have fish it would keep the water fresher and keep it from souring. Unless you want crystal clear water (which is unlikely to happen anyway) I would not bother with a filter. As far as the fish making it through the winter is concerned, it is highly unlikely that that will happen with it being above ground and small.

A thought just occured to me that you could make an arrangement with a local pet store to "trade in" your fish for store credit when really cold weather started to begin. They would have the advantage of having bigger fish to sell and you would get free fish in the spring without the problem of having to overwinter them or having them outgrow the space you have available.

tetleytuna, I'll ask the pet store lady if she would be interested in such an exchange. My worst case scenario would be to take the goldfish to the big pond at a campground nearby, but they would definitely be 'feeder fish' then! I get easily attached to critters, so I don't think I'd be able to do that. I'm checking prices on some of the equipment (heater and pump), this 'free' fertilizer is mounting in cost, lol.

I was just looking at the pond pumps and they are really inexpensive. Would a submersible or outside mounted one be the best?

I have always used little submersible pumps. No worries about weather or accidentally getting them wet since that is what they are meant for. I would advise against getting equipment meant for aquarium use with the exception of air stones and plastic tubing. It is just not designed to hold up under the extreme conditions of outdoor use.

tetleytuna, I'll try to find a submersible pump, an air stone, maybe a heater, and find out about trading in fish.

I feel a lot better after hearing everyone's comments and appreciate the good ideas! I feel like I have some options now. Thank you all!!
Bev

maby a heater from a farm store, tractor supply for a cattle water trough to keep your fish happy in the winter

I got several feeder goldfish, an aquarium pump, and dual aerator stones today (all their pond supplies were way over priced). Since the barrel pond sits next to our shop building we mounted the pump inside the shop and drilled a hole for the airlines to drop from the soffit of the building down into the pond... it worked out great! So far the fish are doing fine and the skeeters are now fish food!!

From what the pet store owner said, we really didn't need the fish. The aerator creates enough turbulence in the little pond to kill off the mosquito larvae on the surface, but I had already set my mind on having a few fish friends. I need to do a couple more little things to finish, like get an air flow regulator and to seal around the hole with caulking.

Jerry, I found a few web sites with DIY solar heater designs I may try. I'd still need a back up for cloudy days though. We're already planning a method of insulating around the barrel pond before winter.

I haven't had a fish tank in decades (our family always had several when I was a kid) and I'm so tickled with the little barrel pond now that I'm giddy!! I've been checking on them every hour.

Thanks again for all the ideas folks!



This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 11:20 AM

Oops! I lost a goldfish this evening! From what I could determine, the Ph was lower than it should be. I added tap water mixed with a de-chlorinator, a little bit at a time, and it brought the Ph back up a little. I'll get again first thing in the morning to see how the little guys faired through the night. I hope that was what was wrong. The dead fish did not have any sores or spots on him... Ph was all I could think of.

I doubt if it was anything you did, sometimes they just die for unknown reasons. Give your tank a couple of weeks to mature a little and put a couple more in. Wish you were near me, I have a lot to spare. I have a very shallow fiberglass pool that I was going to put in but never got around to it. I did put in two goldfish and some aquatic floaters to keep the skeeters out but both goldfish died within a couple of weeks and with the constant rain we have had this year I never got around to messing with it. I looked in the water a few weeks ago and there are all kinds of little babies. Only thing I can think of is that eggs rode in on the water plants or those goldfish sure were busy in the short time they were in that pool.

Tetleytuna, that's incredible to have new babies like that!

We've had a lot of rain, too, and I've noticed the pond Ph getting lower. I thought I was keeping a close enough check on it before it got out of hand. I hope you're right and it was just the little guy's time to go. The rest seem to be doing fine... still a bit skiddish of folks peering in at them though, lol.

The little goldfish guys are finally coming out more often when people are peering in at them. They mostly stay in the big rocks on the bottom during the morning and under the floating azolla & duckweed and mint plants in the afternoon. They dart out just long enough to snag some food.

cute babies! You might want to check with your town before releasing them into a natural pond. In many places it is illegal.

SongsofJoy, Thanks for the warning, I didn't think of that! I've pretty much decided to winter them over in an aquarium, but I will check the ordinances... I'm curious about it now.

Here it is illegal to release goldfish but legal to have goldfish as bait. That doesn't make much sense to me....

I don't know if they will live over winter in your area, but here in So. Cal. I call vector control, and they give me "mosquito Fish" (Gambusia) for free. I tried the goldfish and the racoons ate them. Gambies are a small guppy, not pretty, but voracious!

I've heard of the mosquito fish. I'll check to see if the state or county has a free fish program! Thanks for the info!!

To date, the goldfish and aerator are keeping the mosquitoes at bay in the pond. I'm still having problems in other open buckets of reserve rain water though. I friend gave me a 29 gallon aquarium, YAY! I may have to put it in the basement over the winter because it weighs 330 lbs when full, not that I need it completely filled.

I had one more fish to die (no apparent reason). The remaining 8 seem to be doing well. I had an "algae bloom" that went away a week or two after dropping in a few barely pellets. The fish are more friendly and come to the surface when they hear me opening the food container (it rubs up against the barrel pond).

I'm having a ball with my little pond!

Those little mosquito fish multiply out of control. I'm going to drain 1/2 the pond next week to try to net as many as I can out. I've been told what I need is a couple of Bluegills in the pond temporarily to prey on the little buggers but I havn't been able to get any. I estimate 1,000 from 4 last year. :(

OMG, I'll just try "1" mosquito fish, if I can get one, LOL.

Sundowner: Have you ever heard of freecycle.com? It's a way to get connect with other people who don't like the idea of filling landfills with items that are perfectly useable and giving them away free to other freecyclers. Last year I picked up a fish tank with all the supplies that was 20 gallons for a friend who's tank was leaking slowly. Re-home! You can post things online that your are "OFFERING" as well as things "WANTED". Many times I will see something posted that someone wants and I have it in my basement collecting dust and I will give it away to a new home that will appreciate it. I figure you probably could pick up some fish supplies just like I did for my friend on the cheap!

Freecycle is very active in this area as well. I've given away tons of plants that I needed to divide, and just didn't have the heart to compost. I've also given away lots of old aquarium equipment. A lot of beginners don't want to make a huge investment in the hobby until they are certain it's what they want to do so aquarium stuff goes right away. And then I don't feel guilty disposing of it and I don't have to trip over it in the garage or attic.

I checked once before and there is not a FreeCycle close enough to us to make it cost effective, especially with the price of gas/diesel. We do have a local weekly trade paper I've been checking, so maybe I'll get lucky with it.

Thanks for the suggestions folks!!