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"Pond"


Wackinator
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So I picked up a small bucket (20-25 gallons) that can hold my goldfish for now.

I know its pretty pathetic but I am actually pretty excited about it, I like the place where I put it in the yard and I want to stock it with plants and fish but I really dont know where to start from.

My main worry right now is protecting it from cats and birds, there are magpies and ravens in the neighborhood and I don't want my fish to be an expensive snack for them. I am not too worried about cats, as my neighbor has 3 but they dont really come where I put the bucket, and it will be hard for them to fish in there as it's 16-18 inches deep.

What I want to do is have a lot of floating plants and a lot of oxygenators. I cannot put a filter on it as there is no outlet over there but will probably end up doing something about it next month (maybe move the pond to where theres an outlet, or use an extension wire). Any suggestions?

I filled it with water and tomorrow will put in 3 small minnows that are native to Alberta, after a week or when I have plants to cover the top I will put in the goldfish. If everything is going well I will be getting one or two more SMALL goldies, and I will be trading them in every time they get bigger for a smaller one.

The only one I will keep permanently is the one I have right now.

If anyone can help me with what kind of plants I can put in there, or can spare some plants of either floaters or oxygenators then please let me know.

Thanks

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You can probably get some good deals at the stores this time of year. I remember seeing Nature's Corner in Edm posting sales on pond stuff for up to 80% off, so you may find similar sales in Cgy. Water Sprite is a common aquarium plant that would work. You can also get Water Letuce and Hyacinth to float on top. Duckweed will also cover teh surface, and provide a snack for your goldfish. If you can fit a small flower pot in there, you could also toss in a lily or lotus which will send up leaves to the surface and add nice cover.

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Thanks Jvision and I will keep my eye open for them but not sure what exactly I need, because I have a very good DIY filter I can make myself, just need the pump, but then I cant find an outlet to plug it into >.>

I can definitely fit a flower pot in there and I was thinking of a lotus but wasn't sure how big it would get.

Duckweed and Water sprite are a good idea thanks :) I hope someone has them for sale here as I don't really like getting plants from Pet stores, small portions are charged a lot there >.>

Thanks

I also forgot to mention that I will be doing 20-40% water changes every 10 days or when ever it needs it. Or thinking of doing 50% every 2 weeks. And is my stocking okay for 1 medium sized goldfish and 2 small goldies?

Thanks

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The lotus will get as big as you let it, the pads will end up around 10" diameter (I'm talking Tiger Lotus). I just keep trimming the leaves that get too big. Your fish selection sounds fine. If you do want to run an extension cord, make sure it's all-weather, or at least that you have a GFI plug-in.

As for filtration, just throw something together - get a small pump on sale, or see what you can find on the Buy/Sell forum (check CanReef, too - there are quite a few ppl from Cgy on there selling equipment). I wouldn't worry too much about what exactly you need - anything is better than nothing.

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Thanks JVision!

I will keep an eye out but I am so confused how I can run an extension wire (and I hadn't thought about an all weather one at all, Thanks!) from where the pond is to where the outlet is.

I am not too worried about a pump as from what I have seen they aren't that expensive. Just need to get the outlet thing figured out, after that it seems pretty straight forward.

Thanks for all your help!

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You could also get a solar power mini thing I think I've seen them at canadian tire for camping with any outlet. I don't know if i'm dreaming this up or what but you could try that?!

really? I'll have to look into that, I really hope that your not dreaming as it sounds pretty amazing!

Thanks

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Thanks for the link Morphine but solar panels look pretty expensive, and the article does mention that the approximate cost would be 100+.

I have got a nice DIY filter for pump idea already, saw something similar to it on youtube a long time ago, if I was to build one I would give that one a try first but thanks :)

An update: The day I set up the pond I got to test it for the first time because it rained like hell (and apparently there was hail). I got 4 tiny goldfish from the feeders section at Pisces. I know that a 20 gallon is over stocked with 1 big and 4 tiny goldfish but I suspect some will be dying in the next couple of days as I don't expect the feeders to be in the best condition. Also have the 3 minnows in there as I really like how they look/act in a pond better than the tank, am really worried about the goldfish swallowing them but they seem too fast for him, and they occupy the top while the big goldfish mainly stays at the bottom levels. Also added one water lettuce floating plant, and a bunch of plastic plants as I was afraid of birds noticing and attacking my fish. Will be adding pictures soon and looking for Pond plants so if anyone has any let me know.

Thanks

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