Barrel Pond?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

lyquidphyre

Aquarium Advice Addict
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Messages
3,548
Location
McKinney, Tx
Does anyone have expierence with a barrel/half barrel pond??

Here is the situation:
I gave good family friends of mine my two goldfish, Sid and Nancy. They both are out growing the 20gal aquarium I purchased for them. Debra (the woman I gave the fish to) says they don't have room for a larger tank, and there are no outlets to have a pond out front.. and they have a huge German Shepard outback who loves water.. so they really couldn't have a pond out there. So either, I figure something out.. or Debra will have to, sadly, give the goldfish to this lady with a pond. The only downside, is this pond is outside of a fish store, and that concerns me because of what could be thrown in the pond, and I will never see my fish again. Debra doesn't want to give them away, but we are just running out of options.

So I thought a barrel pond in the backyard would be too difficult for the dog to get into/tip over... and would be physically ideal. However, will my fish be happy with this, and what do I need know about barrel ponds before I think about setting one up for them

Sorry for the long post... and thanks in advance. Any opinions/advice is welcome
 
hmm i have seen barrel ponds in books and stuff.. but arent those barrels pertty small?

you could just buy like a 50 gallon tub frmo walmart and keep them inside?
 
They don't have room inside for anything big

If I were to do a barrel pond, I wouldn't do a half barrel.. I would so maybe like... a 3/4 barrel (if there is such a thing)
 
ic... but the reason that wouldnt work very well is they wont have that much space to swim around.. because barrels are more up and down and they'll just be able to turn.
 
I agree that the barrels might be a bit small for goldfish, esp over time as they grow to full size. Perhaps a school of small fish might like mollies would work a bit better.
 
I think those barrels hold about 30 gallons if I remember right.

Anyway, 2 goldish will do fine in there.
 
RogerMcAllen said:
I agree that the barrels might be a bit small for goldfish, esp over time as they grow to full size. Perhaps a school of small fish might like mollies would work a bit better.

im specifically trying to find a good home for my/my friends goldfish that are outgrowing their tank =o)

The larger barrel in the picture looks more like 40 maybe 50gal

I would get the largest barrel I could find
 
I think you are correct in your volume assesments, but a goldfish will max out at 12" to 18"? Even the largest barrels I have seen are much less than 3' in diameter, or twice the length. I think he would be much happier in something like a feed trough that is a bit longer.
 
Oh come on!

You really expect goldfish to grow to that big in that small of pond?


It wont happen. Something I have noticed about goldfish (loooking at all sizes, shapes of ponds, and even being givin some from smaller ponds) Is golfish tend to stay to the pond size, unlike koi. I was given several goldfish from a 250 gallon, and put them in my 90 gallon, they didnt grow anymore. I upgraded to a 1200 gallon, and they are almost double in size now.

2 goldfish are fine in a whiskey barrel, and if they grow humongous (Doubtful) you can always exchange them at your LFS for smaller ones.
 
I base my sizes on her wanting to give them the best possible living conditions, in which case they would acheive maximum size. Realistically, I agree that the barrel should be fine for a few years if not forever.

Back on target, a barrel pond should be pretty simple to put together. Any other questions not reguarding size?
 
I have to do this low budget.. I figure if i sell the two filters and the 20gal tank they are in right now that will help some

Also, since we are near Grapevine (a huge wine making city) maybe we can find a large barrel like that

What do you think is a good rough estimate for price??
 
Barrel $20-60 (probably the lower end)
Pump/filter $150-200
Fountain/spitter $10-20
Plants $10-30
Things I havn't thought of yet $30

So around $250 might be a good estimate.
 
isnt that a bit much for the pump/filter? for the smaller ponds i thought it was just the lil black box that pulls the water through the media stuff.(30$) and for a 50 gallon barrel thats about 120-170$. thats like a 1000 gph pump isnt it? because i got my 300 gph for 80$
 
I would say Barrell $30

Pump maybe $40 or so. Some come with spitters.

You dont really need a filter on a barrell, a prefilter on the pump/spitter should do.

Plants $20 or so.
 
yeah i meant to say pump instead of barrel... my bad

that sounds about right.

i dont really think you should sell your 20 gallon tank.. you might need it in the future... but its your call
 
Back
Top Bottom