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Hi there, first off. What do you want to do with it? Plants only or fish too? What size can you handle? I see you are new to the site, so welcome, hope you find all the information you are looking for.
Ok then, have you kept fish before? First of you have to find the barrel and figure out how much water it can hold. Then you can figure out what you can keep in it. Then you should find a filtre set it up and start a fishless cycle. If you dont know what that is let me know and I'll send you a post to a great articule here on the site.
yes ive kept fish before and i was thinking either a 50-60 gallon oak wood barrel and im not sure. Also im not sure how to start a fishless cycle on a barrel
Look up this thread: the (almost) complete guide and faq about fishless cycling. Its one of the best references around to get you started on fishless cycling IMO. 60 gallons with good filtration maybe you could get 3 goldfish in there. Nothing very big, did you have your mind set on something? If you have any questions after reading the article just shoot away.
Glad it helped, let us know how it goes. I for one love to see projects evolving. If you can take pictures as you go, its something to look back on when you are already done.
I did a fishless cycle with the help from this forum. It was much the same as cycling an indoor tank. I started cycling with the HOB filter and pure ammonia while I was building the tiny skippy filter. I ran both until I was certain the fountain filter was cycled. Now the HOB filter is gone and the fountain is my filter. I have a few floating lettuce and a handful of those long plants free floating. I plan on adding a hardy lily plant soon. I also have about a dozen mosquito fish that I caught from a nearby pond. They are doing very well in there.