My goldfish is getting too big for his tank so I was thinking could I make a pond for him? I was thinking of a half barrel pond nicely decorated. I'm not used to ponds so I'm thinking what would filtration oxygenation and protection from wildlife/cats be?
Goldfish pond?
- Thread starter concord
- Start date
Half barrel ponds are great, but only temperary in our climate. What I mean is, you can not leave a fish out in the barrel over winter, as the water is just not deep enough.
You can however make a container pond, which is the same thing except with a container instead of a barrel. As long as this container is at least 2 feet it should be deep enough for winter. Having the container buried in the ground instead of above ground also helps with temperature (which is going to be your biggest enemy).
Filtration on such a small pond is tricky, as usual pond filtration is too big, but you can’t put usual aquarium filtration on one. Yet you can go without filtration, if you go by the rules of 1 inch of fish per 10 gallons of water. So if your goldfish is 12 inches, your container will need to have 120 gallons in it. As for oxygen, oxygenating pond plants do the trick perfectly. As for protection, floating plants like water lettuce do well for cover. Put a few pots on their side at the bottom to make caves, and odds are you will be fine.
You can however make a container pond, which is the same thing except with a container instead of a barrel. As long as this container is at least 2 feet it should be deep enough for winter. Having the container buried in the ground instead of above ground also helps with temperature (which is going to be your biggest enemy).
Filtration on such a small pond is tricky, as usual pond filtration is too big, but you can’t put usual aquarium filtration on one. Yet you can go without filtration, if you go by the rules of 1 inch of fish per 10 gallons of water. So if your goldfish is 12 inches, your container will need to have 120 gallons in it. As for oxygen, oxygenating pond plants do the trick perfectly. As for protection, floating plants like water lettuce do well for cover. Put a few pots on their side at the bottom to make caves, and odds are you will be fine.
Hmmmm cool Well I could just bring the pond inside right? My only real worry is that he is used to room temperature tank, I really dont want him to die. I'd feal terrible because he is my little brother's fish and We've had him for a long time. But he will eventually die if he stays in the tank he is in now 
Don't worry, one time our system at work went on the fritz and all of the goldfish tanks dropped to 45F. Why not build a container pond in your house? It could be a centerpiece and you can you a sponge filter for filtration.