it would honestly take me forever to try and dig up that thread. It was really old and i found it like a year and a half ago as I was going through pretty much every thread under the pond and diy forums. But if you want to have a crack at that, by all means, it's a great way to learn about building your own pond. As I said before, a filter is probably essential for water movement and to regulate temperature.
I have heard of parrot's feather and I personally don't like to too much because it sheds so many "needles" (harmless, it's just the way to describe their leaves). They're also really fragile, but I encourage you to give them a try. Remember, because it's going to be outside, it's not like an indoor tank where the only things adding to the bioload are the fish. Outside, leaves, dead insects, bird ****s, etc all end up in there, so you definitely want as much bio filtration as possible, which is another reason to add a filter. (my filter is currently filled with river stones for surface area, but I'll probably be replacing that soon with crushed lava rock for even more surface area). Lastly, make sure that you introduce A LOT of plants at first since you want to jumpstart this thing rather than let it mature a month long before the first fish get in and you'll be breeding mosquitos. I suggest buying some SUPERBAC. I've used it on all of my tanks with amazing effects. It's live bacteria, not time-released bacteria like most of the other products out there, so it actually needs a food source (fish waste), so it allows you to add fish right afterwards. Great stuff. But yes, still add A LOT of plants (maybe 75% filled) and then you won't need to worry about algae cause it will outcompete it.
