Pondlet: FAIL A followup

Well, i failed. I was full of hope and optimism, but the old tub leaked. Luckily the fishes were not drowned, i scooped them into a bucket with the remaining water and plants until i could get them a replacement.  Neither craigslist or freecycle came through for me, and my wise mother  convinced me not to try and patch the old trough so i purchased one of  these. Boring and not re-used. I dug it partially into the ground: being in the ground will keep the water temperature more even, and being raised up will make me happy because i'll still have my foot rest. My darling husband gathered a bunch of limestone chunks (from an undisclosed location) for me to use as a decorative border: i think it looks quite nice.

The fish are quite happy, they don't mind the change. The rubber pond is made of materials non toxic to them, and they're pleased with the cooler water from the buried bottom.
There has been some drama, however: My big yellow hen, Belina was standing on the edge for a drink the other day, and slipped! She fell in! Poor fat thing flapped and struggled but couldn't get out, knocked the water plant over in the process too. Luckily i was watching and pulled her out: what's the phrase about a wet hen? She was not pleased!
What was most fascinating was the reaction of her friends: the other chickens were shaken up as much as she was! Olive, our usually silent lady was bawking all over the place. Soot, the head hen was all ruffled and panting. It's my guess and hope that the crisis was so traumatic they'll steer clear of that pond from now on, but i'll still keep my eye on them for hte next few days before leaving them out and unattended.

The new pond was cheapish- but not free, but attractive and functional enough. I sure liked the looks of that old trough, though!
Guess i'll have to make it a planter after all.

Can't win all the time.

My New Pondlet

A month or so ago i decided that my Summer project this year would be to put together a little pond in the back. I wanted to use a found/reclaimed/recycled horse trough type container, rocks from around the place, and cheap little feeder fish. I thought about using a fountain/bubbler of some kind, but preferred attempting a natural balance with plants and fish oxygenating and cleaning each other.
Coincidentally, Susy over at Chiot's Run is also dabbling in the art of pond-making. Here's to reclaimed pond forms graced to us by our parents!

Hornwort: a submerged plant that oxygenates the water.

My inlaws recently procured the property adjacent to theirs, and it included a garage chock full of junk (awesome stuff to be used by us!). This old tub was there, and after waiting a few months to be sure it wasn't destined to be a planter for them, snagged it to be my new pond! I think it's turning out just swell.

Still a work in progress - i bought some liner to go inside of the tub to prevent rusting damaging the fishes(yes, i like to say fishes instead of fish. It's just another facet of my quirky personality. Though fishes is actually a grammatically correct term. Look it up), but it didn't really go all the way around the tub, and the water still gets in between the liner and the metal, so i have no idea if it will be effective in the least. It sure is unattractive though. I placed some rocks in to hold the liner out, and one to stick up to help toads/ lizards/ bugs to get in and out if they happened to find the water. Could be a nice dove perch for drinking as well.

Hmm, i could stand to repaint my toenails, ay? Pond doubles as a foot rest.

 

Yesterday, i noticed the water level reduced by a few inches. Leak? Perhaps - or perhaps the water is simply being taken advantage of in different ways. Note on the water used: i filled this with about half rain water from my barrel and half city water. My hope is that the plants will help filter out the nasty city water. I'll try and fill it with rain water whenever possible.

So today i get the fish and see how it all comes together! Sure is a lovely backyard setting now.
I may still think about adding a trickly pump just for the pretty noise, but not for now.

What's your Summer project this year??