Thanks for the info. Learning a whole whack of stuff here.

Mike

"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:nPfVa.479$uu5.368@sccrnsc04...
Mike,

The water from the hose with chlorine can be treated with a dechlorinator,
such as sodium thiosulfate or Amquel or similar.

Rain water is very soft, does not have any buffering to help hold the pH
constant, does not have any of the calcium or magnesium for the fish bones
or for plants. Rain water may be a good supplement, but I think that I
would use mostly the water from the hose. If you have the barrels, and
the
water is treated with chlorine only, then you could fill the barrel with
tap
water, leave it for a day or two with an air stone running and the
chlorine
will evaporate, thereby not requiring the chemical dechlorinators, but I
would use a chlorine test kit to be sure that it has all evaporated before
adding it to the pond.

The barrels, unless treated with mosquito dunks will be a good place to
raise mosquitoes.

Copper is toxic to fish, so do not use copper piping for this rain barrel
connection. Use PVC. They make bulkhead fittings for going through
liners,
filters, and would work for your barrel. They can be had at some pond
stores, or over the internet. Aquatic Eco has them.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Mike" wrote in message
.. .
Well from reading this form I think it is safe to say that I should not
top
off my pond with the garden hose due to chlorine problems. I was
thinking
of using a 45gal plastic (PVC?) barrel that I can get from work. I want
to
add a valve of some sort and a regular garden hose fitting so I can use
an
old garden hose to feed the pond. My question is, since I am new to
plumbing and all that, is how to I fix the pipe to the barrel? Do I
need
some kind of flange? If any of you have done something similar with a
barrel filter what did you use? Keep in mind I think I want to use 3/4"
copper pipe, but if you guys have a better suggestion for material let
me
know.

Mike