On 4 Jun 2005 18:49:37 -0700, wrote:

I'm trying to get a pond going with 1/2 barrel that was used for red
wine. I'm not using a liner, and I've filled it with water and some
plants (water lily, hyacinth, anacharis, a couple of marginals). The
problem is that after about a week the water turns really foul: it gets
this white filamentous stuff in it and a really nasty sulfurous smell.
I've tried emptying and refilling, but the same thing happens each
time. Also, I've noticed these little critters, about the size of a
grain of rice, with an equal sized pointy appendage wriggling around in
there. They don't appear to be mosquitoes.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Are you running a fountain in the barrel? I would suggest using some
carbon. The water can't be too bad if you have little critters (assuming
they're not mosquitoes, which can survive in some pretty nasty water). Or
you could just get a liner for it and not have to figure this out. They
make drop in liners for 1/2 barrels. ~ jan

See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

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