On Sun, 15 May 2011 10:49:58 +0000, islaygardener
wrote:


Hi there. I'm a new member and I think this forum is going to be
invaluable so lovely to meet you all.

I live on Islay in Scotland so the gardening here can be quite
challenging due to salt laden air and high winds.

My question today is about my half barrel pond.

I kept 2 lovely goldfish in it for 3 years until the thaw after the very
cold spell at Christmas, when they both died.This also happened to my
friends parents fish (old bathtub pond ) and friends sisters fish (
another half barrel ) - all died after the thaw.We all had floats to
keep a hole in the ice open but they failed - it was just too cold to
prevent total freezing.

Whilst at the Glasgow branch of Dobbies last weekend , I had a chat with
the fish salesman and he said without doubt in order to keep fish
healthy in our present climate, I need an electric filter / oxygenator
and pond heater. Goodness ! He reckoned the levels of ammonia built up
in the pond whilst it was frozen as the toxic gas had nowhere to escape
to and thats what killed my poor fish.

Anyone out there with advice / experience on this half barrel fish pond
malarkey ? I really miss my fish but need to know how to care for any
future ones properly.

Also would my pond be big enough to keep 2 metalic or ghost koi in ? I
can't make a bigger pond as I'm not strong enough to dig one out .

Thank you for your help. Susan

A half barrel water feature is ok as a water feature with a few plants
in it. I would never even think of keeping fish in one. Either get
yourself an indoor tank system and keep tropical fish or dig a proper
pond. And please don't even think of Koi. They are very demanding as
to conditions (they grow big you know) and you won't supply those in
a half barrel. If you want to keep Koi, a few 4" long ones will
probably be ok if the water surface area of your barrel is about 50
square feet and you put a net over the top to stop them jumping out!

In cold winters, the chill enters a pond from above. It enters
anything above ground (like your half barrel) from above and also from
the sides. So a prolonged cold spell not only freezes the surface but
it starts freezing the water in from the sides of the barrel.