Thoughts of a Barrel (help!)

[Malibu]

So with all the fun-looking half-barrels/tubs I've seen, I was thinking of setting up my own on my patio in a 20-30gal mud-bucket or something. Do I need filtration? How can I get around having to use anything involving an electrical outlet? (the place we rent is RETARTED and doesn't have electrical outlets outside :mad:) I would like to put a fish or two in to keep the mosquito larvae at bay, which is why the question about filtration.

[OldMan]

Set up a water garden and let the plants take care of the nitrogen that the fish will generate. It won't be the El Natural that I am thinking of but if you keep the stock of fish low it should work for you.

[Malibu]

Yeah, I'm just thinking of a couple goldfish that I already own...

What sort of plants would you recommend for the water garden? Should the all be floaters, or should I use some aquarium planting substrate and plant some tall plants? This could be part of a solution for my gravel issue. (I want to replace the substrate in my 50 gal tropical, so if I had some gravel in the barrel, that would cycle it so I can replace the other stuff...)

[Gobies et al]

How about Paradise fish (Macropodus opercularis)? They wouldn't need the water aerated as they are anataboids and would enjoy mosquito larvae.

[Malibu]

Do they eat mosquito larvae? I know goldies and koi do... My only issue with putting them in there instead of fish I already have is that I would have no where to put them at the end of the summer...

[Gobies et al]

Yes, they eat mosquito larvae. They were originally from stagnant swampy water. Also they were the original "bowl fish".

[Malibu]

sweet! that should be perfect then... just to figure out what to do with them at the end of the season lol.

[OldMan]

In your situation, I would visit a garden shop that sells pond plants. There are lots to choose from and as long as the plants are getting their nutrients from the pond water they should keep any ammonia from building up. A nice layer of duckweed on the water surface would help a lot too.

[brnttoast]

the brnt tip of the day... cheap pond plant you can grow yourself
watercress
it does prefer flowing water though, i have never tried it in idle water
can be started from seed in the root wool stuff, never needs to be trimmed cause any herbivore fish will eat it
for you slimeys, you can grow it in the wool right on top of a HOB filter, as it hits the water the snails eat it, however i had a few snails use it as an escape ladder :(

[brnttoast]

if you wanna get fancy in a pond with no power, they do sell a floating solar powered pond light
i know princess auto has them out here right now

[Catahoula Ranch]

Just a suggestion, but I just came across a plastic barrel that I used for a pond, it was previously used for grape juice, it has a screw on o-ring seal lid, they can be found for a few bucks, and could easily be moved indoors for the colder months.