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Author Topic: Bathtub Fish Pond!  (Read 1942 times)
Abbiesaurus
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Bathtub Fish Pond!
« on: October 19, 2010, 12:22:01 AM »
Hey,
I have this old cast iron bathtub sitting in my yard...and I thought it would be great to turn it into a goldfish pond XD
So but as you could imagine I have a lot of questions!

- The bath needs repainting, once it fully dries will the paint be safe for goldfish?
- Do I need a filter as well as an air pump?
- Are comets, commons and shubunkins the only goldfish that can survive happily in outdoor ponds all year round (usually doesn't get much colder than 10 degrees C where I live)?
- Would it be best to seal the hole in the bottom of the bath or would a plug be fine?
- What is best to put at the bottom of the pond...rocks, pebbles or lining?
- To protect the goldfish from fish eating birds would very small wire like chicken wire be the best to cover the pond?
- I have a comet goldfish who has lived in an indoor tank for about a year now, will he cope with the colder temperatures outside in winter? (its spring now so it won't be cold again for at least 6 months)

Andddd that is all I can think of for now.
Thanks in advance Smiley
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Nossie
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #1 on: October 19, 2010, 03:27:48 AM »
Sounds really nice Smiley

- I wouldn't trust that, some paints may gradually let out some chemicals under water, so if I was you, I'd cover the bottom and everything of the tub that will be containing water with pond linen. Measure it carefully first Cheesy
- Yes, you'll need a filter, and in summer an air pump would be really good so the fish will have enough oxygen Smiley
- I guess they are, yes. You could keep fantails and the like there during summer if you'll take them indoors before the winter. Otherwise their swim bladders may be destroyed by the "sudden" cold.
- Seal it. You don't want your pond-tub to leak d:
- I already mentioned lining, but maybe some soft, round pebbles would be good to keep it in place?
-Goldfish don't eat birds, but birds eat goldfish, so a net of some kind might be good to have to keep cats and other predators out Smiley
- He should be fine! As long as the temperature outside is very similar to the one in the tank the first few days after you move him Smiley
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #2 on: October 19, 2010, 03:38:49 AM »
Thanks for your detailed answers Smiley
I had a good look at the bath and it isn't rusted or anything on the inside so theres no need to paint it anyway.
So with the lining you just cut it to shape and sit it on the bottom? You don't need to glue it down or anything?
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2010, 10:00:07 AM »
A plug would work just fine if you line the tub with pond liner. Smiley
You dont have to glue the liner down or anything.  Just cut it a bit bigger then the tub so it covers the top of the sides.  Then you can place larger rocks or flagstone even around the edges to hide the liner and decorate it with ornaments however you wish. Wink
You could buy a pondmaster filter that would sit down inside the tub and run it to a spitting fish or some kind of ornament that would run water through the filter and then back into the pond.  I think it would look very nice. Cheesy
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Nossie
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2010, 01:41:27 PM »
I'd love to see photos of your project later Smiley
Don't forget to buy some beautiful water lilies and plants! Cheesy
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2010, 06:54:14 PM »
Ok so I will just use pond liner and a plug then. I have some nice old stones that I will cut to size and concrete around the edges. That sounds really nice Mindemae Smiley I am not sure whether an internal or external filter would be best though...Wouldn't external be best in my case since a bathtub isn't very big and an internal filter would take up space?
I definitely want to get a spitting fish though, it would look great lol.
So I measured the bathtub and I worked out that the volume of it is somewhere in between 70 and 80 gallons. Now the only thing I am worried about is that the smallest pond filters I can find say up to 1000 gallons. Wouldn't that be overkill?

I will be starting this project in about a month when I finish uni Smiley and I will definitely post photos when I am done. 
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2010, 09:34:15 PM »
Well you could go external filter and hide the filter somehow.
I found that the bigger the better pump wise.
I have a 250 gallon pond and I think my pump pumps like 2500 gallons per hour.
I found the smaller ones just plug up too quickly and the more powerful ones stay unplugged.
If you run a fountain and a filter it takes a bit more power to run both so I'd say up to 1000 gph is about right. Smiley
« Last Edit: October 19, 2010, 11:03:30 PM by Mindemae » Logged
Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2010, 11:27:12 PM »
I was reading that some external filters can actually be put partially in the ground. So I might just do that and then put some plants around it so its not as noticeable Smiley
I was looking at this filter:
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and
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Do you think they sound good?
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #8 on: October 19, 2010, 11:42:47 PM »
Well, they sound great but I've always used a filter with media and then bio balls.
This the external filter I use for my pond.  (Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.)
But the one with the uv lighting sounds almost too good to be true.
I can't imagine not changing the filter for 2 years!!??!! Shocked
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #9 on: October 20, 2010, 12:03:17 AM »
Yours sounds good Smiley But I can't find any aus sites that sell them.
Yeah 2 years is a long time...you think it would clog up or something before then.
I found this one too. Its similar but it has bio balls Smiley
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« Last Edit: October 20, 2010, 12:05:36 AM by Abbiesaurus » Logged
Nossie
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #10 on: October 20, 2010, 02:58:18 AM »
UV filtration is really good to have in your pond! It'll sterilize the water, killing most parasites and the like Smiley I think that'd be great since it's pretty hard to control the water quality and the like in a pond Smiley It'd help you a bit to keep disease at bay!

Other than that, I can't help too much with pond filtration, sorry d:
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #11 on: October 20, 2010, 06:12:27 AM »
Okay great well I will most likely end up buying that filter then! Smiley

So as well as the filter I also need a pump like this (Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.)
Tubing that leads into the filter and tubing that leads out?
And then on the end of the tube that leads out of the filter I can add ornaments or a fountain etc?
Do water pumps need to be plugged into a power socket or do they get their power from the filter?
Thanks in advance to whoever can answer these questions Smiley
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #12 on: October 20, 2010, 08:43:38 AM »
That filter seem nice!  Mine has the dirty filter flow indicator too!  I like that!
As far as the pump you would get a submersible pump and that gets plugged into a socket the filter doesn't.
You hook the filter to the pump via pond hose.  So the pump pumps water through the filter and any ornaments you have like the spitting fish for instance.
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #13 on: October 20, 2010, 08:51:11 AM »
I was just looking at your filter and I think it may be elcetrical operation?
I'm confused.  I know we don't plug our filter in. The pump we do as it runs the water through the filter and then out the fountain.
If the filter is a plug in then you might want a smaller pump if it's just going to pump water to the ornament?  or maybe if the filter has an internal pump you won't need anything else at all just hook up the spitting fish to the outake on the pump?
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #14 on: October 20, 2010, 07:33:14 PM »
Yeah I would prefer if I only had to plug one thing into a power point. I think you do need a pump with that filter because up the top it says its 'designed to be used with a pump'. Maybe the filter has to be plugged in because it has UV filtration.
I'm confused :S I think its time to make a trip to my LFS to look at pond filters and pumps lol Smiley
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #15 on: October 20, 2010, 09:31:14 PM »
Yeah, good idea then you'll know for sure! Smiley
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #16 on: October 21, 2010, 01:48:47 AM »
I emailed the store selling the uv filter and they said it needs to be plugged in to give power to the uv light and it also requires a pump. So I think I am just going to get a filter setup like yours  Mindemae. Have you found that your filter system works pretty well? How often does it require cleaning?
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #17 on: October 21, 2010, 09:33:38 AM »
Well that would depend on how many fish per space you have.  I have 11 goldfish in my 250 g pond in the summer so I only tear apart the filter and clean it once during the summer.  And then when I bring the goldfish in for the winter in oct.  I tear it apart and clean it again.  If you go with the tetra tub filter  that will show you when the filter needs cleaning by allowing water to trickle above the filter pad.  The filter will be still full functioning but the water trickle out of the top spout lets you know the filter needs a cleaning. Wink
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Abbiesaurus
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #18 on: October 21, 2010, 07:48:41 PM »
Ah ok I'm not sure if the filter I am getting has an indicator (Link is not visible to guests. Please register to view.)
But I guess that doesn't matter. I will just end up cleaning it a few times a year when I think it needs it.
I will be putting 3-4 comet goldfish in the pond and I will not be bringing them inside for winter as it doesn't usually get lower than 10 degrees C here anyway.

Thanks for your help! Now to start saving money for this project lol Cheesy
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Mindemae
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Re: Bathtub Fish Pond!
« Reply #19 on: October 21, 2010, 08:00:29 PM »
Looks good !!   You probably only need the 500 bio filter for your small pond! Smiley
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