Bought a new one - well two!

[Priscilla]

Went to the hardware store and they had some stock tanks, large black plastic containers, so of course I bought two. One is 125 gall and the other is 25 gall. Why? I have no idea, since my other pond isn't even close to being finished!

So far I have the 25 gall full of water hyacinth, thinking I will use that as a bit of a plant nursery. Will have to add some mosquito fish in there, that brings the following random thoughts and questions: Do I need circulating water for them? Or will the plants be enough? What about a betta? Would he eat the mosquito larva? I found a store here that has a male and female bettas I'm not sure how that works? Can they live together? The store said no, but I can't understand how they would mate if they can't be around each other. Would be neat to have two in there and possible babies .... there I go getting ahead of myself again! Lol! The hyacinth would give lots of cover for them. Would I need to feed the betta or the mosquito fish? Or would they be able to find food in a 25 environment with plants in there?

The 125 gall, I plan to dig a hole and drop it in. I just pulled out my front garden, so I plan to put it in there. I'll try to catch a few of the red platys and transfer those to what I will now call my 'nature' pond. I won't net it, I will let nature take its course, as I need some way to control the platys. Will see if I end up with any frogs in there, although I'm not excited about that. Hmmmm, I really don't need that heron hanging around here ...... okay, maybe I will net it, but get an Oscar ....?

That's my randomness for the day.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

A male and female betta living together would most likely be very stressful for them (could possibly end in death of one or both) When people breed bettas they are conditioned in separate tanks and then put together just for the mating process. Many times the fish will be beat up and it is possible to cause death as well (bettas don't fool around) If you want a bunch of bettas you may get lucky and find some young females that you can put in your tank (sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't) Lot's of hiding places and live plants will give them good cover and a place for all of them to call their own Bettas don't eat plants so they would need to be fed. And I'm sure they would be more than happy to help you out and eat the skeeters. I I like to call them food seeking missiles.

 

[Priscilla]

Thanks for your input. I'll skip the betta's then. Go with the mosquito fish.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Yea, That's probably your best bet

I wish I could get a new stock tank, hubby would be mad at me though...... I guess I will just have to enjoy your updates. Please make sure we get photos!

 

[Priscilla]

Believe it or not, this was hubby's idea! I think he feels sorry for me alone with my boys all day and most nights.

Any suggestions for filters? Need something small and easy. When I do something I've got a 5yo and 2yo doing it with me, so ...... most things here are half done before someone's finger gets caught or toe stubbed or someone is bored or hot or thirsty or hungry ..... you get the picture.

The good news is, I shouldn't have a problem with leaves in this mini pond. So I guess I need more bio filtration than mechanical.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Well your hubby sounds awesome!


I'm just using a mature sponge filter (that I had bubbling in one of my aquariums) in my stock tank. It seems to be okay for the smaller fish (rosy reds) It's hooked up to an air pump. Real simple to use and cheap to run.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I used to use this filter in my preformed pond which was 165 gallons and I also used it in my 125 gallon stock tank. If you like the fountain look this one is nice but it does tend to be temperamental at times I have had it tip over and water exited the tank and I also had it over spray somehow and almost empty the tank. Definitely have to put it up on bricks or something so if you do lose water it doesn't drain the tank completely.

 

[Priscilla]

Do these provide biological filtration? Would just an air pump be enough? Maybe with a plant in the pond too?

 

[bettasngoldfish]

sponge filters are a very basic form of biological filtration. You just have to rinse them in a bucket of aquarium or pond water to clean them occasionally.

I wouldn't use an air pump alone for long term purposes unless you have lot's of plants and a low fish load.

The other filter provides mechanical, biological and chemical filtration (depending what type of media you put in the filter basket)

 

[Dave 54]

Priscilla why thats just perfect use the larger of the two tanks as a dedicated QT fasility but your going to need to put a bit of a decent filter on it before you can do this once its up and running then your new set up will be perfectly capable to nurse any sick fish or QT any new ones for the eight weeks it takes to do this .
You can then keep it up and running by keeping a couple of fish in it

Dave

 

[Priscilla]

Priscilla why thats just perfect use the larger of the two tanks as a dedicated QT fasility but your going to need to put a bit of a decent filter on it before you can do this once its up and running then your new set up will be perfectly capable to nurse any sick fish or QT any new ones for the eight weeks it takes to do this .
You can then keep it up and running by keeping a couple of fish in it

Dave

Was thinking the same thing. I will use the big one for some of the small platy fish (they are about 1 inch fully grown), I really don't want it empty as it will be next to my front entry way. I assume they will help to mature the filter if I need to nurse a fish back to health. I am a little concerned about it being a bit hot though. As its not very deep or big. Its probably about 2.5 deep. I plan to bury it and try to shade it as much as possible, so that should help.