Goldfish Pond in a Barrel

When I first heard about FAMILYFUN reader Ellen Krikie's idea to create a goldfish pond in a barrel ("More Great Ideas" FAMILYFUN April 1994) I was intrigued and wanted to find out how to try the project with my own kids. When I talked to Ellen I found out that not everyone in her family had been so enthusiastic about the plan-- at least not initially. Her husband, John, had worried that a backyard pond would be a mosquito hatchery. Ellen and the kids persevered, though, researching and talking about it until the dream became so enticing that even John was hooked.

As it turned out, the pond became the Krikie family's summer passion. As the season progressed, lacy parrot's feather cascaded over the sides of the barrel, fuchsia water lilies and pale blue forget-me-nots bloomed, and the resident goldfish feasted on mosquito larvae, vindicating Ellen by keeping the pond pest free.

Into the barrel went minnows caught by 15-year-old Nick, snails scrubbed clean by nine-year-old Emily and tadpoles tended by 12-year-old Laura. All summer long, Ellen would find the kids sitting by the side of the pond, staring into the water and watching changes taking place. In the fall, the whole family witnessed the hatching of a cluster of fish eggs and Laura delighted her school science teacher by bringing in samples of pond water to view under a microscope.

MATERIALS
•A sunny spot (ponds need a minimum 5 hours of sun daily)
•A 32-gallon plastic garbage can, cut down to 2 1/2 feet high
•A half whiskey barrel (optional)
•Bricks or flat stones
•Aquatic plants: 1 water lily, 1 parrot's feather, 1 forget-me-not, 1 to 2 bunches of an oxygenating grass, such as anacharis
•Terra-cotta flowerpots (2 3-inch pots and 1 6- to 7-inch pot)
•Gravel
•3 goldfish
•12 snails
•Tadpoles from a supply house
•Fish food

PREPARING THE BARREL
To start your own backyard pond, help your kids cut down a plastic barrel or garbage can to about 2 1/2 feet high. To improve the looks of your pond, you can purchase a half whiskey barrel at a local nursery or lumberyard and set the garbage can inside it. If you would rather keep a low budget, though, the parrot's feather plants will beautify the barrel nicely when their hanging vines cascade over the walls.

PICKING THE LOCATION
If you live in northern latitudes and plan to keep your pond over the winter, you will need to set it into the ground. Whether above ground or dug in, the pond should receive at least five hours of sun daily. Don't place it under any trees, because some leaves are toxic for fish. When you all have settled on a pond location, fill the barrel with water to a depth of at least 18 inches and then let it sit for two weeks to dechlorinate. Inexpensive, quick-acting, dechlorinating drops from a local pet store also will do the job.

FLORA AND FAUNA
Before you fill your pond with plants and creatures, discuss with your kids the elements required for a healthy aquatic ecosystem. Just like a large pond, a pond in a barrel contains water, plants, soil and an assortment of living creatures that together create a balanced and efficient environment.

From an aquatic supply store or by mail order, your "aquaculturists" can purchase their plants. Try parrot's feather, aquatic forget-me-nots, and a water lily called James Brydon. Many pond plants are available through mail-order companies, such as Lilypons Water Gardens at 800-365-5459. Make sure that the kids don't get too enthusiastic, though; having more than one plant of each kind will overcrowd the pond. One or two bunches of an oxygenating grass, such as anacharis, also will be needed, along with a dozen or so snails and a maximum of three goldfish.

If you want tadpoles, order a frog hatchery kit from Insect Lore Products or another scientific supply company. (Call Insect Lore at 1-800-LIVEBUG and request their Frog Hatchery Kit, item No. 888, for $21.95.) Frogs and other amphibians are in decline all across the United States, so scientists recommend that people refrain from catching them in the wild.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
At home, your kids should pot the plants, using 3-inch pots for the parrot's feather and forget-me-nots, and a 6- to 7-inch pot for the water lily. Cover the top layer of soil in each pot with a layer of gravel to keep the soil from washing away when the plants are submerged. The lily can be set directly on the bottom of the barrel, but for the parrot's feather and forget-me-nots, you must build small pedestals of bricks or flat stones. They should be high enough so the soil level of those plants is 1 to 2 inches below the water's surface. A certain amount of dirt will wash out from the pots when they are submerged, but it will settle on the bottom quickly. Some grasses will have sinkers wrapped around the stems to keep them from floating on the surface, so they can be tossed directly into the pond. Finally, add the the fish, snails and, if you have them, tadpoles very carefully.

Managing the wildlife population is simple, as long as your children remember one important principle: don't overcrowd the pond. For a while, you will need to offer the fish and tadpoles some food, but in six to eight weeks the pond will achieve its natural balance and actually may become self-sustaining (to be safe, though, you should keep feeding the fish occasionally).

MAINTAINING A WATER SUPPLY
Even if your pond starts to accumulate algae (in time, the water lily should help clean that up), you never should entirely replace your pond's water with fresh water, because it will upset the delicate balance of the ecosystem. As water naturally evaporates from the barrel, however, more will be needed. You can add small volumes of new water directly from your tap. These additions do not need to be dechlorinated, because they make up only a small percentage of the total pond volume.