Container ponds.
The “container pond” is often as small as half a whiskey barrel with a plastic or pre-formed plastic lining. You’re almost always talking about less than two hundred gallons with this type of pond because they have to be able to support their own weight when positioned on a flat surface like a deck. They are absolutely perfect for patios, and city apartment balconies.
Being a container pond does not eliminate the chances of having the beautiful sound of a waterfall. All one might do is position a smaller container pond above a larger one, with a spillway from the smaller-upper pond to the larger lower receiving pond. I have a small patio container pond which is home to two small comet Goldfish. I really like my container pond because it’s almost maintenance free and it’s like a “tiny slice of nature” in a very small area.
There are numerous plants which flesh out the attractive appearance of the container pond. They are virtually leakproof and they are inexpensive overall to set up and maintain. A sponge filter is most commendable for this type of pond.
The only disadvantage of the container pond is its necessarily small size. The small size will limit your success with “collections” of fish. You really shouldn’t attempt to keep any large fish, or numerous fish in this type of facility. It is more difficult (if not impossible) to maintain acceptable water quality in the container pond than it is in the larger ponds. For better success keeping even the fewest of fish in the container pond, choose small fish, make sure a small pump is moving the water around for oxygenation, and keep it from becoming blistering hot.
Preformed Ponds
The “preformed” pond is designed to be easily transportable in it’s final shape. Once transported to the pond site, a hole is excavated and the pond is set into the ground. When you fill in around the preformed pond, you should fill with sand, ad run water from your hose down in between the pond and the ground to ensure compaction of the sand around the pond. In most instances, these preformed ponds depend upon burial for support of their own weight.
The newer fiberglass preformed ponds overcome this problem but are not aesthetic when left above ground. Frankly, preformed ponds completely “RULE”. I have seen them in sizes up to one thousand one hundred gallons.
One of the reasons I love the preformed pond is because they have “shelves” built into them which allow you to set plants in pots on. They are movable when you move from one home to another and they are almost leak proof because of the durability of their construction.