My Redneck Fish Pond

This morning I had my husband drive me out to Spanaway to pick up this half whiskey barrel I'd found on Craigslist for $10. New ones are going for around $50. I don't need new. Weathered looking is just fine.


I had been watching for a cheap whiskey barrel planter to use for a pond in my backyard. I already had this liner for it.


I bought it 4 years ago and had used it as an "in ground" pond. I had a pump, filter, the whole works. Even a lovely water lily. I had some feeder goldfish that were growing fat and sassy. Then the raccoons struck and demolished the whole works in one night. The sad thing is, the fish were so used to coming to the surface as soon as they saw my shadow, they probably swam right up and said, "Hi, Mr. Raccoon, are you going to feed us?". Bet they were surprised to find they were the ones on the menu. Such is life. I am ready to try again. This time I am not going to the trouble of digging a freaking hole in the ground. And I won't bother with a pump or filter. I'll do partial water changes and treat it as a big goldfish bowl. Easy peasy. I like easy. I killed off the red ants that had hitched a ride in the barrel. I already have enough ants, thank you very much. Then I cleaned out the liner with a scrubby and some non-iodized salt. I had saved this natural colored gravel when I sold my big fish tank.


Gravel is expensive. This is probably $30 worth. I rinsed it well and added it to the liner that was inside the barrel.


Next I filled up the pond using rainwater collected in my rain barrels. I am totally digging the rain barrels. So damn handy.


The water was a little greenish but I figure the fish will like it just fine. Now all I need are a couple of fish and a water lily, and I'll be enjoying the heck out of my little pond.