Travis Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 (edited) I am working on my first tub pond. I took inspiration from many different sources such as @Dean’s Fishroom @Cory Serpa Design etc. If you see something that you came up with and I haven't mentioned you please know that I am not claiming any of this as my own. I have mashed together ideas into a pond experiment that I'm hoping works well for my situation. I wanted to share progress and maybe get some feedback if anyone else has ideas or has tried any of this previously I live in Wisconsin so overnight lows aren't plant friendly until about mid May. I have the tub filled and cycling but I will have to add update photos once I can safely plant and add fish. I started with a 70 quart (17.5 gallons) Muck Tub from a local farm supply store. I drilled a hole for a low profile drain that I had. I added this to keep the water level several inches below the rim and if it rains heavily act as a over flow to maintain that depth. I wanted do a combination of emersed plant filtration and air driven undergravel filtration so I will be adding a plastic 12 inch pot to the center of the pond. Finding a pot that wasn't tapered so that the base was more stable was the most difficult part of this build. To get the pot sitting at the depth I wanted I had to add 2 patio paver bricks to the bottom of the tub. Using a hole saw I drilled holes around the pot. These allow water in for access to the plant roots and the undergravel filtration. I siliconed in strips of knitting mesh as a barrier to hold substrate in but maintain water exchange. Another paver was added to the inside of the pot to increase weight/stability as some of the plants im considering grow quite tall and on windy day could cause the pot to shift. I added a cheap adjustable uplift tube that I purchased online and filled in the space around it with small lava rock. Above this layer I added another piece of knitting mesh cut to fit as a barrier to keep substrate from filling in the bottom of the pot. I am using layers of extra substrate that I had on hand to fill the pot. I started with a base of Fluorite on top of the knitting mesh followed by a layer of Stratum. I only had enough spare stratum to make the 2nd layer a few inches deep so I capped the pot with more Fluorite. The goal here is that pot is driven by a small air pump that lifts water from the base of the flower pot and exits into the main pond. Water returns through the sides and surface of the pot and is filtered through the substrate and nutrients are taken out by the plants. I'm currently running a heater to keep overnight water temps up but once overnight lows increase I plan to remove the heater and only run the air pump until October. The tub is small enough that after draining down I should be able to move it indoors for the winter. If things work out I will add updates in the future. Let me know what you think Edited May 7, 2022 by Travis 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tihshho Posted May 7, 2022 Share Posted May 7, 2022 Great design! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareFeeshCollector Posted May 15, 2022 Share Posted May 15, 2022 (edited) im planning one out now and was considering how i want to setup the filter. it would use bog type filter where i just pumped water into the bottom of the container that hold the plants and pack with pea pebbles. i could maybe add a spray bar type attachment to the end of the pump hose on the bottom of the container to try and evenly distribute the water flow. i would either cut out a lip out of the top of the container so the water spills out of it or have it so the whole container is submerged. do you see an issue with this type of filter? Edited May 16, 2022 by RareFeeshCollector 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted May 16, 2022 Author Share Posted May 16, 2022 @RareFeeshCollector If you go bog type I would suggest pumping water onto the surface (above water)and let it run down through to prevent it from clogging up. Planting into a mesh basket or your choice of container with a mesh bottom will also allow plant roots to grow into the water column and allow extra nutrient uptake. Either way setting up a tub with a bog container that wont overflow outside the tub could be tricky without taking up a fair portion of the tub. Have you considered 2 tubs next to each other at 2 levels? The lower tub would be the pond area and the upper your planted bog filter with some type of return to the pond... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RareFeeshCollector Posted May 16, 2022 Share Posted May 16, 2022 On 5/15/2022 at 7:35 PM, Travis said: Either way setting up a tub with a bog container that wont overflow outside the tub could be tricky without taking up a fair portion of the tub. Have you considered 2 tubs next to each other at 2 levels? The lower tub would be the pond area and the upper your planted bog filter with some type of return to the pond... sorry, I meant that I want it to overflow out of the top. I could cut a section of of the top rim that would be lower than the rest and would overflow there like a waterfall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuKoi-ish Posted May 18, 2022 Share Posted May 18, 2022 Looking really slick so far, will you be filling in the bottom of the pond with some coarse substrate? So that the water is pulled through that first before flooding through the mesh? Might try this out myself! I’m sort of stuck on what kind of tub to set up for my brewing horde of guppies. Have you tried something like Serpa Design’s low tech pond relying only on emmersed plant growth? I wonder how that pans out, and what kind of fish load it can handle. I’ve been stuck on a youtube channel called Ozponds for a minute - he has a ton of material on how to build bog filters (and build/design of large ponds). That’s also something I want to try, though digging out the yard is a tall order at the moment! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binkysmom Posted May 19, 2022 Share Posted May 19, 2022 Nice build! I have a similar muck bucket but was lazy and just have an sponge filter and plants running in mine. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted May 19, 2022 Share Posted May 19, 2022 On 5/19/2022 at 12:01 PM, binkysmom said: Nice build! I have a similar muck bucket but was lazy and just have an sponge filter and plants running in mine. I'm lazier than you are. I have tubs not much larger than that (20 gallons, or maybe a little more), and I don't even have sponge filters. Just a lot of either hornwort or guppy grass. Guppies and shrimp breed like crazy in them. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted May 20, 2022 Author Share Posted May 20, 2022 @KungFuKoi-ish I will be putting some gravel in the bottom at some point from another tank that I'm changing to partial sand.@binkysmom @JettsPapa I could have gone much simpler with this for sure but I wanted to give this idea a shot and see how it works (fingers crossed) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancing Matt Posted May 20, 2022 Share Posted May 20, 2022 I suddenly had this thought (maybe some one had this already), I wondering if roots may end up growing into your uplift tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 23, 2022 Author Share Posted July 23, 2022 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted August 5, 2022 Share Posted August 5, 2022 @Travis This is a neat project. Looks like it's doing great. Is that guppies in the tub? Did they breed in there? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 This is a really cool way to do marginals in a deck bucket! I've got a lotus in mine, but I've been trying to figure out how I can get something upright in there next summer (too late this year - I'm in MN and feel your short season pain). I might just steal your idea and modify it for my purposes. Thanks for posting this! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 10, 2022 Author Share Posted August 10, 2022 @redfish Thank you! They are hybrid Tiger Endler's liverbearers and yes they are breeding quite a lot lol @OnlyGenusCaps Glad you like it! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 @Travis How is the pond going? Do you mind sharing the low profile drain info? Is it connected to a pipe external to the tub or just allows overflow to happen down the side of the tub? What size is the drain, 1/2 inch, 1 inch, etc? Did you glue it in place? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 @redfish pond is doing really well. The Frogbit is growing so fast I have to pull a bunch out weekly. The drain is I believe a 1 inch slip fit on the back side. I had a hole saw that was close to the same size as the outer diameter. After drilling it out I just press fit it into the hole. Didnt glue or caulk it since it was very tight. It drains out the back if I over fill or if there is heavy rain. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Thanks for the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 Spending some evening time on the deck. Solar LED just kicked on @redfish 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 That’s an awesome setup. I’m slowly getting my act together. Added the duckweed to one tub today. I might try to keep it to one tub and get other floating plants for the second tub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drvmz Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 I tried one this summer. Just used a sponge filter and a usb nano air pump. Easy setup. Drilled a hole for the airline and another small hole to hook the carabiner on. The plants absolutely exploded to the point I ended up starting a second one next to it to keep my water lettuce and water hyacinth propagating separately. Various duckweeds and my frogbit took off too. Was really cool seeing how much could grow even over the course of 24 hours. I was making weekly trips to the lfs to trade off my propagations and floaters for them to feed their koi. I keep around a dozen rosy red minnows and pond snails in both. So far it’s been an absolute blast and I’m sad the pond season is almost over where I’m at. Looking to relocate into the garage in a few weeks. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modified lung Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 @drvmz rosey red minnows are underrated. I had some a while back and their breeding behavior is really interesting. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 On 9/7/2022 at 8:44 PM, Travis said: Solar LED just kicked on Nice touch! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JettsPapa Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 On 9/7/2022 at 9:36 PM, redfish said: That’s an awesome setup. I’m slowly getting my act together. Added the duckweed to one tub today. I might try to keep it to one tub and get other floating plants for the second tub. Intentionally? (I hate the stuff.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfish Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 On 9/8/2022 at 9:34 AM, JettsPapa said: Intentionally? (I hate the stuff.) yeah, I needed to get something going while trying to source additional plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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