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Mini Pond Ideas! Show Me Yours!


FLFishChik
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So, I have been wanting to make a mini pond with rice fish  for a loooong time (ok, December… I’ve been thinking about it since December) and since we are in the middle of a makeover on our tiny patio (it’s literally 10’ x 8’) I was thinking now would be a great time to make that happen! I’ve been watching some YouTube videos, mainly Ryo Watanabe. I’d love to see some  of your mini pond set up’s for inspiration!

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On 2/28/2023 at 7:45 PM, FLFishChik said:

(ok, December… I’ve been thinking about it since December)

When you have ADHD and hyperfocus/obsess over a topic, this is an eternity! lol! 

I don't have anything to add really, other than my wife and I also want to build a patio pond this Summer. I'm thinking white clouds though, I haven't seen any rice fish in my area. 

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On 3/1/2023 at 1:03 AM, Matt B said:

Found an old fire pit rim that fits right on top of this 20 gal tub. :classic_biggrin:. Just have mosquito fish and Pacific treefrog tadpoles in the summer. 

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Thank you for showing me your pond! It’s beautiful! Live the bamboo water feature, where did you get it?

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I made that little bamboo water thingy. I bought a 10ft piece at our local garden center and after many attempts of cuting and drilling through the bamboo, ( Yes, I  used all 10 feet :classic_laugh:) there was a lot of " Well, that didn't work." :classic_blink:   That's what I came up with.....I was able to run the tubeing through it and hide everything in the back. It was one of those things  where I saw a lot of what they were doing at the garden center and thought ' I could do that!  :classic_biggrin:  ....It took over a week to do....:classic_laugh: 

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havent actually built one yet, and a lot of things have changed since i made this (including size/dimensions of container and plant selection) but here's the mini pond diagram i made when i was spitballing ideas for what to do! might prove interesting to you

(the purple plant was meant to represent pickerel weed since that grows native in my area and i wanted to use native plants for this but then i forgot to add it to the key lmao)

mini pond plan.PNG

Edited by Daydre
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On 3/1/2023 at 1:18 PM, Daydre said:

havent actually built one yet, and a lot of things have changed since i made this (including size/dimensions of container and plant selection) but here's the mini pond diagram i made when i was spitballing ideas for what to do! might prove interesting to you

(the purple plant was meant to represent pickerel weed since that grows native in my area and i wanted to use native plants for this but then i forgot to add it to the key lmao)

mini pond plan.PNG

I’m currently having an issue figuring out what sort of plants to add to my little pond as a lot of the “go to” floating plants are no-no’s here🙄. Like “ I promise that if I no longer want dwarf water lettuce, I solemnly swear that I will dry it out, shred it into a million pieces before burning it to ash and burying if no less that 3 feet but not more than 6 ft ( cuz if might touch water again) then sprinkling the area with salt while reciting anti- resurrection incantations”, but … somehow I still don’t think they’ll let me have any.

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My region actually has an official water gardening guide so I'm wondering if they have one of those for where you are- I'm not gonna go and assume such a thing exists because different regional governments have different policies etc. etc. but sometimes the resources out there can surprise you. They listed some floating plants that were native to my area.

Edited by Daydre
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On 3/1/2023 at 10:00 PM, Schuyler said:

What's your main goal? Something nice to look at or are you trying to breed fish?

I’m not trying to breed, I mainly wanted a small planter pond with some rice fish and a trickling water feature.. something that was relaxing and pretty to look at.

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On 3/1/2023 at 1:18 PM, Daydre said:

havent actually built one yet, and a lot of things have changed since i made this (including size/dimensions of container and plant selection) but here's the mini pond diagram i made when i was spitballing ideas for what to do! might prove interesting to you

(the purple plant was meant to represent pickerel weed since that grows native in my area and i wanted to use native plants for this but then i forgot to add it to the key lmao)

mini pond plan.PNG

Pickerel weed is native here too, as is duckweed. I just am not sure where to purchase them in my area

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On 3/1/2023 at 12:03 AM, Matt B said:

Found an old fire pit rim that fits right on top of this 20 gal tub. :classic_biggrin:. Just have mosquito fish and Pacific treefrog tadpoles in the summer. 

20220723_222136.jpg

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20220726_153148.jpg

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wow i need to make something like this now.

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On 3/1/2023 at 7:43 AM, Matt B said:

I made that little bamboo water thingy.

I am actually very excited about this. I actually have invasive bamboo I can't get rid of in my back yard. I harvest it and want to make fencing from it. How did you end up designing this?

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On 3/2/2023 at 10:29 AM, FLFishChik said:

Pickerel weed is native here too, as is duckweed. I just am not sure where to purchase them in my area

Oh sick

What I usually do when I want a plant is search etsy, ebay, etc. for the specific plant I want and then try to narrow it down to either my state/region or adjacent states/regions. Though duckweed is easy a lot of people online'll give it away for free. Hell, I got mine for free as a hitchhiker on some unrelated aquarium plants. I guess if you're really persnickety about like, duckweed species then that's a bad idea but I think most of the stuff out there is common duckweed anyway?

And if I want to go to a store in person I kinda just search google maps with a few keywords, like "aquarium plants" or "pond supply store" or the like. Granted, I live in a decently populated area so these kinds of stores are a little more common- if you're super rural this advice might be unhelpful.

 

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On 3/2/2023 at 11:36 AM, Daydre said:

Oh sick

What I usually do when I want a plant is search etsy, ebay, etc. for the specific plant I want and then try to narrow it down to either my state/region or adjacent states/regions. Though duckweed is easy a lot of people online'll give it away for free. Hell, I got mine for free as a hitchhiker on some unrelated aquarium plants. I guess if you're really persnickety about like, duckweed species then that's a bad idea but I think most of the stuff out there is common duckweed anyway?

And if I want to go to a store in person I kinda just search google maps with a few keywords, like "aquarium plants" or "pond supply store" or the like. Granted, I live in a decently populated area so these kinds of stores are a little more common- if you're super rural this advice might be unhelpful.

 

I've gotten a variety of plants from friends/ niebours.  We share stuff with each other, who knows where it originally came from! :classic_rolleyes: ha ha

Our local hardware garden store sells all kinds of aquatic plants. And yes, a lot of hitchhikers like duckweed!   It only takes one! :classic_laugh:

A lot of things I do are just trial and error.  I just keep at it until I get something I like. :classic_smile: Sometimes I happen across something that just has that  'Oh, I can use that for, such n such. ' 😉

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On 3/2/2023 at 6:13 PM, Matt B said:

I've gotten a variety of plants from friends/ niebours.  We share stuff with each other, who knows where it originally came from! :classic_rolleyes: ha ha

Our local hardware garden store sells all kinds of aquatic plants. And yes, a lot of hitchhikers like duckweed!   It only takes one! :classic_laugh:

A lot of things I do are just trial and error.  I just keep at it until I get something I like. :classic_smile: Sometimes I happen across something that just has that  'Oh, I can use that for, such n such. ' 😉

Admittedly my attempts to stay in-state are for shipping time/cost reasons, not sourcing but yeah if you know anyone with a pond/aquarium/etc. they might also be able to get you the hookup @FLFishChik! I just don't have too many local aquarium keeper friends yet so I forgot to consider that 😭

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On 3/2/2023 at 7:34 PM, Daydre said:

Admittedly my attempts to stay in-state are for shipping time/cost reasons, not sourcing but yeah if you know anyone with a pond/aquarium/etc. they might also be able to get you the hookup @FLFishChik! I just don't have too many local aquarium keeper friends yet so I forgot to consider that 😭

Nor do I. I don’t know anyone in my area that keeps ponds or aquariums… not to say there aren’t… I just don’t know any. Most people here are salt water keepers, being that we live 4 miles from the beach it seems that’s what most are interested in 

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I totally forgot to mention that I had cut up pieces from a 5ft ,   1/2 inch wooden dowl, to connect the bamboo pieces and to make a base of sorts. :classic_rolleyes:  Rocks hold that little bamboo water thingy in place.  I don't  think I could make another one if I  tried! :classic_laugh:

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On 3/1/2023 at 12:18 PM, Daydre said:

havent actually built one yet, and a lot of things have changed since i made this (including size/dimensions of container and plant selection) but here's the mini pond diagram i made when i was spitballing ideas for what to do! might prove interesting to you

(the purple plant was meant to represent pickerel weed since that grows native in my area and i wanted to use native plants for this but then i forgot to add it to the key lmao)

mini pond plan.PNG

This is really cool. I am a very literal person and usually have a general idea of what I want to do but I kind of just start doing it and seeing how it turns out. I love that you are thinking it out this far, will probably save you some headaches.

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Yeah usually with my plans I just wing it but on a whim this time I decided to make a diagram; and then I ended up finding it really useful for organization purposes. It basically became a visual checklist for the stuff I needed to get to build it and it helped me sort my thoughts surrounding what I wanted to do.

Edit: updated pond plans, in case anyone was interested in them

I might plant either the lotus or the pickerel weed separately because both of them get BIG from what I've seen and that may be a bit too much for an 100 gallon pond lmao

 

pond plans 2.PNG

Edited by Daydre
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