[slinky]

my little girls saw a programme about making a mini water garden and they want to make one too.i have an old butler sink,would that be ok to use.and what plants to get (lillies etc).does the water have to circulate to stop it going manky??and they want to put 2 fish in there too :shock: is that possible?

[iannp]

i'm sure i'll be corrected if wrong but as far as i know lillies don't like moving water, if its in dappled shade it should stay reasonably clear. as for the fish you'll be supprised what the goldfish will put up with.....i emptied a barrel that was heavilly contaminated with oil and to my supprise out came two healthy goldfish (followed by an engine oil filter) that still live to this day..hope this helps

[slinky]

excellent.do you know of any still water plants i could use.??and how do you put them in the water and stop em floating to the top??

[iannp]

if you are going to use a buttler sink then just a small lilly would be plenty once it grows, burrie the sink down to ground level and plant some grasses or something round the outside.  are you hopeing for frogs aswell?  if so ensure you have means for them to get out, a few house bricks close to the edge normally works, and also some broken clay pipe or slate  for hibernation  reasons.  hope this helps

fell free to ask more, i'm no expert but i have two small ponds and these things have worked for me!!

[slinky]

i dont want to bury the sink really.id like it on my patio.would love to have some frogs visit!!!!can you not get small lillies as id like more than just one plant in there really

[iannp]

if you want frogs they need to be able to get in!  try some stone or the like on the back of the sink if you want them out of view,
yes you can get small lillies and some grasses that don't  spread  there are some nice plants that you could select, i,m no good with names so a trip to the garden centre will be needed, there is quite a nice one that looks like a straw with black bands round it NB. if its on your patio, you need to keep it out of direct sun as it will go green and slimey :!: too much planting will leave no room for your fish and as it is not burried you stand a risk of being too cold for the fish in winter.   for the fish ...i would get something simple, plain goldfish not the fancy type as they are not so tough!  get small ones too, about an inch if you can, but only put them in come the spring as its getting too cold now...

[Selkie]

marsh marigolds are beautiful and really easy to grow, should be easy to get hold of too

[slinky]

ok thanks for all your advice.will get to the garden centre and have a look round.will post some pics when done!!!

[mkhenry]

my little girls saw a programme about making a mini water garden and they want to make one too.i have an old butler sink,would that be ok to use.and what plants to get (lillies etc).does the water have to circulate to stop it going manky??and they want to put 2 fish in there too :shock: is that possible?

Can I just point out some butler sinks are worth a lot of money.

[muntjac]

my little girls saw a programme about making a mini water garden and they want to make one too.i have an old butler sink,would that be ok to use.and what plants to get (lillies etc).does the water have to circulate to stop it going manky??and they want to put 2 fish in there too :shock: is that possible?

Can I just point out some butler sinks are worth a lot of money.

 you mean belfast sinks mk ,, they can go for £60 in homes for refurbishing

[daveinmanc]

slinky if you want to keep fish you need to have some method of either keeping the water clean with a pump/under gravel filter or a power filter off a fish tank or a small pond pump, which may not be practical if youre putting it in a belfast sink.

if youre keeping it above the ground then you could alternatively 'flood' it with the hosepipe  - a couple of goldfish will be fine with this and so long as you do it regularly (every other day would be good )  so the oxygens not getting depleted they will be fine. otherwise if the waters left to its own devices it will just stagnate and the fish will die. lillies are absolutely fine in running water, they grow in rivers after all, i have a 12,000 ltr per hour pump in my pond and the lillies flourish every year.

as pointed out, the only problem with above ground is it makes it a wee bit difficult for the froggies to get in though lol  :shock:

[iannp]

i have to disagree that the fish need 'flooding'. i have two in a half barrel that i may top up if the water evaporates lots, when i moved i put in the fish and havn't done anything to it, it is in dappled light and you can see 3 or 4 inches into it, the fish are not dead and neither were the ones mentioned in my earlier post in the barrel. the only fish i have seen suffer  are in green slimy water or koi carp as they need lots of oxygen. if the sink is not in full sun there will be no poblem

[daveinmanc]

well we'll have to agree to disagree on that one, i've kept fish for years without any problems by following the simple rule of making sure the fishes environment is of paramount importance. yes we've all took goldfish home from the fair and stuck em in a bowl till they die but is that really a life?

goldfish will literally live in mud as will common carp, eels and a couple of others but if you're gonna keep summat, might as well give it the best life you can i say. fish basically live in their own excrement if its not taken out of the water. the good thing about nature is it has devised ways of taking it out of the water and using it to good effect. man has to try and copy that as best we can. ive got a 240 litre water butt that i've turned into a forced gravity filter that keeps my pond gin clear all year round and costs me a tenner a year to change the filter wool. i do feel pretty smug when i hear koi people whinging about paying upwards of 300 squid for a UV filter/pump  and all the rest when it cost me 50 squid to imitate nature lol  

not having a go, just trying to advise the fella asking for advice  . . . . .

[slinky]

i will see if i can get a small pump then.kids would not be to pleased to see dead fishies floating on the top so does a pump clean the water or keep the water moving.i will take measurements of the sink later and then you will get a rough idea of size etc

[WG.]

I haven't read the whole thread so apologise if it has been mentioned already.

Isn't freezing a problem for fish in small/shallow ponds?