[slinky]

ok it is::length 24"
            width  18"
            depth  9"
so maybe its not even deep enough for fish anyway??
it will be on the patio which gets no sun.so any advice on what i could do would be great ta!!!

[daveinmanc]

for WG (but also applies to slinky)

if you had an outside 'feature' that was a bit open to the elements then the freezing bit would pose a problem if its very exposed, 9'' is a bit shallow really in all fairness, it'd be nice to have a minimum of 15''. if its shaded then it wont be as much of a problem, you come across people saying - put a tennis ball in it for the winter if it freezes but the problem isn't so much the freezing as the shock and stress  it causes when you break the ice.

if you had a weatherproof power source then you could fit an aerator to give oxygen and stop it freezing over, even a 12 volt aerator on a car battery will do but the freeze ups wont affect fish in deeper water anywhere near as much cos the colder weather actually retains more dissolved oxygen than the warm weather so fish in 15'' plus of water are normally fine.

ponds and features can be dead cheap and easy to make/run and with only a couple of fish are virtually maintainance free, pond liners are really cheap now and there's nothing wrong in using barrels, tubs etc and making your own custom feature that'll cost you next to nowt  

[slinky]

ok maybe i will use the sink for herbs etc and get one of those half barrels for the water feature.that would be deep enough for fish,etc?

[daveinmanc]

yeah should think it'd be fine, if its say 15'' or mire then great, keep it out or as much as you can, of direct sunlight - that'll stop the algae blooms and keep the water fresher and if you can build an aerator or pump into your plans, even better again.  

[WG.]

Thanks daveinmanc.  Slinky will clearly get milder winters than me but I just wanted to post the question for all readers.