Can I put koi in a kiddie swimming pool? (buy, cheap, plants)

[smoky_topaz]

I have a long-range goal I'd like to share with the board:

I'd like to create my own cute little fountain/mii-pond one day. I was thinking of purchasing one of those kiddie swimming pools from Wally World that's like real cheap. I want to put a pump/fountain in it and add some nice water plants. (like hyacinths). Maybe on down the line, I'd like to try adding some goldfish to the lot.

I thought it would be much cheaper to buy a kid's swimming pool as opposed to a more expensive pond liner from Lowe's. But I have some concern that the materials in these little pools may contain chemicals that could harm the fish. Is this possible?

If this is likely, I may just create a mini fountain with plants. I think koi would be nice, though. But koi are expensive and you don't want to kill them. Suggestions?

I've also seen fountains created from whiskey barrels which I like the looks of as well.

[jambo101]

Kiddie liners wont last and you'll arrive to a dry pond in short order, get onto a website that has a home pond forum and learn how to do it right.. Backyard ponds can be a nice adition to your backyard, a kiddie liner is just not going to look right

http://www.google.ca/search?tbm=isch...=backyard+pond

[MrRational]

I don't they'll be deep enough or have enough volume.
Also the light color will be problematic.

[KAILANI]

You don't have to buy a pre-fab pond. If you have a place where you can dig a pond sized hole, do that and line it with pond liner. It's not that expensive.
We were given a white pond and lined it with the black liner, the koi loved it.

[PA2UK]

Originally Posted by KAILANI

You don't have to buy a pre-fab pond. If you have a place where you can dig a pond sized hole, do that and line it with pond liner. It's not that expensive.

Yep, my parents just recently did this - not expensive at all and put it together in one day. The koi will be more expensive than the pond.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by KAILANI

You don't have to buy a pre-fab pond. If you have a place where you can dig a pond sized hole, do that and line it with pond liner. It's not that expensive.
We were given a white pond and lined it with the black liner, the koi loved it.

Exactly. Be sure that you have a deep enough pond with adequate amounts of water filtration, water aeration, circulation, space for cover/hiding and again FILTRATION FILTRATION FILTRATION.

Having a koi pond is a LOT of work. If you want just a cool pond for some goldfish (i.e., NOT Koi) then any size (100 gals or more) will do.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

At the apartments that we used to live at the grading needed to be redone. Whenever it rained we ended up with flooded areas within the vicinity of the walkways. It seemed that it took several days for the large puddles to run off or evaporate. Not too far from our apartment someone placed some small goldfish in one of them as a joke. I thought it was funny and my kids seemed to like it. They had an area that was 3 inches deep, 6 feet long and 3 feet wide to swim around in. It seems that when the local featherd friends found them the party was over.

[smoky_topaz]

From what I am told, goldfish make a LOT of waste. That can turn into ammonia or whatnot and it will need more filtering out. I imagine koi to be maybe 10X worse..even though they are so pretty to look at. I have already gotten me a small kiddie pool and have put some water in it and rocks. There is a DIY fountain kit from Lowe's that I saw for about $19. Probably will get it....and some water plants....but may skip the fish altogether and just have a water garden.

[Poltracker]

The other problem you have with the kiddie pool and the prefab ponds is they are shallow (I know it was mentioned already). Goldfish and Koi are cool water (non tropical) fish. A small pond can heat up too much in southern climates especially. Conversely, it could freeze in northern climates. Having said that, you can go out and catch some smaller varieties of native fish to populate a small pond. I had an 18 inch deep 5 ft X 2 ft trough I used as a patio pond that was lovely. I populated it with some native darters and sailfin mollies (the kind native to my area) that I caught in a local creek (aka bayou).

[cindyai]

http://www.hotchemgroup.com/The-Importance-of-Swimming-Pool-Chemicals_99.html