Container Water Garden project

[Samw]

I just picked up 2 half barrels for making a tub pond on my balcony. I need to get some liner to line the inside of it as I don't think I can find pre-formed liners for them. The plan is to stack the smaller barrel over the larger barrel and create a waterfall. I hope to use a battery backed up solar powered water pump and maybe add a battery backed up aerator as well. In the winter, I'll move the barrels into my apartment. I plan to stock the tub with small goldfish, mountain clouds, and water lilies.

[seashells]

You can get flexible liner at Art Knapps, Gardenworks or home depot. Comes in 6 and 12 foot widths. Sold by the lineal foot. Gardenworks may have some preformed liners.

Doug

[Samw]

Thanks. Luckily I found a 5'x10' end-of-roll piece of Firestone Pondgard at Hawaiian Botanicals so I got 10% off. I think its going to work out well. In order to avoid getting folds in the liner, I've cut a circular piece for the bottom of the barrel and then I've cut out a frustum cone piece to line the sides of the barrel and then I'm sealing the seams with seam tape.

I'll be looking for either a bamboo spout or a barrel pumping fixture to mount on the top barrel. Water from the bottom barrel will be pumped through this fixture and into the top barrel. Then, the water will overflow through a wine barrel tap (connected to an overflow pipe) that I'll attach to the front of the top barrel and the water will flow down into the bottom barrel.

[StirCrazy]

they make preformed liners for the oak 1/2 barrels.. they even make one with a lip to make a water fall.

Steve

[Samw]

they make preformed liners for the oak 1/2 barrels.. they even make one with a lip to make a water fall.

Steve

Yeah, I've seen those. But those are just too big for my balcony. The barrel that will fit nicely on my balcony is 16" across at the top. The smallest liners I could find were for 24"-26" barrels. I didn't buy a standward half whiskey barrel. I got a half barrel planter designed for soil and plants.

[Samw]

Ok, so what I have really isn't whiskey barrels but round wooden planters shaped like half barrels. Anyhow, taping up the liner seams with seam tape didn't work. It still leaks. So I'm giving up using liner sheets and going with a sealant. Anyone know where I might be able to get a product called "Pond Shield" locally? Seems perfect to seal my wooden pots with.

http://www.pondarmor.com/index.htm

[Sebae]

Did you see the place in Abbotsford under distributors ? You could probably get it shipped.

[Samw]

Thanks. Yeah, I did see that earlier but thought it might be a wholesaler. I can give them a call.

[PondArmor]

Hi Sam
If you plan to use Pond Shield for that, please keep the following in mind:

1. It's recommended that you use fiberglass mat strips over each joint of the wood. These flex points can use the extra strength.

2. Most people forget that wood is very porous and water can soak in from either side. If you coat the inside only and do not at least treat the outside with some sort of water repellant, water can soak through from the outside (ie: rain) and cause problems with the coating from the back side of the application.

3. We recommend sanding the wood with at least 60-grit sandpaper or something even more coarse. This provides a nice tooth to the wood for the epoxy to grab hold of.

If you have any other questions, please visit our website or drop me an email.
Thanks,
Butch

P.S. We have a Canadian distributor:
Sheer Water Pond Supply
604-855-4554

We also have a retailer up there:
Better than Nature
306-382-8979

[StirCrazy]

1. It's recommended that you use fiberglass mat strips over each joint of the wood. These flex points can use the extra strength.



if we have to use fiberglass reenforcment, why not just use fiberglass to line the tank? there are water proof epoxies for fiberglass that are used for sealing wooden tanks now. seams like a waist of money to use fiberglass then something else over it, unless you are looking for a color and there are epoxy gel coats for that also.

Steve

[Samw]

Well, I ended up using Plasti-Dip since it was the easiest to find locally. Let's see how it'll hold up over time. I applied 2 coats of Plasti-Dip and 1 coat of S2 Epoxy sealer over top. I filled up the planter yesterday with water and added the water lilies. They seem happy.

http://www.hyperdream.com/samw/watergarden/p1000151_std.jpg

Rubra

http://www.hyperdream.com/samw/watergarden/p1000156_std.jpg

Helvola

http://www.hyperdream.com/samw/watergarden/p1000155_std.jpg

I call this Phase 1. :) Phase 2 will have a smaller planter (mounted over top of the larger planter) with a water tap to pour water into the bottom planter. I still intend to add a solar pump eventually. I found a 12V UV sterilizer/pump that should work great for this application.

http://www.aa-aquarium.com/showroom4.php?id=156&level=1

[Beverly]

Looks great, Sam :smilecol:

[Samw]

Update. I set up a waterfall.

http://www.hyperdream.com/samw/watergarden/p1020992_std.jpg