Not sure how the chemicals of spray will react to the galvanizing. Probably won't be a problem for a few years. The chlorines should not bother it either, I bleach my tank to reduce plant growth in the water tank. I have not noticed anything except discoloration from the plants inside the tank. Galvanized does lose the shine fairly quickly with use. Next time you want a pool, I would go for the plastic tanks. They are about 3ft deep, never have to worry about rusting out! They are easy to lift, store well if no water inside. Not sure how the prices match up. I would want it deeper, for my pool use!! I am currently using the 300 gallon, 6ft x 3ft round Rubbermaid tank as a fishpond, sunken into the yard. Has decorative rocks around the edge. 3ft is deep enough that coons can't catch the fish, and I leave it full all winter. Fish do fine with a bubbler to keep ice open for air exchange. I do have to run a heater if very cold for a long time. I siphon out the tank water when I want to dump a tank, rather than opening the drain valve. No chance to loose the plug! Piece of hose for siphon, works pretty well, pretty quickly in any location. My water is plain, so no bleach problems on grass or killing my trees.

BasilB I have a situation where I need a holding tank sort of too so I am anxious to see the replies to your post. We have sold our current home where I have a pond with about 12 goldfish that are between 4 to 7 inches long. I have had all these fish for about 7 years now and feel very responsible for them. I am concerned for their well being as The new owners have indicated they "don't know what they will do with the pond...how hard is it to fill in...etc" So at this point I must get the fish moved with me somehow. problem is I am having to completely move myself and daughters (close move-only about 10 miles down the road)as my husband is deployed. I am not able time wise(or skill wise..haha) to build a new pond right now at my new home. Any ideas out there for a container/way, etc to keep my fish safe,alive for about a month until my husband is home for a few weeks? I have about 3 weeks to make a plan but I am stumped because of the number of fish and their size. Thanks all momof3

I have tried the spray-on black rubber sealer this weekend on my cracked stock tank. The lady that helped us had a 5 gal. bucket that they had poked holes in with a screw driver that they had repaired to see if it worked. Time will tell. I have put 6 coats on both sides. It is a fascinating product and I have thought of several other places to try it out. It doesn't have a lot of directions-if you use it for anything know that--it bubbles a lot after spraying and then flattens out, needs to be sprayed on something right below it or it sags(even with light coats)-not good to spray up or sideways. I used a finger to smooth out the sags from the first spray and it did wash/rub off with out too much trouble before it was dry. Be sure to clear the spray nozzle after each spraying session.

Welcome to the forum! My original 2005 pond (closest to the deck in the 2nd photo and the one the skippy runs into) is a 300ga rubbermaid stock tank (~ $100). It is 5'5"x5'5"x 28" deep. It is buried 3/4 in the ground so about 6-8" sticks out. I have several submerged plants, and many marginals hanging in pots by 'S' hooks on the sides, and 2 waterlilies. I use dwarf varities. I have 8 goldfish/sarassa comets/shubunkins that started at ~2" and are now 5-6" long. At first I didn't feed them at all, but I like to see them when I'm sitting next to it so started feeding a pinch of food every other day. Never more than they can clean up in a few minutes. I use regular goldfish flakes (seems to float longer than the pond mix). I originally had a 640gph pump (a cheapie, ~ $30) that ran from pond to skippy via garden hose, then the skippy poured out down the tiny falls to the pond. I do use a pre filter (bucket with quilt batting) in the spring when I get green murky water - clean the batting every other week. This winter I bought a 1250gph pump cause I'm expanding my skippy to a 60ga oval tank to hold more plants, sort of a bog filter, and thus my waterfall/stream will be a bit longer. In 2006 I added a 2nd pond (the one the fake heron is perched over), a 275ga liner pond (on sale $60 including 300ga pump w/ spitter), roughly 3'x5'x18" which I don't like nearly as well, mostly cause I wasn't a very careful digger so the bottom is sloped and the plant shelves not level so are pretty worthless. I find it harder to keep clean and harder to get into if I need to. My 1/2 barrel skippy will go on this pond this year with the 640ga pump, and it will only have plants and 2 goldfish to keep mosquitoes down. Last year the 6 feeder goldies I put in there produced 29 1" babies by fall which I managed to kill in a poorly planned effort to overwinter them in an aquarium indoors (never had one before in my life, won't make the same mistakes again). The deck I built myself, ~ $250. Several hints - I love my stock tank, but you can get an off brand now that is 8' round for $120 - I'd do that in a second! Everyone wants a bigger pond once they're hooked! See tanks in posts by catherinet, catfishsam, watergal, and others. If you plan and plant it right they look very natural once the plants grow. Be sure it's LEVEL - I spend alot of time trying to hide the 'high' side cause mine isn't. You can never have too many plants - for shade, filteration, etc. Keep the fish #'s low, or start with a couple bigger goldies so the control their own reproduction. ENJOY both the process of creation and the final result! It will always be aworkinprogress :) but I love every minute I spend on my water garden! S