Fish Planter

[Shaeward]

I came across this fish planter yesterday and had to have it! Now that I have it, I'm not completely sure what I want to do with it. I have mums (about the only thing one can find around here this time of year) in it for now but the poor fish looks more like its choking on a bunch of flowers. The lady I purchased it from said she had a customer buy one a while back that turned it into a water spitter. It would look great as one but the planter is good sized and HEAVY. I'd have to build a pretty big stand for it to sit in the pond and with just 1200 gallons of water, I can't really afford to take water space from the fish. I'm hoping that if planted with a more flowing plant/flower that looks as if it's spilling out intead of sticking out it'll not look so funny. Any other ideas?

 

[DrDave]

Get a small pump from Harbor Freight and make a fountain out of it. Put it on the edge of your pond and aim the water towards the center. It will aeriate your water at the same time.

 

[Shaeward]

Great idea DrDave! Hadn't thought of it that way. I was stuck on trying to figure out how to get it in the pond with water shooting straight up out of it.

A friend suggested setting it on a metal plant stand in the pond (the stand would have to be placed on a flat rock or something similar to prevent the stand legs from poking through the liner due to the weight). That could work great but a metal stand would rust in the pond and wouldn't that be harmful to the live fish?

 

[DrDave]

An inverted milk crate will work. The little fish can swim through it and find shelter there from predators.

 

[poodles-ponds and gardens]

I have seen on another forum a stand made of PVC pipe, but I couldn't find the pix to post for you. Basically it is a frame made of 3 corner elbow fittings making up a square of pipe with legs. It could also be made up with T's and elbows with the T's connecting into the legs in the middle of the sides of the square. Elbows were put on the bottom of the legs so that the pressure would be spread out over a wider area. I hope you understand the concept. I will keep looking for the picture.

 

[poodles-ponds and gardens]

This isn't the one I saw, but it'll give you an idea what I mean...

 

[DrDave]

Another great idea! You would want to fill the PVC with sand to keep it from floating.