Ponds and Water Gardens - Yay or Nay? (Indoor Fish Pond)

I was told you can make a fish pond out of anything that can hold water. Well I got me a old fiberglass tub and was wondering if i can use this to make a indoor pond with? Would I need a filter and fountain(to make bubles for fish)? Do you have any ideas on how to seal the tub drain, my dad suggested clear silacon. Thanks Emily

Make sure the silicone is rated for FISH. Some are not and will kill your fish.

2nd thought. I had to do an emergency "pond" in my basement as a cold front moved in our area after spring thaw. The fish were shocked as the water began freezing again, and I lost a couple.

I saved the fish by building a pond in a large bucket, and ran my filters and such through them. I have to add that the basement stunk like pond water for 2 weeks as I had them down there. It added to the humidity of the basement, and was NOT plesant.

Depending upon size, its not like an aquarium. Your basement (or wherever) you put it is going to smell terrible. I would advise against an indoor pond.

Nay! An aquarium needs a filtration system to keep the water clear and reduce the smell. Switch that off and in a matter of a few weeks it will stink big time.

Putting a filtration system in a bathtub will require some modifications and may not work very well. You may just end up with a huge container of stinky water in your home.

Not worth the trouble.

I made a goldfish tank out of a cast iron clawfoot tub this spring. I used the tub drain as the intake for the pump. Basically you cannot see any plumbing or filters. The water goes down the tub drain and is returned to the faucet so it looks like a normal tub filling with water (except for the fish).

Iinstalled a standard tub drain fitting into the tub drain and slid a piece of vinyl tubing over the tub drain and secured it with a hose clamp. My pump infeed is the same diameter so I just put it on the other end of they vinyl tubing. If your pump has a different input size you can use standard plumbing fittings to go larger or smaller in size. You can plumb in a canister style filter on the output side of the pump and then from the filter to the tub's faucet.

I just have to say an indoor pond or even a pool is a great idea.
I like the pond idea better because you can watch the little fishies
or even frogs, etc. swim and can add a great personal/decorating
touch to the room/living space, especially if it is taken care of
frequently.


Much goodluck to you, have a great day!

I think this quote may be quite old, but I have done this myself. If you are interested, I have a lot of ideas on how not to do it. My daughter and I decided the build a Herpatarium 3 or 4 years ago. The idea was to build a "zoo like" enclosure to raise Chinese Water Dragons. When building something like this you really need to take into account all the "what if" scenarios.

I think it's a great idea as well...if the water area is a big enough you could get some pretty big koi or something swimming around in there. These are a great decorative touch. Also, inside the fish will be safe from raccoons.