Turning rusty water collector into outdoor pond

[LClay]

Hi, everyone, I am new this forum and joined in order to get some input from you all about my problem. We have a “fountain“ at our lake house that collects rainwater from the roof of the shed and has been used in the past to water the plants. It is basically Oil barrel that has been bricked in to create a sort of “well” . The water is rusty, which has been fine in order to water plants. But I would like to make it into a small fountain with some guppies to keep down the mosquito larva and sand and aquatic plants in it. I have already used a product to supposedly seal in the rust, and then put another coat of something else on top of that to seal that in, but the rest is still coming through. Does anyone have an idea of a pond liner that I might be able to put inside this stupid oil barrel, that’s not gonna cost me an arm and a leg? And any ideas for fish that will eat mosquito larva to put in it that don’t require so much heat? We are in northern Italy near the Alps, so it gets down to freezing during the winter. Ideas?

 

[kharmaguru]

Goldfish are the best for this. Cheap, hardy and prefer cold water. The rust probably won't even bother them.

 

[griss]

What is the roof of the shed made from? Is it metal? Given that you've sealed the barrel, I'm wondering if the roof of the shed is made of metal and that's where the rust is coming from.

In the states, Home Depot (a national hardware store chain) carries fairly inexpensive pond liners. I don't know if you have anything like that in Italy though.

As mentioned above, I don't think the rust will be much of an issue, especially if you add plants. I'm not a chemistry expert but, I believe rust is primarily composed of iron compounds (iron oxide). Many people to keep plants in freshwater aquariums actually add iron as it is a necessary micro-nutrient for plants.

As for fish that will eat mosquito larva, Mosquito Fish (Gambusia affinis) is an effective natural control of the larva. We have them in our pond and have never had an issue with freezing temperatures. We live in the US state of Missouri and frequently have freezing temperatures over the winter. In fact, our pond has been frozen over for several weeks. As long as you have a way to keep a small area of the pond from freezing solid, the fish should be fine. We use a pond deicer to keep an open area on the surface of the pond so that there is gas exchange allowing oxygen into the water so the fish don't suffocate.

 

[LClay]

What is the roof of the shed made from? Is it metal? Given that you've sealed the barrel, I'm wondering if the roof of the shed is made of metal and that's where the rust is coming from.

In the states, Home Depot (a national hardware store chain) carries fairly inexpensive pond liners. I don't know if you have anything like that in Italy though.

As mentioned above, I don't think the rust will be much of an issue, especially if you add plants. I'm not a chemistry expert but, I believe rust is primarily composed of iron compounds (iron oxide). Many people to keep plants in freshwater aquariums actually add iron as it is a necessary micro-nutrient for plants.

As for fish that will eat mosquito larva, Mosquito Fish (Gambusia affinis) is an effective natural control of the larva. We have them in our pond and have never had an issue with freezing temperatures. We live in the US state of Missouri and frequently have freezing temperatures over the winter. In fact, our pond has been frozen over for several weeks. As long as you have a way to keep a small area of the pond from freezing solid, the fish should be fine. We use a pond deicer to keep an open area on the surface of the pond so that there is gas exchange allowing oxygen into the water so the fish don't suffocate.

No, the problem is not the roof of the shed. It is the fact that the “fountain“ is an old metal oil tank. It was totally rusted inside and on the outside has been bricked in to look like a well. Very cute, but I didn’t think it would be viable for fish because of the rust. Perhaps I’m wrong? I will have to find some pond liner at a home improvement store, but since it is tall (about a foot and a half wide and about 3 feet tall), I wonder if there’s gonna be a lot of gathered material on the sides and it will look weird on the inside. Not quite sure how to do that so it doesn’t look like big bag inside. I was hoping that somebody might know some kind of aquarium, friendly sealant that the rust would not get through. Whatever I’ve put on there now has the rust seeping through!

 

[griss]

Gotcha on the roof not being an issue.

Yes, pond liner will have creases and folds in it. If not, carefully, installed it will look ugly. I would imagine in a round barrel, it would be more difficult to install the liner than is a pond dug into the ground. When we installed our pond, we simply used decorative stones to cover those creases/folds in the liner.

What I would recommend next, could be very labor intense and/or pricy. You could drain the water out and either manually sand or (preferably) have the inside of the barrel sandblasted down to bare metal. Then paint/seal it with a primer (such as Rustoleum) made for metals. Then, cover the entire interior with an epoxy based paint.

 

[LClay]

This is kind of what I had already attempted to do with this rust covering product that I put on it. Which is supposed to seal it, as well, and then I wanted to put some kind of other sealant on top of that, but in the meantime, it is filled up again with rainwater and, the “sealant” obviously did not work, as the rust is coming through. :-(

 

[griss]

This is kind of what I had already attempted to do with this rust covering product that I put on it. Which is supposed to seal it, as well, and then I wanted to put some kind of other sealant on top of that, but in the meantime, it is filled up again with rainwater and, the “sealant” obviously did not work, as the rust is coming through. :-(

I figured that's what you tried to do. I didn't know if you sanded or sandblasted down to bare metal or just sealed over the rust. Sealing over rust is not effective as, when the rust flakes off, it can take the paint/sealant with it and expose the rust to the water.

Unless you're willing to drain it, sand/sandblast down to bare metal and re-seal, it might be worth experimenting with some hardier plants and fish (goldfish or Mosquito fish). As mentioned above, the rust likely won't bother them.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

I once saw guppies in a pool of water that smelled like Sulphur.
I would just give it a shot with a plant or two to help out.

 

[LClay]

Thanks so much, y’all!!

 

[griss]

Thanks so much, y’all!!

You're very welcome.

 

[BrianD]

We are in northern Italy near the Alps

I am in central Illinois near a cornfield.

You win.