Get a half keg, place liner in it, place it in a sunny area, place a water plant in it such as a water lily, add a little solar fountain if you wish, forget about frogs and fish in this setup and don't forget the mosquito dunks.

Sounds brill can I put fish would they survive ? What's mosquito dunks ? Xx

No fish Sharon! They need a lot more space than people generally allow. A 2" fish needs at least 1 sq foot of surface area. But it won't stay a 2" fish for very long.

Mosquito dunks are little blocks of pesticide that kill mosquito larvae.

Encourage wildlife in - wrong time of year now but you could get a bit of frog or toad spawn in season - especially if there are already frogs/toads in your garden or a neighbours.

get a spirit level and put it on a strate piece of wood or a clear length of pipe . with the pipe you put water in it coloured would be better . dig a hole the depth and length you want hold each end of the bunged water filled pipe up at the edges and make sure its level . measure the length bye the deepest part twice and then the width bye the deepest part twice . write this down . take any obvious flints etc out . slope the edges ofcourse when you dig it . line the whole with old man made carpet or sand to stop holes . go buy a reely good quality liner the size you've written down . lay it in the hole aprox the right place adjusting as you fill it . when nearly full trim round the edges leaving a few inches hanging over the sides . buy some nice natural stone too hide the edges of the liner or lift the turf up a couple of inches and put it over the lip . buy uninvasive plants and a few fish depending on how big you have it . remember the water area is what designates how many fish you can have . not the depth . if you have some shallow parts and a deeper spot and bog plants and a lilly it will look lovely next year .

For a first timer to a water garden keep it simple. To have fish that you expect to live year round you must have a pond depth of at least 30 inches, mine are 40 and you must have moving water for oxygenation( plants alone will not accomplish this) and some type of biofilter to aid the nitrogen cycle that handles fish wastes. In order to accomplish this you will require a water pump which will run 24hours a day spring, summer and fall. In order for the water pump to work you must have special wiring with ground fault protection so that you do not get electrocuted. Putting in a viable fish pond is not simple and is heavy, time consuming work doing it yourself, I know that because I have placed five of them on my property. It was something that I enjoyed doing, you may not. So I would really start with the half keg suggestion I gave you before or an old sink as you mentioned or a bathtub as some people have done.

I disagree . admitadly having know filter or pump will definatly cut down on the fish you can have for sure . I have a 2000 gallon pond with a water fall and a 180 gallon tank and have kept fish nearly all my 53 year life , ive never seen a lake with a pump in it or a fountain . my dad made a pond when I was about 2-3 years old . he just dug out a bent sausage shape aprox 7 feet long bye 30 inches wide and about 18 inches at its deepest . he just lined it with cement and leeched the lime out . there were about 6 goldfish in there with a lilly at each end for a good 20 years till I made him a bigger one . then they moved and he passed away . plants use the detritess that fish give o0ff and put oxygen in the water . all a pump and fountain does is increase the serfice area therefore putting more oxygen in and it keeps the ice down . if you get a nice lilly it will cut out so much light the algi wont last long after its initial bloom in spring . me and my dad always cleaned the pond out every spring and cut the lillies back to size . the mulm or fish poo makes for great fertilizer . if all you want is tadpoles then you can have it 3-4 feet x 3-4 feet . my 2000 gallon pond is 26 inches deep and my starlet got to nearly 3 feet long in know time . goldfish especialy are bred from crusian carp and koi,leather and mirror carp are bred from commen carp . these fish go semmy dorement in winter and stop feeding and bye nature of pond life can tolerate some of the highest tempriture changes in nature . goldfish especialy as they don't get so big . if you do have a pump or filter which it doesn't sound like you want don't turn it off . a half barrel wont let any life in realy apart from mosquitos which seemingly your going to kill anyway . don't get adult frogs and toads from local ponds etc because they nearly always go back to the pond they were born in . if you look for spawn or tadpoles to put in they will come back to your pond . its brilliant and well worth it even if its just 8 feet x 4 feet with a few goldfish,plants and toads or frogs . brings nature into your garden . look on youtube at natural pond design if you don't believe me . after all everyone knows people who have kept a goldfish in a small bowl or tank for years with know filter . not that I condone stunting fish or bowls but they have know frilter . a bath tub would be fine sunken but while your digging that whole you may as well dig it wider and a bit deeper . 2 feet will do the job easily unless you live in Canada or the arctic . I bet my life on it .

A rule a fish dealer told us is allow a gallon water to every inch of fish, so if you really do want a fish or two in a half barrel try sticklebacks, which are much more interesting than goldfish anyway. Of course you have to go out and catch them first...If you want frogs you need some way for them to get in and more importantly out and something for them to stand on at the edge of the water. Can you see them hoping in and out of a half barrel? Better just stick with plants and snails if you don't want something bigger.

Nosey mentions people keeping goldfish in small bowls without a filter - true but they had to change the water very regularly. Nowadays with all the added chlorine the water would have to be either filtered or left to stand for some hours which would be a great fiddle!

I change a third of my fish tank water with good old tap water every month without fail sera honest . I've already had a pm with Sharon and she's getting a moulded pond .Sticklebacks are stunning when tthere breeding especially the males . There cool in a tank as it goes . There's a lot of pomp and ceremony with fish keeping just to get your money . Same as dogs . I couldn't afford 4 biggish dogs if I did everything suggested to keep them . It cost me about a pound a week to feed each one and i never hardly worm them or deflea them and there fine xx .

Please don't take spawn from a local pond or pool.

It isn't! Frogs and toads are protected species in the UK - great if they spawn in your pool but really should not be removed from the wild. Apart from anything else that's how disease spreads.

I kind of agree urbanite but remember you are making the population bigger bye moving a few to a new pond .

Sorry Nosey but you're not increasing the population if you are spreading ranavirus (which can also infect fish)

Let nature take it's own course - if a pond or pool is suitable frogs and toads in the area will find it.

cool your not wrong I guess

Well you're not changing all the water at once NP.

Yes sticklebacks are great - did you know its the male that does all the work? He builds a little nest - yes, really!"- then swims off to find a female, chases her into it and as she swims through it he follows and fertilizes the eggs. The he stays by the nest fanning it with his tail to keep a current of fresh water flowing through it. And all the time he keeps his breeding colour, which is a lovely red chest.
And what does the female do - nothing - just swims off afterwards and enjoys herself! How do I know all this? I've watched them!

I have too in a tank . the males are stunning . typical the man does all the work lol . I have had too clean my tank intirely because I only have a shower I have to put the fish directly back into the tand and there still fine . as for moving tadpoles . if you move them to another lake with desease free tadpoles that would be terrible but you can only help increase the numbers moving them to a fresh water feacture deseased or not so I don't agree urbanite . I used to move them from a pond that had litteraly thousands too new places that they still thrive at . however the original pond has none as a lot of young men/boys thought it was fun to play cricket with them and kill them to extinction in that pond . I have thow years later when the pond has been forgotten about put some back and they are now thriving again .

Thank you everyone for your answers so many interesting to read if a shubunkin in a big tank in HSE can I put it in pond its about 6" now will it be OK not die is 2' deep enough or should be more ...thank you x

it will be fine just acclimatise it Sharon x .

A recommended method is to put it in a plastic bag with the water its used to and hang the bag in the pond until the temperature stabilises, then allow pond water into the bag, gradually if possible. A sudden change of water can kill, I think its something to do with the relative acidity.

its to do with tempriture change stera . its better to leave the bag tide up for 20 mins then do as you say .