Water feature

[steve1]

Have just made a water feature out of an old wooden beer keg, basically cut in half and fitted an ornimental water pump to one side and just let it overflow and run into the keg, have also put a couple of plants in, and after letting them establish themselves will be letting a couple of goldfish enjoy it.
My question is about where best to site it, should it be somewhere in as much sunlight as possible, to encourage plant growth and keep the water warm enough for the fish, or, as it is now, be in a position where it gets the early morning sun up until late morning, then it's shaded.
Thanx.

[stolt]

hi, i wouldnt site it in full sun as you will probably be plagued with that green blanket weed algae. the fish dont need the water to be warm, there cold bloodied. I guess the best place is where you can enjoy it most.

[Simpo Two]

steve1 said:

should it be somewhere in as much sunlight as possible, to encourage plant growth and keep the water warm enough for the fish, or, as it is now, be in a position where it gets the early morning sun up until late morning, then it's shaded.

Shade! Too much warmth will encourage algae and help kill the fish - because the warmer the water, the less oxygen it contains - and half a beer keg isn't much volume to start with.

[thinfourth2]

Add in the fact then in winter the small volume of water in the keg will be frozen solid

Fish may not have a long and happy life

[steve1]

This is not your normal regular size keg, it quite a size, that's why I thought it would make a good feature, don't worry about the fish, they will be more than cared for in the winter months.
Thanx for the comments though.

[tenohfive]

What are you going to do for filtration? You'll need some sort of filtration - goldfish put out a lot of waste. And half a beer keg isn't much room for goldies, given how big they grow. I can't really think of a smaller fish that would be suitable in an outdoor feature of that size.