This pond was built in December 2007 in the earlier days of my turn-the-front-lawn-into-garden project.
The tires came from a park mowing tractor so are wider than normal tractor tires, giving extra height to the pond. You can usually pick these up free, in New Zealand anyway, from large tire repair and supply workshops: mine came from the parks maintenance company I work for - free disposal for them and free supply for me!
Materials:
two tractor tires (one, two, tractor, car - your choice)
large cardboard box, old carpet, etc
sand
newspaper
thick polythene sheet from a local BORG (Big Orange Retail Giant)
flexible drainage coil (I had this lying around)
geotextile (eg weedmat, mudstop, etc) [oh, or you could use old carpet!]
wire mesh
fencing wire
soil, container mix, or compost
water
fish
water plants and land plants
two terracotta pots
Tools:
spade
bucket
hose
clamps
reciprocating saw, jigsaw, hacksaw or even a sharp sturdy knife
short length of 25mm PVC pipe
craft knife
tape measure
stapler
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Signing UpStep 1Cut sidewalls from tires
Cut one sidewall from one tire and both walls from the other, leaving about a 75mm (3 inch) lip. I only cut out the upper wall of the second tire at first, but the polythene would not mould around the convoluted 3D-ness of this arrangement. Unfortunately, I did not take photos of the second try, but you'll get the idea.
Smaller tires can be done with a jigsaw or even a small knife: see the paring knife I used on car tires (thanks for the use Sweetie ... oh, I thought I'd asked you about that?... oh ... er ...).
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Can one vacuum the fish poop out of the pond with a wet/dry shop vac instead of emptying it to clean it?
My mother kind heartedly allowed the neighbor to bury about 80 -100 tires out back half out of the ground as a "landscape fence" in the back yard to foil the local blight inspector. Its legit but ugly and now that I'm living here I'll have enough of these ponds eventually to consider fish farming LOL. I am going to see if I might be able to connect them under ground via a 4 inch pvc pipe if I can rig up a gasket gizmo that wont leak.
Great way to recycle! Great instructible! Keep up the good work : )
I had thought about fitting a water return etc, but at the time was more interested in getting the thing built while I had the enthusiasm. After it proved to work, I've subsequently thought about retrofitting all that to the pond but haven't had the inclination as the current system works OK. I would like to try an aquaculture system though...
* first invented in New Zealand by Richard Pearse. First patented by the Wright Bros.
As I lived in year-long-summer country, this would be perfect for my yard!
I've seen a lot of those YouTubes, Instructables, etc on turning tyres inside out: if you look closely in photo 1 you can see where I tried this for the top tyre of the planter behind the pond with the banana palms in. Personally I don't do this because: I don't like the look, I don't gain enough in volume to warrant the effort (in fact I'd say I get less, but I haven't quantified that), I always leave the bottom sidewall on to help with water retention during summer (also helps keep the soil in if I have to drag the planter anywhere), and can you even IMAGINE doing that with tractor tyres??!!!
Thanks for your kind comments: I'm glad it inspired you.
Snails and things have not survived well in my pond for some reason, but they eat algae from the liner.
Growing Azolla, as mentioned in step 6, has virtually eliminated algae growth. You would have the same greeny problem in any untreated, unfiltered pond, but there's no particular reason why one couldn't do all that to this type of pond. Plants help remove ammonia from fish wee, provide shade, food maybe, privacy, protection form predators, place for babies to hide, look pretty (esp. the flowering ones), and help create a more balanced ecosystem type thing.
Being green is not a bad thing: ask Greenpeace - or Kermit!
I have thought about syphons and pumps etc, but I used to just use a watering can and scoop the water out. This was OK while the garden was small, but last summer (NZ is now in winter), I got our old swimming pool pump from storage (... NEVER throw anything out ...), bought fittings from the BORG, and started using that. I has the added benefit of sucking out the detritus from the bottom. Earlier on I had to siphon the entire pond out to get the crud and refill it totally. I might get organised next summer and set up an aquaculture system, with the ability to divert the water to a hose for the garden.
For the tyre planters, I know a lot of people turn them inside out, but see my comments to bigmark. Actually, I'll stick 'em in step 8.