Wildlife pond in Belfast sink

[Crikeyblimey]

Hi. I have a Belfast sink that I was going to use for alpines but now have an urge to turn it into a small pond.

Problem is, bloody great drain hole! There’s no plug housing, just the big hole.

Any suggestions on how to make it watertight?

Also, am I on a hiding to nothing trying to make a pond out of it? Will I just end up with a sink full of stagnant water? Will it need a small pump to keep it moving or is a still pond with plants better for wildlife (appreciate I’ll need rocks in there to aid escape for critters)?

Thanks

I dug a pond in Feb and still have just a muddy hole.. following!

We haven't seen the frog since he arrive last Wednesday, I thought he might have moved on but weve just sat, eyes glued to the pond for over an hour after he made an appearance. The moment he shot out his tongue to catch a fly was the most exciting thing I've seen in the last 8 weeks!

LivingThatLockdownLife did you line your pond or use a liner? (not that I'm an expert of anything!)

Meredint she was utterly mortified, especially as DH laughed at her. Has put it behind her today though thankfully!

Ive just marked out my new birthday wildlife pond on the lawn next to the back patio. Its massive but DH now can't say no because I've told him its my birthday gift.

It should be fab since the lawn is raised above the patio by about a metre and so the pond will be at eye level when sitting on the patio and there will also be space for a bench alongside it.

@hasadigaeebowai if you don't have a waterbutt you could get a large plastic container to put tap water in now as it takes 2/3 weeks for the chlorine to disappate.

Sounds like it'll be lovely.

I have two large water butts in the vegetable garden but I'm also going to collect rainwater in buckets for the next couple of weeks.

Really excited to get it started.

I don't have a water butt* so have to cover the lawn with hundreds of pots when it's due to rain. It hasn't actually rained since my pond has arrived. so I worry that it may run dry. If I do have to top it up with tap water will it spoil my water quality?

*our downpipe goes into our neighbour's garden.

Secondary do you have a porch, shed, greenhouse or garage? You'd be surprised how much water comes just off a small shed or porch.

I read that it is good to let the pond dry up as lots of invertebrates live in the mud and substrate left behind.

I don't have a water butt either.

'How’s everyone’s ponds that had plugholes sealed with silicone?
I’m sure I read that it’s poisonous to fish so I just wondering if all ok or if you needed to get a fish safe type of special sealant?'

You're correct, standard bathroom and DIY silicones are toxic to all aquatic life, including frogs, newts etc. For a pond you'd want to use an aquarium grade sealant and leave for a day or so to 'cure' before adding water.

I never leave my tap water 2-3 weeks, I only manage a week tops and so far it has been fine for top ups. My water butt is full of old smelly water.

@ChristopherTracy that's good to know.

For some reason Meredint I imagine you having a very happy golden retriever! How lovely to be surrounded by all of that water.

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime my pond is so new i don't think there's much living in the sediment just yet. I have filled some buckets with tap water today, and will top up in a week or so if it's looking too low. I worry that the mosquito larvae might not make it (ha ha!). I have high hopes for my dwarf water lilly so hope for a Monet-esque display within weeks!

For some reason Meredint I imagine you having a very happy golden retriever! Ooh, goodness! I'm a cat person Sorry!

I don't know whether it'd work in a pond environment, but tropical fish people have a produce called "Tap safe" or similar, which you can add to tap water to allow you to put it straight into your tank. The real trouble with tap water on a pond scale is it can be quite high in nitrogen, which is why you the get the green bloom.

WitchWindows very jealous of your frogs and I like your tiny pond plants, did you buy them, or did they just appear over time? We seem to be hosting a huge amount of mosquito larvae, which I hope won't cause a malaria outbreak in SE London. They are very happily munching through my algae so I'm happy to have them.
MereDintofPandiculation I think I have golden retrievers on the brain after Nigel's demise . Over the next week or so I'll see if I can get to a garden centre/aquarium specialist to see what I can find, maybe even Pets at Home, and see what they have. I hoped we might have some rain today, but nothing so far.

My barley straw and 'Green water away' treatment arrived today so I'll see how long it takes to clear it. I also got a small solar fountain which has got the water moving just a little bit.

My aquatic soil and gravel also arrived so I finally got to sort out my plants as they were loose in the pond being held down by pebbles for the past fortnight and they are looking healthier already, with several already having runners. It was good to see one of my waterlilies has got several tiny lillypads on the surface and sorting the plants out I spied lots of other creppy crawlies so we might pond dip again at the weekend and see who has moved in.

Will you post a photo HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime? Sounds really lovely.

Will do tomoz. The gardens slowly coming on. It's been filled with Dds big trampoline and swing/slide set for the last decade so it's nice getting it back again.

Her hammock arrived from wayfair very quickly and she's really pleased with it. She's been out laying on it by 9 each morning.

I've just read this book, and it's really good, learned lots of new stuff. Highly recommend for all wildlife pond fans:

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472958322?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share&tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Hi. Love that this thread has moved on.
Quick update - pond plants arrived and all looking good. I need more pebbles I think and no wildlife yet but fingers crossed.

So glad people are doing this!

I have an actual pond but grew up with a couple of old Belfast sinks as mini ponds in my mums garden so when my brother and I were tiny we could just sit and watch the wildlife coming and going. Loved them and spent hours in the summer looking into them.

Inspired by this thread - and a lifelong love of ponds - I have ordered a pond liner 🙄😄

There is NO real room in my garden, but I’ll move some plants around. I have heavy clay and a lot of tree roots. Rather rashly, when DH started whinging, I said DD and I would build it. Eek! What have I let myself in for?

Hi all, I'd love a garden pond, but I've only got a very small garden that's laid to AstroTurf and decking and surrounded on all sides by high walls and fences. Do you think I'll actually get any wildlife other than mozzies? I can't see that it will have any way of finding its way to my pond!

Also, I've got nowhere to sink a pond, do you think if I put it on the decking and make a set of steps out of stones up to the pond it would be ok?