A small water garden on the deck or patio is fun for the whole family. The only ingredients required are water, a container, and plants. Half whiskey barrels with plastic liners and old galvanized wash tubs make ideal containers for small water gardens. It is best to have water that is at least 12 inches deep. Plants complete the water garden. It is best not to crowd a water garden, but a good selection of plant material is a must. There are several types of water plants. Submerged plants such as Anacharis help to keep the water clean. Floating plants such as Water Hyacinth shade the water surface. Water Lilies and Lily-like plants also stay close to the surface and have beautiful flowers. As with any container garden, you want to have low growing and upright elements. Arrowhead, Lizard Tail, or Dwarf Cattails are upright growers. Most of these plants need 4 to 6 hours of direct sun every day. It is fun to add extras to a small water garden. If it is near a power source, add a spitter to circulate water and shoot it into the air.

A small submergible light makes your water garden glow at night. In pots of 10 to 20 gallons, a goldfish or two can be quite enjoyable. To keep your water garden safe for small children, or to protect fish from predators, cover the surface of the container with chicken wire or a slightly larger wire mesh. This allows plants to grow through the wire. Care of a small water garden is quite simple. Make sure the container is sitting on a level surface. Add water occasionally to replace what is lost to evaporation. In the absence of moving water or fish, “mosquito dunks” will control mosquito larvae. Pellet fertilizer for the potted plants and liquid fertilizer for the floaters help keep the plant material healthy. In the winter, do not allow the garden to freeze through entirely. Move the entire container or just the plants in buckets to an unheated garage or crawl space. Some tropical plants can be  over-wintered in the house. For container gardens, it is best to over-winter goldfish in a larger pond outdoors or in a fish tank indoors.

If a heater/de-icer is used, fish may survive the winter in the container. Koi are not recommended for small ponds. Suggested aquatic plants for small ponds: Water Hyacinth                                                    Hardy ThaliaWater Lettuce                                                      Umbrella PalmParrot’s Feather                                                   IrisYellow and Water Snowflake                               Water Lilies, especially ‘Helvola’, Perry’s Baby Red’,Lizard’s Tail                                                          and ‘Joanne Pring’Mini Cattail                                                           Water CloverArrowheadBulrush (Zebra and White)clothes company

Note: most aquatic plants could be used since spread on most is controlled by pot size. Top-heavy plants such as Taro, Egyptian Papyrus, and Cattail may blow over and aren’t generally recommended for small ponds. The Great Big Greenhouse & Nursery, 2051Since 1977, Custom Metalcraft has specialized in custom Stainless Steel processing equipment, transportable storage units and complex bulk handling systems. 3 foot fish tank cabinetWe have developed a reputation for excellence in designing and manufacturing equipment of the highest quality for the food, beverage, chemical, oil/gas/energy and pharmaceutical industries.55 gallon fish tank with oak stand Sign up for product updatescustom fish tanks ontario

The TranStore® intermediate bulk container is the most advanced liquid handling tank in the market today. See More Products » We offer a complete line of processing tanks and equipment that can be customized to fit your specific application. Designed to fit the needs of our specialty beverage producers, our product line includes tanks, barrels and processing equipment.custom fish tanks tanked The team at Custom Metalcraft diligently strives to provide each customer with the best solutions for their equipment needs. custom fish tanks richmond vaFrom sales to engineering to fabrication, every member of our team has one goal in mind -- product quality at an economical price. We know that a customers’ investments are important to them; we want them to know that they are important to us as well.

When quality counts . . . call on Custom Metalcraft. When Jerry Cowan and Dwayne Holden came together to form Custom Metalcraft in 1977, our goal has remained the same: simply provide products to solve problems. Since our inception, we have created a number of unusual custom products for clients.Kids love animals and Virginia has highly rated places to encounter them.We looked at the popular review site, TripAdvisor, to round up the best of the best for your family explorations. Don’t forget the camera!Highlighting the animals from Virginia’s mountains to the shore, the VLM presents them in habitats that resemble those they would naturally be found in. For example, in the Appalachian Cove exhibit, visitors will see a waterfall flowing into a “river” stream teeming with fish while native birds take flight over the plant life above. Outside on the Boardwalk Trail, you’ll see woods and wetlands with animals like turkeys, skunks, vultures, fox, and coyote.But wait, there’s more!

Arrive bright and early for a Walk with the Keeper to see the boardwalk animals emerge for the day and have breakfast. You may even hold one or two of the animals.Located in southwest Virginia, this 45-acre attraction offers safari tours aboard a bus, putting you up “nose-to-nose” with its residents: zebras, antelopes, buffalo, camels, ostriches, and more. A petting zoo area has llamas and pygmy goats; they’ll be excited to meet you!At the Virginia Aquarium, there are more than 800,000 gallons of aquariums to bring you eye-to-eye with aquatic life. Additionally, two touch tanks and more than 300 hands-on exhibits let you interact in ways you may not have before. Stroll the nature trail and enjoy the birds in the aviary before chilling out with a movie in the National Geographic 3D Theater.But wait, there’s more! Behind-the-scenes tours with sea turtles and harbor seals are delightful experiences that create long-lasting memories. The ultimate experience is Seal Splash, which puts you in the water with the seals during a training session.

Fifty-three acres of beautiful landscape is home to elephants, kangaroos, tigers, bears, red pandas (including some new babies!), binturongs, rhinos, prairie dogs, meerkats, orangutans, giraffes, zebras (baby alert!) and more! Into snakes and reptiles? There are plenty to check out, including geckos, pythons, constrictors, monitors, and frogs aplenty.Have a once-in-a-lifetime experience when you splurge for Elephant Painting, a memorable opportunity where an elephant “paints” for you and you take home the finished canvas. Want to adopt an animal? There are patron levels to make you (or your kid) a Zoo Parent.This free nature center is relatively small, but a fantastic find for families in Central Virginia who are looking for an afternoon trip with a packed picnic. A trail around the main lake reveals two additional lakes while the Nature Center provides an aquarium feel by showing visitors residents of the fresh water. On exhibit inside the Nature Center are reptiles and amphibians.

On 21 acres in Northern Virginia is this sanctuary home of llamas, sheep, deer, camels, serval cats (see the new babies!), giant tortoises, gibbons, sloths, and more. When the weather allows it, pony and wagon rides are available.There are more than 250 animals at Luray Zoo, Virginia’s only rescue zoo, which is privately owned but permitted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries. The animals come from a variety of places, including other zoos, if the animal has been retired. You’ll find tigers, wallabys (be sure to look for Flash, the rare albino wallaby born in 2014), monkeys, and alligators, as well as one of the East Coast’s largest venomous snake collections.Take a Discovery Tour to interact with and feed select animals. Tours are available by reservation only. As Luray Zoo is privately owned, donations and memberships keep things going. Won’t you Adopt-A-Friend to contribute to loving these rescued creatures?This very popular southwest Virginia zoo includes rare sloth bears, hyenas, marmosets, squirrel monkeys, lemurs, wallaroos, leopards, tigers, kinkajou, wildebeests, a variety of snakes, and quite a bit more (baby camel, wildebeest, scimitar horned oryx, or coatamundis, anyone?).

Creation Kingdom was created from a private breeding and conservation effort, and opened to the public as a zoo in 2010. It is 100% self-funded and participates in the Species Survival Program thanks to its large collection of endangered species and high-performing reproductive program. An average of four new exhibits are presented annually, which is directly attributed to their breeding center.Take a safari train ride around the eight-acre African Savannah at this zoo south of downtown Richmond. Some of the animals you’ll find here are a variety of monkeys, orangutans (meet baby RJ!), bongo, bison, sloths, leopards, cheetah, and more. Several times in three years the Metro Richmond Zoo has welcomed cheetah cubs, which is quite a feat for the captive endangered species.Lana’s six cubs, four females and two males. A photo posted by Metro Richmond Zoo (@metrorichmondzoo) on May 26, 2015 at 5:34pm PDTA fully accredited zoo, Mill Mountain opened in 1952 and is the five-acre home to leopards, red pandas, wolves, exotic birds, and more.