Container Ponds?

[carsona246]

I'm not getting my hopes up about this however I'm planning on a new project involving creating a container pond with a large pot from home depot. This pot is quite large around and holds at least 50 gallons if not more. My plan was to plant water hycinth in the pot and keep it on my balcony on the 2nd floor. My balcony is partly shaded and will only get full sunlight in the morning hours. I've been looking up native species of aquatic salamanders and mudpuppies are on the list. This won't be covered on the top, but will be kept in the shade. If I brought the pot in during the extremely hot temperatures could this possibly be a proper environment, or should I ditch the idea?
I live in Arkansas by the way, and the temperature during the spring time is usually very nice. I would really like to keep some form of aquatic salamander/newt, but only if it means keeping it in the proper conditions.
Some other species are the central newt, western lesser siren, and Three-toed Amphiuma.

 

[Mark]

With that volume of water you should be able to avoid temperature spikes and extremes. Clearly, prolonged sun during hot spells would be bad news as would prolonged sub freezing temperatures. I’m not sure what sort of climate you have in Arkansas.

One thing I would say is make sure the container is designed for both outdoor use and holding water. Ideally it should able to tolerate frost, sun light and be food safe. Many plastic containers are not suitable for holding large volumes of water or cope well with the elements long term. I would personally avoid anything that wasn’t specifically designed to hold water, that rules out storage containers and flower pots. Aquatic specialists often sell large sump containers for garden water features or aquatic troughs. These are a much safer bet and will not degrade outdoors.

Finally, you’ll need some kind of lid or suitable lip. Just because an amphibian is 100% aquatic doesn’t mean it won’t climb or jump out.

Hope that helps.