# Smelly Whiskey Barrel and other issues....



## Cat (11 May 2021)

Hello,
I've had a water lily in a half whiskey barrel for about 10 years it's always been beautiful but the wood had started to go so I bought a couple of new barrels to replace the old one and start a new one off. I think these barrels have come fairly fresh from the brewery (guessing here ) because its been about 2-3 months and the water is constantly slightly white and stinks. I didn't have any water pump going in the old barrels, they were fine without it, but I thought maybe things are just getting a bit anaerobic in there so I put a air stone pump thing in there from one of my fish tanks but that just seemed to make things worse. So I emptied it, bleached the inside of it and then re-charred the wood on the inside and refilled it. I only did this to one barrel because I didn't know what sort of effect it would have. I stuck a load of plants I already had in it, I thought that might help, a Schizostylis and a few other dwarf lilies. 

Anyway a month on they both still stink, they are both a bit cloudy and now they have crazy amounts of rat-tailed maggots and mosquito larvae in them. I have a 3 year old and he used to play in the old barrel quite a lot, I'm worried it will be bad for him to play in them, the smell might put him off I don't know. I don't know whether to try and kill everything, which goes against all my normal instincts, I've read that rat-tails are actually quite hard to kill anyway. I think you can put washing up liquid in to kill the mozy larvae or oil, not sure! The water lilies are started to produce quite a lot of new leaves so they don't seemed bothered?

I just don't know what I can do to speed up all this, I don't even know whats really happening there, wondered if anyone has any experience of this or suggestions as to what I should do going forward? I assume with enough time they will settle down........


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## castle (11 May 2021)

Loads of water changes, you’re meant to do 50% every few days for a month. it’ll take 6 months or so to get rid of the whisky/death smell, it will gradually fade. Water sounds like it’s going stagnant. I wouldn’t have bleached it though.

On iPad, excuse poor gramma.

I’ve had a new barrel running since January, stank horrendously for about 3 months. Running an air stone 24/7.


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## Cat (12 May 2021)

Thank you for your reply. I'll do a water change today, it did do this initially as a fish tank approach but bc I was using stored planted tank water I thought I might be making it worse as obviously that water is quite rich organics!


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## dw1305 (12 May 2021)

Hi all, 


Cat said:


> I don't know whether to try and kill everything, which goes against all my normal instincts, I've read that rat-tails are actually quite hard to kill anyway. I think you can put washing up liquid in to kill the mozy larvae or oil, not sure! The water lilies are started to produce quite a lot of new leaves so they don't seemed bothered?


As the plants grow in you will lose the Rat-tailed Maggots and Mosquito larvae, they are both colonists of organic rich, temporary water bodies, and you don't find them in established "ponds".

Feed the Mosquito larvae to your fish, they are "caviar"  for Tetras etc. You need to creep up on the barrel with a net and make a quick swish before they all hide at the bottom. 

cheers Darrel


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## mort (12 May 2021)

The rat tailed maggots are the larvae of hoverfly/drone flies and are really cool little critters but can be found in some of the stinkiest and foulest water there is so it's not the best sign (I have tonnes grow in my comfrey tea buckets which is disgusting).
If you do water changes and the plants are actively growing I think things will improve. I'm guessing what you are seeing is similar to new aquarium wood developing mould but without as much dilution factor or filtration to stop it becoming a problem.


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## Cat (12 May 2021)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> As the plants grow in you will lose the Rat-tailed Maggots and Mosquito larvae, they are both colonists of organic rich, temporary water bodies, and you don't find them in established "ponds".
> 
> ...



I have tried feeding live mosquito larvae to my fish before but unfortunately my fish didn't eat all of them and then they started flying out of the tank and my husband was not impressed!


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## Cat (12 May 2021)

mort said:


> The rat tailed maggots are the larvae of hoverfly/drone flies and are really cool little critters but can be found in some of the stinkiest and foulest water there is so it's not the best sign (I have tonnes grow in my comfrey tea buckets which is disgusting).
> If you do water changes and the plants are actively growing I think things will improve. I'm guessing what you are seeing is similar to new aquarium wood developing mould but without as much dilution factor or filtration to stop it becoming a problem.


Thats partly why I don't particularly want to kill them, I like hover flies. Chances are it is pretty anaerobic in there, never had this problem with barrels before I'm assuming they had longer since being actually used for whiskey compared to these ones. I'll change out half the water for now, just wondering how long its likely to take to 'mature' because its going to make for an unpleasant summer garden experience!


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## mort (12 May 2021)

I wonder whether this is a bacterial bloom caused by the alcohol residue rather than a wood fungus I was first considering. It could be a combination of both but with the bacterial bloom you would get a reduction in oxygen which would make it more inviting to mozzies and hoverfly larvae.
I think regular water changes is still your best bet and it's probably it will look bad but then quickly improve.


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## Cat (12 May 2021)

I think it's probably whiskey related but obviously just guessing. The water lilies are thriving at least, I was wondering whether I should get some what I think people used to call Canadian pond weed to aid oxegenation? But I'm not sure if it actually does anything or shops just like say it does because it sounds useful?


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## PARAGUAY (12 May 2021)

It is a good oxegenator thats not a myth and its what l would try through a few bunches in floating with the W/C s


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## Cat (12 May 2021)

PARAGUAY said:


> It is a good oxegenator thats not a myth and its what l would try through a few bunches in floating with the W/C s


Great! I might be able to steal some from my fathers pond.....


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## sparkyweasel (13 May 2021)

Cat said:


> Thats partly why I don't particularly want to kill them, I like hover flies.


I love hoverflies. 
Perhaps you could put some of the water you take out when waterchanging into a bucket or tub. Put as many of the Rat-Tailed Maggots as you can catch in it, and put it somewhere unobtrusive like behind the shed. Some dead leaves would probably be good for them.


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## Cat (14 May 2021)

sparkyweasel said:


> I love hoverflies.
> Perhaps you could put some of the water you take out when waterchanging into a bucket or tub. Put as many of the Rat-Tailed Maggots as you can catch in it, and put it somewhere unobtrusive like behind the shed. Some dead leaves would probably be good for them.


I have a pond so I could put them in there, judging by how many I have in both tubs they will have a bumper crop this year. I changed half the water a couple of days ago and it's not stopped raining since which is unusual here in Cambridge. It's  also forecast to rain for the next 5 days which is really really unusual, so I'm getting commentary water changes now.😁


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## PARAGUAY (14 May 2021)

Hoverflies love them benefical and devour garden pests like greenfly


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## Cat (14 May 2021)

They remain unharmed, the slugs have been rampant so I need all the help I can get!


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## sparkyweasel (14 May 2021)

Cat said:


> They remain unharmed, the slugs have been rampant so I need all the help I can get!


Hedgehogs and toads would help. You can make suitable hiding places and hope they come. Or sometimes a wildlife hospital will be looking for homes for rescued ones when they are ready to be released.


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## Cat (14 May 2021)

sparkyweasel said:


> Hedgehogs and toads would help. You can make suitable hiding places and hope they come. Or sometimes a wildlife hospital will be looking for homes for rescued ones when they are ready to be released.


I have a ridiculous amount of frogs, there were over 50 last year, but I've haven't seen a toad. We have a hedgehog safe border around our house/garden so they have free reign and I have parts of the garden that I keep rough so that there are places to hide, but we don't have hedgehog home. I love the idea of giving a home to a hedgehog, we don't have a cat at least but it's a small garden on a terraced street so not sure how safe it could be for a hedgehog. The rat-tailed maggots/ larvae seem to be curling into big pulsating balls, loads of them together, which is a curious thing....


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## LisaAston (19 Jul 2021)

Cat said:


> I have a ridiculous amount of frogs, there were over 50 last year, but I've haven't seen a toad. We have a hedgehog safe border around our house/garden so they have free reign and I have parts of the garden that I keep rough so that there are places to hide, but we don't have hedgehog home. I love the idea of giving a home to a hedgehog, we don't have a cat at least but it's a small garden on a terraced street so not sure how safe it could be for a hedgehog. The rat-tailed maggots/ larvae seem to be curling into big pulsating balls, loads of them together, which is a curious thing....


Hi Cat

I just found this post after doing a google search. I'm new to ponds and made a whiskey barrel pond a couple of months ago. I'm having exactly the same problem - I'm sure my neighbours will complain about the smell soon  How are you getting on? Has the issue resolved itself? Any advice would be massively appreciated, I tried some sludgebuster but that didn't help. The pond is teaming with larvae  and my plants keep dying. The lily keeps producing leaves but then they rot away.

Look forward to hearing from you and anyone else, thanks in advance


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## LisaAston (19 Jul 2021)

Also do you think when doing water changes it's ok to pour that water on my garden and plants?


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## Cat (19 Jul 2021)

Well... it is still ongoing as it happens. I have 2 barrels but I've had to move the one from my front garden because the barrel has actually etched the top layer of my grey limestone cobbles off, so I've got a giant pale circle now annoyingly. I tested the water with my pH pen and it has a neutral pH and not particularly high PPM so that threw me a bit. I, like you, have a water lily in one of them and I, like you, found that although the leaves were fine when submerged they rotted at the surface. So I started doing daily water changes, reusing the water seems fine. This has helped a lot and it is considerably less gross than the other barrel, but it still stinks and if I don't do it every day it forms a film on the surface of the water. Rat-tailed maggots don't seem to like it anymore but still have a few mosses. The other barrel I've done very few water changes with and the water has a milky look, a staggering amount of mosquito larvae and some rat-tails. The hover flies appear to also die at the surface once they emerge from the water, bit like the water lily leaves. I'm assuming its' a whiskey related problem. I've had water in them for at least 6 months now, I assume its just going to take time for whatever it is to leech out of the wood and I'm hoping winter will fix it ultimately....


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## Cat (11 May 2021)

Hello,
I've had a water lily in a half whiskey barrel for about 10 years it's always been beautiful but the wood had started to go so I bought a couple of new barrels to replace the old one and start a new one off. I think these barrels have come fairly fresh from the brewery (guessing here ) because its been about 2-3 months and the water is constantly slightly white and stinks. I didn't have any water pump going in the old barrels, they were fine without it, but I thought maybe things are just getting a bit anaerobic in there so I put a air stone pump thing in there from one of my fish tanks but that just seemed to make things worse. So I emptied it, bleached the inside of it and then re-charred the wood on the inside and refilled it. I only did this to one barrel because I didn't know what sort of effect it would have. I stuck a load of plants I already had in it, I thought that might help, a Schizostylis and a few other dwarf lilies. 

Anyway a month on they both still stink, they are both a bit cloudy and now they have crazy amounts of rat-tailed maggots and mosquito larvae in them. I have a 3 year old and he used to play in the old barrel quite a lot, I'm worried it will be bad for him to play in them, the smell might put him off I don't know. I don't know whether to try and kill everything, which goes against all my normal instincts, I've read that rat-tails are actually quite hard to kill anyway. I think you can put washing up liquid in to kill the mozy larvae or oil, not sure! The water lilies are started to produce quite a lot of new leaves so they don't seemed bothered?

I just don't know what I can do to speed up all this, I don't even know whats really happening there, wondered if anyone has any experience of this or suggestions as to what I should do going forward? I assume with enough time they will settle down........


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## LisaAston (19 Jul 2021)

Cat said:


> Well... it is still ongoing as it happens. I have 2 barrels but I've had to move the one from my front garden because the barrel has actually etched the top layer of my grey limestone cobbles off, so I've got a giant pale circle now annoyingly. I tested the water with my pH pen and it has a neutral pH and not particularly high PPM so that threw me a bit. I, like you, have a water lily in one of them and I, like you, found that although the leaves were fine when submerged they rotted at the surface. So I started doing daily water changes, reusing the water seems fine. This has helped a lot and it is considerably less gross than the other barrel, but it still stinks and if I don't do it every day it forms a film on the surface of the water. Rat-tailed maggots don't seem to like it anymore but still have a few mosses. The other barrel I've done very few water changes with and the water has a milky look, a staggering amount of mosquito larvae and some rat-tails. The hover flies appear to also die at the surface once they emerge from the water, bit like the water lily leaves. I'm assuming its' a whiskey related problem. I've had water in them for at least 6 months now, I assume its just going to take time for whatever it is to leech out of the wood and I'm hoping winter will fix it ultimately....


Thanks so much for your reply although I'm gutted for you (and me) it is still ongoing! I'll definitely keep up the water changes. I've lost around 5 plants so far so it's starting to cost money. I'm not going to buy anymore until I've sorted this


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## Cat (19 Jul 2021)

I haven't lost any plants but I think thats because I started started doing the water changes as soon as saw those rotting leaves, my dwarf water lilies cost £15 so really didn't want to loose it, plus I've had it about 10 years oh and I just took the Iris out because it was new and looked peaky. Whatever fumes are coming off that water its gotta be pretty toxic! Surprised me that the pH was neutral, I guess we've gotta just keep diluting water ever is in that wood. It's never happened to me before so I was wondering if it might have something to do with Covid, I thought with the shops being shut maybe they hadn't been sitting outside being "seasoned"as they normally would? who knows!


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## LisaAston (27 Jul 2021)

Hi @Cat thought I'd update you...I couldn't take the stench any longer so I bought this black 50cm tub from amazon (Amazon product) and have packed soil and stones around the outside and tbh I think it looks really nice. Smell has gone and I have lovely clear water. Thought it could be an idea for you if it gets too much


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## Cat (27 Jul 2021)

My mother suggested this too! And to be fair it looks good, pebbles help give it a rustic charm. My water lillies are doing well, got 2 flowers and 3 buds but a staggering amount of mosquito larvae. But it still smells awful and the other tub is quite a lot worse bc I haven't changed the water as often. I've got this far but if winter doesn't season them I might have to have a rethink!


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## LisaAston (27 Jul 2021)

Ah your lillies are amazing!!!!


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## castle (27 Jul 2021)

Just to chime in, I know one other who is complaining of the same thing. I’m thinking the barrels haven’t been aged too well.


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## Cat (27 Jul 2021)

Yes I think going forward buying whiskey barrels during a pandemic might be something I don't do again!


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## Cat (28 Jul 2021)

LisaAston said:


> Ah your lillies are amazing!!!!


Thank you they are quite old but they're still better than normal, maybe they like the stink!


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## goto10 (31 Jul 2021)

I am also going to chime in here...I had the exact same problem - but with a wooden wine barrel. After a month or so the water was green/cloudy with lots of mosquito larvae and ring tailed worms (which personally make my skin crawl!) and, worst of all, a horrible stench. For a month I have been trying the same approach of regular water changes (every 2-3 days) with my fingers crossed hoping things would get better. I do think it was helping but after going away for a week the stench returned quite badly.  

While the plants (above water) were doing quite well the leaves/stems of my plants under water were turning black. Except my lily which also seems to love the stinky water! I had a plant completely turn black which I revived by putting it in small tub of fresh water in the greenhouse. This made me seriously consider if the water changes were enough.

So yesterday I bit the bullet and started over. I emptied the barrel and lined it with pond liner and refilled. It was an easy job and my fingers are crossed that the stench doesn't return. At the bottom of the barrel was the source of the stink - a thick layer of grey sludge will a smell that made my eyes water. The water must have had something in there that was killing some of the plants (but not the lily!). I had put in some oxygenating plants in there and these have completely gone (turned into sludge).


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## Cat (31 Jul 2021)

First time I had a barrel I lined it and the water just found it's way round it so I just took it out but that's why I didn't bother trying that this time. I found my hover fly larvae just died on the surface but now I do water changes there aren't any in there anymore. I reckon after winter it'll be alright, I'm hoping anyway!


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## alicherry (9 Sep 2021)

So glad I found this thread! I'm on my 3rd go at a whisky barrel pond, the first 2 did exactly what the OP described- went cloudy and full of rat tailed maggots and mosquitos, plus a really unpleasant smell. I then took the best part of a day emptying and lining with butyl, (which is really tricky with a round surface area) and replacing the plants. It looked great for 3 weeks until the heavens opened, the container overflowed and water got underneath the liner. I'm back to square 1 with cloudy/black water, rotting plants and an army of mosquitoes. I have seen some tiny aquatic snails that must have hitched a ride surviving in there, so not sure whether to wait patiently and endure the smell over winter to see if it resolves or start again. Most disappointing is all the tv shows encouraging you to have water in your garden make it look far too easy!


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## Cat (9 Sep 2021)

Hi,

To be honest it normally is really easy, I've had several water filled whiskey barrels over the years and normally everything is fine, no troubles at all. I think it's most likely something to do with the pandemic. All the pubs shut, the movement of barrels would have changed, so maybe none were seasoned as normal? But I'm just guessing....


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## martin-green (9 Sep 2021)

Just saying.......... looking round the internet it seems that most people who buy a genuine half whiskey barrel with the idea of turning it into a water feature actually do put a liner in it as they are known to cause problems. Smelly / dark coloured water, one person I was reading about was hoping to solve the problem in a couple of months 

Whiskey barrels are "seasoned" when they are constructed, not later, so unless it is a new barrel it will have already been seasoned. 

I also note that in normal use (Storing whiskey etc) the barrel can not dry out, and if a barrel does dry out the timber contracts and as a result the metal bands holding the barrel together fall off, no more barrel,  although how long this takes I know not.

You can get a variety of plastic "sumps" from the likes of ebay or Amazon that have no such problems and you can even bury them, and in most cases they cost less than a wooden barrel.


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## Cat (9 Sep 2021)

martin-green said:


> Just saying.......... looking round the internet it seems that most people who buy a genuine half whiskey barrel with the idea of turning it into a water feature actually do put a liner in it as they are known to cause problems. Smelly / dark coloured water, one person I was reading about was hoping to solve the problem in a couple of months
> 
> Whiskey barrels are "seasoned" when they are constructed, not later, so unless it is a new barrel it will have already been seasoned.
> 
> ...


I've never lined them, never needed too, never had this problem before. I've never had to get the water moving with a pump or anything before either the waters always been crystal clear. The barrels do dry out put if you put water back in they inflate again, so it's not catastrophic. If you're maturing whiskey in them there's probably all sorts of requirements for the flavourful seasoning of them that I don't know about. But my understanding of seasoned wood is that Its just left outside for a while so it can get wet and dry and do it's contracting and inflating for a while, and find a more stable shape for the long term but clearly I'm not a wood expert! I'm sure someone on here knows this stuff...


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## JacquiM (23 May 2022)

LisaAston said:


> Hi @Cat thought I'd update you...I couldn't take the stench any longer so I bought this black 50cm tub from amazon (Amazon product) and have packed soil and stones around the outside and tbh I think it looks really nice. Smell has gone and I have lovely clear water. Thought it could be an idea for you if it gets too muchView attachment 172353



This is such a good idea!  I have a whiskey barrel which stinks and was killing my (expensive) plants.  The water is a cloudy white/grey and has strange jelly like things clinging to the edge.  I have no idea what they are.  I removed all my sick plants and have them all sitting in plastic containers; they are recovering well.  In the same timeframe I cleaned the barrel, which the barrel is stinky once more.  I have taken inspiration from your post and have a big black tub on order and some gravel at the ready.  I'll post a photo when I take delivery and set it up.  Thank so much for the inspiration!


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## JacquiM (23 May 2022)

LisaAston said:


> Hi @Cat thought I'd update you...I couldn't take the stench any longer so I bought this black 50cm tub from amazon (Amazon product) and have packed soil and stones around the outside and tbh I think it looks really nice. Smell has gone and I have lovely clear water. Thought it could be an idea for you if it gets too muchView attachment 172353



This is such a good idea!  I have a whiskey barrel which stinks and was killing my (expensive) plants.  The water is a cloudy white/grey and has strange jelly like things clinging to the edge.  I have no idea what they are.  I removed all my sick plants and have them all sitting in plastic containers; they are recovering well.  In the same timeframe I cleaned the barrel, which the barrel is stinky once more.  I have taken inspiration from your post and have a big black tub on order and some gravel at the ready.  I'll post a photo when I take delivery and set it up.  Thank so much for the inspiration!


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## Cat (23 May 2022)

I just left mine with everything in them over winter and both of them are fine now......


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## Belly (8 Aug 2022)

Your final post here has given me a certain degree of confidence Cat. I've had my wine barrel for about 3 months having been inspired by this Gardener's World video (BBC Two - Gardeners' World, 2021, Episode 10, Barrel pond). I constructed a traditional (ie with lining) pond at my parents many years ago and used that to establish a common newt colony and I wanted to establish a colony at my place. So, having watched this video, I contacted the supplier of the barrel that they used. All I can say is that it hasn't been remotely as idyllic as per the video and I'm relieved that I didn't put any newts in there as I'm pretty sure they would have been dead by now: the same problems documented above (stench, countless dead plants—water mint, water forget-me-nots, although not the iris and water lily which seem to be OK—murk, mosquito  and hoverfly larva. I called the supplier who shrugged it off as "alcohol" (they actually knew I was using it for newts too) which the hot weather will "eventually" evaporate. Not in Manchester it ain't. I'm now quite regularly emptying the water and refilling and praying that it will sort itself out. So much for sitting with a gin and tonic next to a watery paradise this summer. Totally arsed off.  does anyone recommend a good value water quality tester?


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## tigertim (8 Aug 2022)

Don't you lot that use barrels give the inside of the wood a coat of Black bitumem first, that would kill off anything a bit iffy in the wood polluting the water ?


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## martin-green (8 Aug 2022)

I believe bitumen would  kill off any aquatic life too.


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## Cat (11 May 2021)

Hello,
I've had a water lily in a half whiskey barrel for about 10 years it's always been beautiful but the wood had started to go so I bought a couple of new barrels to replace the old one and start a new one off. I think these barrels have come fairly fresh from the brewery (guessing here ) because its been about 2-3 months and the water is constantly slightly white and stinks. I didn't have any water pump going in the old barrels, they were fine without it, but I thought maybe things are just getting a bit anaerobic in there so I put a air stone pump thing in there from one of my fish tanks but that just seemed to make things worse. So I emptied it, bleached the inside of it and then re-charred the wood on the inside and refilled it. I only did this to one barrel because I didn't know what sort of effect it would have. I stuck a load of plants I already had in it, I thought that might help, a Schizostylis and a few other dwarf lilies. 

Anyway a month on they both still stink, they are both a bit cloudy and now they have crazy amounts of rat-tailed maggots and mosquito larvae in them. I have a 3 year old and he used to play in the old barrel quite a lot, I'm worried it will be bad for him to play in them, the smell might put him off I don't know. I don't know whether to try and kill everything, which goes against all my normal instincts, I've read that rat-tails are actually quite hard to kill anyway. I think you can put washing up liquid in to kill the mozy larvae or oil, not sure! The water lilies are started to produce quite a lot of new leaves so they don't seemed bothered?

I just don't know what I can do to speed up all this, I don't even know whats really happening there, wondered if anyone has any experience of this or suggestions as to what I should do going forward? I assume with enough time they will settle down........


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## tigertim (8 Aug 2022)

martin-green said:


> I believe bitumen would  kill off any aquatic life too.


Not killed off anything in my preformed pond, plants and fish very healthy, i did fill it up then leave it overnight and drain the water though.


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## Cat (9 Aug 2022)

tigertim said:


> Don't you lot that use barrels give the inside of the wood a coat of Black bitumem first, that would kill off anything a bit iffy in the wood polluting the water ?


Simple answer is that I have never had to coat them before. Just fill them up, wait for the wood to expand and then off you go. Over 15 years of using barrels and this has never happened before. I'm rather presuming it is pandemic related as this is the only time it has happened.


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## Cat (9 Aug 2022)

Belly said:


> Your final post here has given me a certain degree of confidence Cat. I've had my wine barrel for about 3 months having been inspired by this Gardener's World video (BBC Two - Gardeners' World, 2021, Episode 10, Barrel pond). I constructed a traditional (ie with lining) pond at my parents many years ago and used that to establish a common newt colony and I wanted to establish a colony at my place. So, having watched this video, I contacted the supplier of the barrel that they used. All I can say is that it hasn't been remotely as idyllic as per the video and I'm relieved that I didn't put any newts in there as I'm pretty sure they would have been dead by now: the same problems documented above (stench, countless dead plants—water mint, water forget-me-nots, although not the iris and water lily which seem to be OK—murk, mosquito  and hoverfly larva. I called the supplier who shrugged it off as "alcohol" (they actually knew I was using it for newts too) which the hot weather will "eventually" evaporate. Not in Manchester it ain't. I'm now quite regularly emptying the water and refilling and praying that it will sort itself out. So much for sitting with a gin and tonic next to a watery paradise this summer. Totally arsed off.  does anyone recommend a good value water quality tester?


I used my Hanna pen to test the water. It does Ph, Micro Siemens and PPM however it didn't show up as different to my regular water.  Summer wasn't good but over the winter they've all normalised, they are both fabulous now, so I'd just leave them if I were you.


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