For big city dwellers, yard space is hard to come by. With apartment houses planted right on the streets and a minimal amount of communal land behind, there's no way to maintain a garden or cultivate a lot of flowers. You can, however, think on a smaller scale. If you have access to a balcony or a deck, or even a fire escape, you can build a water garden in containers that will give you the semblance of an in-ground water feature. You'll be able to enjoy sounds of the water gurgling and relax while watching tiny fish swimming, grow water plants, and enjoy the serenity that only a water garden can give you. Water garden containers give you the foundation for building a watery oasis in very limited space.

Locating water garden containers isn't as difficult as selecting exactly what you want. A recommended volume for a container is 15-25 gallons, and any sort of container in that size range will be okay. You will also require containers to grow your water plants in, because plants should be grown in separate pots and then inserted into the water-filled container. It's best to select a container with a dark-colored interior, because the dark color will provide your pond with the idea of depth. Dark interiors are also more environmentally-friendly in that they won't be an attraction for algae and yet they'll camouflage the presence of any algae that starts growing.

Your water garden should be located where it will get at least six hours of sun each day. Many water plants don't thrive and flower well without at least that much sunlight, even though some bog plants will be okay with less sun. The plants you select for your garden should be varied for the greatest effect. Choose some that float, a few that grow under water, and emergent species when selecting the plants you want to include. Plants offer the function of shading the water which, once again, diminishes the growth of algae. When you create a new water garden, however, you can expect your water to get cloudy-looking after a couple of weeks. Just hang in there, though, and the plants and fish will slowly but surely start controlling the algae growth, and the water will start clearing up.

In addition to fish, you want to stick a few snails in your water garden containers. Snails are critical in eating algae, fish waste matter, and decaying organic materials. Tiny fish, such as guppies, are recommended for containers that are 20 gallons or smaller; larger than that you can probably add a couple of goldfish. Guppies and similar fish are ideal choices, because they handle changes in temperature well, and they gobble up those pesky mosquitoes.

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