How to Keep a Water Container Garden Healthy

Keep your water container garden in a location where it can get full sunlight for at least five hours, but still get afternoon shade.

Place your water garden where leaves cannot fall into it from low tree branches, since leaves can harm your plants and fish, as well as clog pumps.

Choose a location for your water garden close to your water supply. This makes the necessary task of replacing the water level less tedious for you.

Elevate your water container by placing bricks underneath so air can circulate around the container; otherwise, the ground will heat up the water during the summer. Also, elevating your container helps to prevent barrel containers from rotting on the ground.

Use an aquarium pump in your water container garden to help keep the water clean and restore oxygen to the water.

Add floating plants to your water garden to help keep algae from growing, ensuring you leave enough room between your plants for air to circulate freely. Choose plants such as floating water ferns and water hyacinths. Add water lilies to help keep the water cool and prevent oxygen loss from the surface of the water.

Examine the plants before adding them to your water garden. Look for firm, white roots and healthy-looking leaves and stems. Do not add plants that contain or root rot until you have successfully treated the plants.

Add fish such as guppies, to your water container garden four to five weeks after you add the floating plants. Place a fish 1 to 2 inches long for every square foot of water surface in your container. The fish will help keep your container garden healthy by eating algae and insects.

Place 12 water snails for every square yard of surface water in your container garden, which will eat decaying vegetation, algae and fish wastes.