AquaGarden Pond & Waterfall Kit

OK. I never do reviews….EVER! You buy a light fixture, it’s a light fixture. You buy some tools, they’re tools. You buy a computer component it is a computer component. All are better or worse for what they do and you learn if they are crap (or not) then you move on in your own elated or disgusted silence. But this item. Well, this item is different. It’s an item that adds to the charm of your own private place. A back porch. A front porch. A deck….heck, even a living room or sun room...or any room if you’d like. It's an incredible purchase! Background: I drive a truck. I’m not home most of the week. I don’t have time to build a back porch pond. (though I could). I don’t have time to create a special outdoor place. (though I could). But I do what I can when I am able. I cut the grass. I fix light switches. I change oil. I do guy stuff on the weekends. So one day, to give my wife a nice area to work at home, I made a quickie outdoor fountain from a large planter to put on our back porch and it was “o k”...(my wife thought so), but it didn’t have the charm I was looking for. It was too deep and I had to make a custom hanger for the water plants. I installed a low pressure fountain but when the fountain was adjusted to attaine the soothing water sound we were looking for, it shot water all over the place. I thought….well, maybe I could make some kind of waterfall thingy. I toyed with ideas to build a wooden box with a liner. I toyed with an elaborate fountain….I toyed with all kinds of ideas….yeah, well….how long will that take to build? How about hiring a…...STOP!…..I’m not going to hire some designer to do what I could do….especially these days. But I was in a quandary. I don’t have the time and I needed something simple. I needed something quick. I needed something I don’t have to build…...I needed something with quality and my wife’s birthday is coming up and I want to give her a place she can chill…. So I shopped and shopped and ( from my phone….on a freight run….somewhere in Indiana)….BEHOLD! Enter this piece of kit! I recently took off work for half a week for other obligations and while I was off work, I ordered this. I selected next day shipping from Amazon and it was delivered post haste. I had it up and running in about 3 hours (before my wife came home from a seminar.) I surprised her with this….(with me grinning like a prom-dance kid)….aw...shucks! She loves it! I am content. Silly simple to install. Just follow the printed directions. I would imagine that if you have a level surface….(a concrete porch or slab or a level deck surface, you will be alright). But I wanted to elevate this a bit. In my case, I had a couple of oak tree trunk cross sections cut into 2-4 inch thickness and I used one as a base for the pond. I placed several 2×4 weather rated scraps under the oak cross section and used a ¼ plywood section on top of the oak slab to make a uniform base and shimmed where needed. The results are impeccable! I rinsed off the included stones then added them to the pond, then filled it a few inches and swirled the water around to stir up any sediment and debris, then used a scoop to throw out any water that looked cloudy. Refilled a few inches and repeat. Note: This is particularly important if you are adding water plants to the upper shelf! After placing the clay/growing media into the upper shelf, rinse the root balls of your plants until most, if not all, of the potting soil/growing media is gone. Then place them into the clay media that is provided and add the stones on top and run the pump. Scoop out any floating debris or dirty water that spills into the main basin, watch for more debris, scoop out, then fill to the level you feel best. I did buy the overhead LED lamp that is advertised in addition to this item. Frankly, my wife and I prefer it to the under waterfall LED that comes with the kit. To us, it adds an ambiance and effect that the provided led (under the fall) cannot provide...your experience may differ. Experiment! You can create a variety of environments with this wonderful piece of decor. I’ve seen everything from far-east mystic to quaint garden gnome hoopla to some pretty avaunt-garde stuff.….It’s yours to explore. But don’t go piling a bunch of rocks and crap on the waterfall shelf….it is plastic after all and will probably distort with too much weight. Experiment with it. A few creative and tasteful accents can bring this item to life. My wife and I dug out a couple decorations lying around in the basement and created our own simple scene. Frogs and turtles: Quaint. Country. Gods gift. BTW….Note how clean the water!… I ran this system for 24 hours before I took this picture The water level is actually just to the lower edge of the turtles shell...all of the legs are under water. Clean and clear! Buy this if you don’t have the the time to build the most awesome porch pond to impress your wife…..she'll love you , she'll give you kisses. She'll say you're wonderful and you'll then have more time to fix the light switch that broke 2 days ago.....

I love it so much I am trying to atract dragonflies this is a great easy to assemble water feature for my front garden. So calming and great quality. It is easy to clean and worth every penny. It works very well.

Needed an indoor pond for my smaller fish that were outside for the summer. I saw this AquaGarden and decided to give it a try since the price was reasonable during Prime days and I decided not to set up a regular fish tank, trying instead to keep the pond feel. I must say, I love this versatile water feature. It is a good size at 24x24 wide and perfect for my needs in the house. It came in the manufacturers box, which was a little beat up during delivery but the pond and spillway were fine. My bowl did have a slight straight side (guessing they are stored on their side) but it is very slight and actually worked well for butting it up against a wall and you wouldn't know because that is where I put the spillway. My fish are loving their new winter home and get a constant flow of fresh water cascading down into the bowl creating lots of oxygen. Tips when setting up: -Rinse out the bowl and spillway before adding anything, mine had rock dust on it. -Set up the pump, light, and spillway and place the pond where you want it. Don't add any water until you set up the spillway completely the way you want it. (see below) -Wash all rocks that come with the pond thoroughly to prevent water clouding. Do the lava rock first. I had 3 colanders to wash each and keep separate until use. -IMPORTANT -When adding the lava rock in the spillway you may want to lay mesh over them - they are porous and float and find their way into the bowl below, even with the black rock over them!!! Believe you me, it's nearly impossible to put them back without dislodging others, so save your sanity. -Add any plants you want to the spillway before adding water and turning on the pump. I would say add plants when you do the lava rock and place the mesh down. You may have to cut slits in the mesh to insert them, then add the larger black rock to secure everything in place. Sounds like a pain but trust me its worth it. Wish the company would included some sort of mesh to cover the lava rock. I bought fine mesh bags at the dollar store and also used them to wrap around the water pump (secured with plastic twist tie) to make sure my fishy's didn't end up getting sucked into it like some people mentioned. If you have larger fish they should be fine. I have had zero issues and the mesh has stayed very clean and will be easy to clean or replace as needed. -The brown rock for the bowl is ok but makes everything dark in the already dark bowl, so I opted to use lighter colored rock, MOP chips and iridescent smooth glass to lighten everything up. -You can add rocks or the like to break up the flow of the spillway to create your own water sounds too. Lastly, I just happened to find an unused smaller pump and and grow light with a flexible head at the thrift store and figured I might as well buy them both, totaling $5 (score). The light sits on a counter next to the bowl and I can turn it on if needed. The pond is near a window, so during the day there is filtered light and it never hurts to stash away a spare pump. Overall, I am super pleased with this set-up. Even thought it's all plastic, it's very sturdy and should last indefinitely. No more broken glass or cracked pots. The plastic could be easily painted or decorated to suit your taste. Perhaps even sunk into a large decorative planter. Once you add all the plants and accessories you don't even notice the bowl. Fish are completely optional. I loved seeing all the reviews and the way everyone decorated their pond. Gave me great ideas. I added a separate fountain on the spillway for fun. The soothing water sound is so nice indoors. If you're on the fence, get off, and try this! -

I am very familiar with this company and all of their excellent products because they are one of the best. I used to build ponds with my husband and anything related to this company is going to be fabulous. I wanted to add something small to my sitting area in the back and it looked fabulous and worked so well. It has simple Elegance. I will be purchasing the stand for it as well as I sold the table that it was sitting on. I recommend this company and I recommend all their products. It's an easy setup and easy pump system and easy to take care of. You'll love the idea of adding your own plants, stones and rocks creating your own unique little Paradise that is different than the usual water features, and very classy. Again a quality product that you cannot go wrong with. You might spend a little bit more but it's well worth it in the end. So I definitely recommend this water feature, you can't go wrong. I guarantee it.

I absolutely love this product. Well made and looks sooo good. Easy to assemble.

The mini pond is easy to set up. I didn’t use the black pebbles. I used sand for the base and used the multi coloured pebbles for the top. I also fitted a spare grow light into the top section. I had some problems with the pump and light because we use a different voltage, and even with a transformer it was problematic, but that’s not the fault of the manufacturer. It was easy to retrofit my own pump into the socket and replace the light so overall I’m pretty happy with it.

This pond was incredibly easy to set up and has been running seamlessly in my front garden. While I don’t use the light as it’s a bit too bright and might disturb the fish, everything else about it is perfect. We love relaxing on our front porch, watching the fish swim and enjoying the calming sounds of the waterfall. The water sound can be easily adjusted by changing the pond’s water level. I also added marsh plants that are thriving, along with some rocks for a personal touch. Brown pellets for plants float and are hard to bury under the black rocks. If you are putting fish in, make sure you rinse all the rocks and pond thoroughly and treat your tap water. I would definitely buy this pond again. Highly recommended!

Nice product, purchased the stand separately. You can purchase or find your larger rocks to fit your own needs