Indoor Container Garden DIY

Anyone who knows me, I’m a Pisces through and through. I’ve always had a need to be around fish and water. It’s soothing to the soul. I even built my mother a koi pond at my childhood home. By hand {with NO experience mind you, and it’s still there today!} Guess that’s where some of my DIY roots started.

So a few weeks ago, I got a grand idea to make an indoor container garden, with fish included!

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Here's What You'll Need

A large container {I got mine from Ikea for $12.99… try here and here}
Water Plants {here, here and here}
Rocks
Goldfish {if desired}
Net
Food

First, rinse the rocks in a strainer and wash off any debris. Once clean, place them in bottom of container. Next, rinse all your plants off. Some of my plants came with extra “friends” that you don’t need to introduce into your new environment. Arrange your plants as desired.

Since I have public water, I made sure to use filtered water to fill the container. Using filtered water keeps any harmful chemicals out that could harm both plant and animal. When added the water, don’t panic if the water turns murky. It should settle in a few minutes.

I found this little friend when I was washing off the water plants. Added bonus, a free organic container cleaner! Thanks little friend.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. August is the end of the gardening season; nurseries are wrapping up and liquidated their stock for sale. Now is the perfect time to get cheap water plants!

Going to my local nursery, I scored water lettuce for $3.99, and a bundle of oxygenators for $2.99. I did want some floating frogbite but my local location didn’t have any in stock. Purchasing from a nursery was so much cheaper than getting water plants at a petstore {$9.99 for a moss ball or a tank plant, ouch!} I did find some inexpensive water plants on Etsy, just in case anyone dosen’t have a local water garden center. I caved and ordered some frogbite… too cute to not have.

If you’re adding fish, make sure you let the fish acclimate to the water temperature before adding them into the new environment. Do this by floating the bag on the top of the container. You want the water temperatures to equalize.

I let this little guy rest for 30 minutes. Doesn’t he look excited already!

Once the temperatures seemed the same, I introduced this little guy to his new home.

Hello all, meet Fitzgerald!

“Fitz” for short.

Fitz is now in charge of supervising all the activities on my kitchen island. Guarder of the avocados and monitor of the refrigerator door!

Bonus: I thankfully had some leftovers water plants. I put them in a separate container so they can propagate undisturbed. If Fitz eats those in his container, then there are plenty replacements. {Or better yet, I can make another container!} Most water plants are fast reproducers!