I'm in the process of setting up an outside raised pond for oscars.
I'm using an old water carrying crate (the big plastic ones with a steel cage arround it) cut in half, it holds 700l. I have river sand as a substrate and it is planted with lillys and water grasses and I have guppys in there to cycle the water. I intend to put 2 Oscars in there. I live in the north West of Western Australia so water temperature isn't a factor, well it would be if it was in full sun but it's in quite a shady part of the garden. I've kept Oscars before in tanks when I lived in UK.
Are there any specific problems I need to look out for with an outdoor set up?

I would thin Algae would be your major concern. And maybe birds... I know here in the US birds often steal and eat Koi...

I would LOVE to see pictures of what you have set!

i know what you mean about plastic container with ribs carrier...
when you embedded it in the ground... just make sure there would be
no pressure at the wall, otherwise it will break easily in few months.
the weather make the plastic brittle...

all i can do is dream about that kinda pond, for winters are too cold in Holland.
But one day ,maybe, an indoor pond would be nice.

Adequate filtration would be a must, like on any oscar tank.
And if i were you, i'd try to get a bigger container, that'll be more fun, if you ask me.

Noddy wrote:

hey Noddy... if what i am thinking is right, that plastic container is normally
mounted in an ELF mini truck.... isn't it Daimurph?

Paul yea thats right the container is about 2m x 2m but they are UV safe and it's above ground so I'm using the cage to keep the integrity of the plastic. I'm using a fluval FX5 for filtration. I'll try and upload some photos tomorrow. The oscars arrive on Thursday

Daimurph wrote:


then how did you come to the calculation of 700 liters?

Noddy wrote:

because he is going to cut it into half.... capacity will depends
on how deep (high) will the wall be!

The height is 400mm + 40mm sand so the capacity is more than 700 l but with a few pots and plants I estimated the volume to be 700l and with evaporation being so high here I'd rather be on safe side. Is that ok Noddy?

but one thing worry me.... your o will be arriving on thursday but you haven't had
cycled you tank.... your fish will be in danger if you put it in an uncycled tank.

Daimurph wrote:

It's been set up with 8 guppys for a month so it should be ok

Daimurph wrote:


i see how you calculated the volume, in it seems correct to me.

please do test your water before putting an oscar in there, to make sure the guppies created enough bioload to get the filter cycled.