Aquascape Pond and Waterfall Kit AquaGarden Container Water Garden, Steel Gray

Awesome. Easy to setup and a beautiful addition to my room

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.....

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! -

Edit Oct 2025 I'm taking it down a star. I'm now 2 years in with both. The one outside is fine, not much fading, no corrosion. I clean twice a year and rinse the filter a little more often in the winter season. The one in the patio under roof, same treatment but after a year it started fading and going white, a few months later I had to use an algaecide per directions every so often though no sun lands on it? The corrosion is awful and it just can't be cleaned anymore so the algae just stains it too. I fill with tap water so not sure why the bowl corroded so badly. Definitely not going to spend over $100 for another one to last 2 years. I loved it on my patio too Edit. It's now 8 months later and the pump has died on one of them. It hums but doesn't circulate and after cleaning, checking it etc..it's wasn't clogged or anything, I attempted the warranty. Takes a lot out of your hands but I learned that if you're going to throw the box away, take a pic of the registration numbers on it first. I guess we will see if they replace it or not. I'm still loving the ponds that I bought and they're doing well, at least one is currently, they are easy to take care of and keep clean...though avoid the stand, it rusts out within 3-4 months in FL, under a covered patio. I bought two, one for inside the screened patio and one for outside. Love them. They're easy to set up and care for especially if you're not a DIY'er. Would it be cheaper if you made something similar yourself? Heck yes, by a lot but I'm lazy and didn't want to deal with it. The pond bowl I keep inside has various plants and a rock or two to create some better falling water sounds. The light is stupid bright..like runway lights in the dark, so I covered the bulb with 80% light blocking film...find it here on Amazon, it isn't touched by water so it's been fine and dulls the light down a lot for a low light effect..perfect. I use an algaecide once a month to cut down on algae, the inside one gets a little sun so buildup is not bad but needs a little help. The outside one is only a problem when there are no tadpoles who eat it, so I add only once every 3 months. I've found that the algae can build up outside but then clear up in a couple of days because of the plants and my filter only needs a little cleaning every couple of months..nothing more than that.

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.

I watched a video by Serpa Designs on Youtube where he altered this mini pond to make it look more natural. I loved it and always wanted to make something like that but didn’t know where to start. This is the perfect base for creating a beautiful natural mini aquascape. I added lots of plants, moss, and rocks to this. I used the big black rocks they send with the kit to weigh down a plastic mesh overtop of the filter rocks so that they won’t float up and over the waterfall. I recommend researching how to set this up and maintain it for fish if that is your goal. About once a month or so you should take a small bucket full of your pond water, take the filter sponge off, and squeeze it out in the pond water bucket repeatedly until it is clean. Never use chemicals for cleaning it. You can tell when it needs cleaning because the waterfall will get less powerful. I waited about 2 or so months before adding a betta fish. I have a small heater in the tank for the betta and because I keep this on my back porch it is important to have a heater in it. The base design may not be the most naturalistic looking but the DIY possibilities with this thing are many! Also, my fish just loves it and I find it easy to maintain. I clean the pond once a week always on Sunday and throughout the week I add more water that is lost from evaporation but I treat the water with a water cleaner meant for fish. NEVER use straight tap water! Anyways I already want a second mini pond!!! Wonderful product that got me back into fish keeping!

I got this at an open box price and I still feel like it’s massively overpriced. It’s just cheap plastic. I set it up as intended at first and it’s just not great. Pro tip: If you place rocks of various sizes and shapes (not provided) along the spillway, you can get a far better waterfall sound. The light color is a very harsh blue color and far too bright. If it’s the tiniest bit off level, the water in the the upper portion falls backward and out of the vessel. It’s hard to describe the pump issue, but basically there’s only one way the pump can go in because of how it hooks to the upper bowl, and this means that if a small amount of water evaporates, the pump starts sucking air (not good). Compared that to my other fountain that I have to fill up maybe 6x a year if we’ve had a serious drought period. I’m filling this constantly. I really wish I had returned it, even though I got a deal on it. I’m going to take the components apart and use the top part as a spillway into a concrete trough I have, although I’m not sure yet how I’ll make the cheap plastic blend in. Maybe tile mosaic if I can figure out how to make sure it adheres. The bowl I’m going to use with a glazed ceramic sphere fountain I already had. I was going to use that with a basinless system, but the tree roots around my patio are insane, so this will be easier, but once again, I’m not sure how to work with the ugly plastic. I’ll look into some waterproof coatings and what I can get to stick to this with some bonding primer. Ugh. Wish I had just returned it!

Absolutely perfect! My friends said this is awesome and soothing to listen to (the waterfall). Easy assembly and just add your favorite plants. They provide everything else, but of course you also buy your own fish. I also added a large piece of wood and large stones for them to hide. Stand sold separately, and easy to assemble.