I assume that many or most of us have liner made ponds. However, a liner has a real cost and it invariably creates unattractive wrinkles that need hiding. I would think that it would be far cheaper as well as more attractive to seal the jets with plumbing caps on the cut off pipes from the outside or corks of some kind from the inside. Flat rubber could be glued on the insides instead (certainly for the square outlet) and there are probably other plumbing inside caps that I can't actually come up with now.

Fish? Sure; why not!

Chas, thanks for the useful comment. I originally thought the blue color of the tub would be fine, but wasn't sure if the jets and other areas could be completely sealed. I will check out what neat solutions I might be able to do or make up with plastic plumbing bits and glue from the hardware store I do agree that a black liner would cost $$$, darken the pond, and leave wrinkles to deal with. Fishies are a maybe....

Vince

Hi

You could easily build a frame and keep it above ground , Would think the walls would be strong enough to support the weight so you wouldn't have the hassle of digging a correct size hole as with preformed??

Wouldn't think any thing would be neccesary except blocking off the plumbing?? Keep that plumbing, will come in VERY handy during the inevitable maintenence!! and you could have a built in filter system !! If you merely want to change the color, marine grade acrylic paints I certainly would prop it up and fill with water before putting it in ground. good luck gary

Hi Gary, Thanks for the comments! I want to use this tub as a water feature in my back yard, not as a hot tub. I want to have it ground level. I am looking at the plumbing and have pretty much figured it out. I want to figure out how to connect the pump, etc. (and maybe, maybe use the jets on the sides before I set it in the ground). Same with the filter system, if I have something already in place that would be suitable, I'll try to use it. Color will almost definitely stay blue, though.

Hello, Farm boy

My husband I are doing the same thing! We've said this is to be our winter project and have it ready next spring. Someone decided to dump their old hot tub in the woods near our neighborhood. I had contemplated for months now on hauling it off because I hate see things like this just sitting in the woods. Then it occurred to me: turn it into a fish pond! We are only partial burying ours (the bottom middle part) and building a frame around the outside. I wanted to completely bury it but our ground is just so hard here. We talked about a pond liner but they are super expensive. So we decided to caulk up the jets and then spray flex seal on top of the caulk to seal it really well. Once we get the bottom middle buried, my husband is going to build a frame from some leftover pallets. And we have talked about doing lattice work all the way around with some small vine plants growing up them. We're also going to make one of the back panels a door so we can store things under it. We're going to do a couple of different kinds of goldfish in ours because they don't get as big as koi. We went to our local mom and pop pet store and they had some free books on how to build, prepare and keep a pond. They also had some on how to keep fish healthy. We also spoke to the owner who used to build ponds and he's the one who suggested using flex seal on the jets. He also said don't use gravel on the bottom like some people do. He said when the fish rest on the bottom in winter, the rocks can give them ulcers and ultimately kill them.

I hope this has helped and maybe even given you some ideas. We are really hoping to complete this project and have it ready by next spring.

Good luck!

Sara

Hi Vince,

You're very welcome! I'd love to hear some ideas and advice too. We really want to get everything just right since we're putting fish in it. We are taking photos along the way to do a how-to video. I've tried to look online and many people have made ponds out of hot tubs, but not many have done a video on how.

I tried to post a photo of the hot tub but it doesn't look like did it right lol.

Sara