Question
Hi There, I'm want to put together a half wine barrel pond, for plants and fish, How deep should the barrel be that I purchase? I notice that they all seem to be different.  Thank You for the help    
                             Tina

Answer
It all depends on what you want, where you live, and so on.  If you're adding fish, the half barrel should be as deep as possible but not so deep that you can't reach the bottom.  The fish do best with as much volume as you can find in a barrel.  Barrels aren't large enough for adult goldfish or koi but can hold adult minnows or baby goldfish.  If you have true winters there, you'll probably have to bring the fish indoors for the winter as an above ground half barrel will probably freeze solid.

Check out my tub pond page at
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/tubpond.htm

Good luck!