Take a look at the picture below. We have one of those cool 110 gallon Rubbermaid water buckets and ours has an automatic filler with a float valve (like a toilet). The hose we’re using to keep this bucket full is looking compromised so I haven’t been leaving the water on all day in the heat. The picture below was taken after a hot day with the waterer turned off. You can see the water line near the top of the bucket. Those two horses of ours sure drink a lot of water! Just a reminder to make sure those buckets are full each day.
BTW, we love this bucket and the waterer. I’ll write about it someday and include some other pictures.
We use the same size tub but don’t have an auto-waterer for it. We have to fill it every other day. How do you deal with the algea?
I wish I had a automatic waterer for the horses I take care of. I volunteer my time at a Therapuetic Riding Center. I went to check on the waters before I had to leave and our paddock that currently hosts three horses was only half full! I do not know how many gallons of water ours hold. Most likely 110 gallons.
One suggestion about algae, if you can use it with horses, is cornmeal. Plain-jane cornmeal. Just throw it in there. It works with fish ponds of any size.
I board so I don’t deal with algae, but I heard that goldfish do wonders.
The algae is a problem, you’re right. We have to let it get low about once a week, then drain it and scrub it (old hay works great as a scrubber). We tried a couple of products with our old water bucket, but they didn’t work too well – maybe it was too small, too thin, too light, who knows. We’ll give them a try with this one and see if they work better, then let you know.
How much cornmeal are we talking here, Connie?
Goldfish in a drinking trough, Laura? I don’t know about that…they poop, you know. :O
I don’t know about the fish poop but I read about the goldfish on the internet. If it’s on the internet, then it must be true!
Hmmmm, I don’t think so. We have a manmade pond with 5 med-szed goldfish/koi and we have serious algae problems. Of course, it is located in a sunny courtyard, so that doesn’t help.
But the goldfish don’t help either.
I would think, if one would want to go the fish route, a Plecostimous, or Algae Eater, would work better. Except I don’t think they’d overwinter in a water trough outside. And I don’t think most horse would like the taste of concentrated fish poop…and fish flakes floating around. haha
Oh! And I would love to know more about the cornmeal for our pond. I bet the fish would like it, too.