I got some cheap solar lights for some of our landscaping a few years back. Like you said, they looked great when they worked. Mine only lasted a couple of months.
To echo what everyone else has already said that turned out pretty amazing.
I have been thinking about doing a small pond project around my house for awhile now. My project would certainly not be something that elaborate though!
The wife bought 20 from walmart that were only 25 cents each. they weren't much bigger than a quarter though. They are now about 4-5 inches long but early on 5 of them died so I only have 15 now. There are also about 20 frogs that found their way their naturally.