History
This tiny pond was bought because the fancy goldfish I had was growing, but the tank I gave her was only 5.5g.
I just bought it yesterday, and today setting it up DIY - style.
Spec:
1000L/h powerhead.
Size of pond is 2'x2'x1'. (approx 30gallon of water inside).
I used "Drain cover" to place the filter box. I am thinking to put some potted plants on
top of this platform.
It currently sits at the corner of my porch area. I haven't fill it up fully yet at the point I take the photo.
Undergoing cycling with 2 zebra danios inside it. Plus the filter is using an extra bio media sponge from my 12g.
Plans
I want to put potted plants around this pond. The pond is always under shade, so I am not sure whether I'll be having algae issues or not. I have a couples of CAEs in my small shrimp tank if necessary for some algae control.
Uhoh. Is that bow I see in the container along the front left edge? Are you planning on leaving it in the corner or will you be burrowing that sucker? Any idea about plants inside the pond?
Today I transfered Dorothy the ryukin goldfish into the pond after doing a 50% WC on it. She was so happy swimming around...! Pictures coming later. I temporarily use my river rocks to support the sides. I also planted some bamboo shoots in the pond. I put one Anubias in there as well to help absorb any ammonia. I am planning to put pothos there, but haven't got time to do it yet.
Glad she's really happy swimming around. Anubias isn't so good at absorbing ammonia and nitrates. Get some frogbit, those are GREAT at absorbing nitrites and ammonia. If you see them growing and multiplying like mad it's because Dorothy is unloading in the pond haha. And those frogbit will add to the natural look of the pond as well !
My cousin was diagnosed with kidney stones.... shockwave operation was done, and now she's resting with a tube inside her tummy, awaiting for next appointment for follow ups.
The operation seems to be very painful. Hm.
Anyway,
Here's the outdoor nano pond as of now.
I took all of my river rocks and put it around the bow area
for support. This is temporary, because I will go get
a rectangular pot of some sort to put around it. Those river rocks
are actually for my future Mbuna Cichlids tank.
Dorothy's so happy!!
My "platform". Hope the pothos grow wild on this plateau.
Those bamboos are doing well so far.
Not sure whether they're gonna last or not.
Ow. Kidney stones themselves sound painful, let alone the operation. Shockwave operation breaks the stones using shockwaves I guess? I know my friend actually had some when he was a teenager since he didn't eat well. But the doctors gave him this drug that dissolved the stones and he said his piss turned like red :X
Did a good job with those rocks, it looks completely straight now with no bow. It would be cool if you can put plants in the pots such that they grow over the edge to hide to pond edge. Are all the bamboo shoots touching the water in some way? Hard to tell in the pictures. That platform will look sweet when the bamboo grows out. If there's tons of growth you should like have some start growing UNDER the platform so it wraps around it ! And gotta say man, that random floating anubias cracks me up.
Dorthy looks huge too... she used to be in a 5.5g !?!! She's like 4in or something? She looks lonely though *wink wink*
Yep, the shockwave breaks the stones, and of course, injure any kidney meat around it as well which causes lacerations, and yes she was pissing red for 4-5 days. Now the red's gone. But kinda worried whether the broken stones are really dissolved, or not. She is also taking some kind of alkalinizer (not sure if this is the right word) to dissolve the pieces of stones. Doc says if the stones are small <1cm, then u can opt for the dissolving method (no operation of any kind), but for my cousin's case, the stone is already 1.8cm. And it is blocking the kidney connection to the bladder. Scary...
Anyway, back to pond. hehe.
It would be cool if you can put plants in the pots such that they grow over the edge to hide to pond edge.
Yeah... That's my idea as well.. those edges need to be hidden. Actually I was planning to get a rectangular pot a bit higher than the pond, so it will automatically hide the edges. It's in my consideration depending of the type of pot available.
And gotta say man, that random floating anubias cracks me up.
Hahahaha.. I haven't removed it, actually I plan to put it in my betta tank. My betta seems to love swimming all over the place (not just top surface).
Dorthy looks huge too... she used to be in a 5.5g !?!! She's like 4in or something? She looks lonely though *wink wink*
Yep, the shockwave breaks the stones, and of course, injure any kidney meat around it as well which causes lacerations, and yes she was pissing red for 4-5 days. Now the red's gone. But kinda worried whether the broken stones are really dissolved, or not. She is also taking some kind of alkalinizer (not sure if this is the right word) to dissolve the pieces of stones. Doc says if the stones are small <1cm, then u can opt for the dissolving method (no operation of any kind), but for my cousin's case, the stone is already 1.8cm. And it is blocking the kidney connection to the bladder. Scary...
Yeah... That's my idea as well.. those edges need to be hidden. Actually I was planning to get a rectangular pot a bit higher than the pond, so it will automatically hide the edges. It's in my consideration depending of the type of pot available.
Hahahaha.. I haven't removed it, actually I plan to put it in my betta tank. My betta seems to love swimming all over the place (not just top surface).
Yep end to end, she is about 4". Not that lonely, there are a couple of danios in there hehe.
Ahhh, don't go spending tons of money on the pots when the plants will cover it in due time! When are you getting that giant water lily thing ?
And I can't see anything else in the tank besides her haha, she's huge! Is there tons of her poop on the bottom of the tank? How are you cleaning that?
I got it in my country (Malaysia) here locally. The cost is about 26bucks converted to USD. It is a poly-plastic kinda thing. Not fibre glass. It is strong, but kinda flexible.
Finally managed to pull my strength to get Dorothy's friend - Dolly. But I don't know whether Dolly is a female or male. Dorothy is surely female since she did laid eggs before.
So here are some pond plants. There are 2 species here. See their leaves, they are different.
Nice. Those look huge! How is the filtering going? Have you been doing water changes lately? And dang, that bamboo took off a lot!!! Tons of new growth on it. Wish those columns weren't so darn blue, kinda draws the view in towards them instead of elsewhere.
Actually I bought 2 of that rectangular pot. Turns out they aren't exactly 2 ft. So I couldn't put them both along the edge of the pond. Good thing my wife wants the other one to plant her herbs and stuffs. So I will be getting the smaller rectangular pot later. I have no idea about the names of the potted plants, but they are surely "no direct sunlight" type. I am still going to look for other shrubs plants to fill in the empty space in the pots later.
This project is looking great! But those blue columns bother me too. I wonder if you could get some black pvc tubes just a bit larger in diameter than the columns, split them down one side and then put them around the columns to cover them. Or you could probably paint them, but then you'd have to disassemble the platform and that doesn't sound fun. Another option might be to get some fake vines and wrap them around, or some tall fake aquarium plants to stand around the columns. Just some ideas.
Love what you've done with it and can't wait to see the next updates!
You can take the columns out and spray paint them? But you would have to wait a long while for it to dry... hmm, or cover it with lots and lots of java moss? Lol.
Yeah the lucky bamboo really took off, you can probably propagate the growth now by just cutting off those new stems. They do great in fish water, good filtering plant, roots everywhere!
Wow! nice to know u guys are interested in my projects. thanks for checking out my tiny pond.
yea I had a bad feeling about the blue column as well. but i believe I can think of a way to fix it --- maybe wrap them up with something like wendyjo suggested.
The one on the right is a Spathiphyllum `Mauna Loa', aka Peace Lily.
Left looks like a Aglaonema Modestum, aka Chinese Evergreen (not sure though).
Ok i just got a smaller rectangular pot and finished setting it up. plus i got a couple of new shrubs. but its dark now, so no pics yet. maybe tomorrow.
I'm thinking to put some small light at this pond as well.
Would love to see how you're doing lighting, DIY projects scare me
I either buy preassembled stuff or improvise with something else. My mud bucket has absolutely nothing lol, plant filtration, wind serves as a powerhead, and indirect sun for lighting
How does DIY project scare you xenxes? You seem to do pretty well with yours!
Since the tank is outside can't you get one of those floodlights that people use to light door entrances? It would be simple and pretty hidden. And just slap on a 6500K bulb there and you're good to go!
Would you be able to get like 4 extra columns, spray paint those, and then switch them out when they dry?
I still wanna find other species of shrub plants to put at the empty areas in the rectangular pots. But atm, none of the plants I saw is interesting enough for me.
What about polka dot plants for out front, they don't get very tall and won't obstruct the front corner view, adds some color:
Comes in white, pink, and red. I actually think you have the white variety already... if you go color, some flowering orchids in the back or purple foliage will balance out the back.
xenxes, yup I saw the red variety at the shop... umm.. not really liking it. i'd like an ADA style pond, instead of Dutch style. There are plenty of plants shop near my house, I haven't search enough. will go again next time. perhaps i'll take some photos as well..
I guess you'll have to keep the plants low level growing so pond maintenance won't be super difficult.
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