Dorothy and Dolly's Nano Pond (update 6Mar2012)

[doncityz]

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.


... to be continued..

[diwu13]

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?

[rbarn]

Surround with cinder blocks and cover with tile and it will look mucho bueno.

[scream-aim-fire]

i like it, i agree with above support the sides a bit.

[doncityz]

hey thanks for checking this out.

I plan to use rectangular pots to support the sides. around the filter box, i plan to put some pothos.

[doncityz]

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.

[diwu13]

Welcome back Don! Long week at work?

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 !

[doncityz]

Hey diwu, work is subsiding, but a relative who is hospitalized, so everything is put on hold at the moment.

Actually I am thinking of this:

(the bigger floating plant).

Frogbit is good as well, but maybe not because hate for it to cover the whole surface and I can't see Dorothy anymore.

[diwu13]

Oh no! What happened if you don't mind me asking?

Is that larger plant water lettuce? That's actually what comes to mind when I think of a pond haha. Maybe some cattails if they grow near you :P

Or just put a hotdog on a stick

[doncityz]

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.

[diwu13]

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 o.O!?!! She's like 4in or something? She looks lonely though *wink wink*

[doncityz]

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 o.O!?!! She's like 4in or something? She looks lonely though *wink wink*

Yep end to end, she is about 4". Not that lonely, there are a couple of danios in there hehe.

[Fishly]

Where did you get the pond and how much did it cost?

[diwu13]

Originally Posted by doncityz

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...

Holy crap... that is really scary. Doctor prescribed internal damage doesn't sound too good no matter how you phrase it...

Originally Posted by doncityz

Anyway, back to pond. hehe.

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 :P?

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?

[doncityz]

Originally Posted by Fishly

Where did you get the pond and how much did it cost?

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.