The 700 gal indoor sunken garden project

[@marko@]

wow. thats all: "wow" and a little bit of *drool*.

the plants are so healthy, and the whole tank looks like it should be at a public aquarium. especially with all those giant schools of thriving fish. i wouldnt be at all suprised if they spawned.

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

Ive never asked this before or maybe somebody already has, but how do you go about maintaining that pond/tank? How do you trim and change water Dedy? I need to know these things as Im planning something similar out at the farm.

[cah925]

Again I am in awe of this wonderful creation. Congrats on everything you have accomplished with this tank.

[plantoon]

LUAR BIASA!!! ini salah satu yang terbaik di indonesia bahkan di dunia

translate:
Wonder-Full+ this is among the best in Indonesia perhaps in the World no dobt about it

[medicineman]

@plantoon,
Ah, a fellow Indonesian aquarist!

Hope my work can inspire, interest, encourage people to make aquascape.

@orlando,
I do my trimming the old school, normal way. Just strip off and jump in
Carefully placing feet at the areas not planted, avoiding damages as much as possible. The width and depth require such way.

As about doing WC. There is a control overflow drain plumbing which will keep the water level should it rise (sometimes you just forgot that you are filling a tank, especially when the tank is this big - it takes quite some time to WC and even just a simple top up).
There is also a huge drain pipe for quick water removal (that huge, ugly white pipe thing I forgot to hack off, sticking by the setup bottom). A full open to the valve could empty 75% of the tank volume within minutes.

Usually what I do is set a timer and slowly bleed new water and let the balance overflow from the control drain pipe. This is a more gentle but slow way of doing WC, even at large percentage. Keeping the water clear is important, esp when you have a setup with such width.

[medicineman]

Final set of pictures for this session :

From the top view.




Considerably much fuller than the intial set-up.

[lauraleellbp]

Oh to have room for all those beautiful swords... *sigh*

medicineman simply amazing is all I can say. I guess so much for my 55 gallon You took it to a whole new level congrats and best of luck with everything.

[medicineman]

Thanks for stopping by and it is good that people can enjoy it with me, even though just merely trough pics.

The setup itself is not without problems and flaws, which I intend to fix.

First it is the lighting.
As mentioned before, sunlight did not hit the pond area directly anymore, even to this month. However from experience, it should be back very soon, as it has been last year.
A measly 400W MH unit is just barely enough. Additional fixture, or perhaps better still, a more powerful one sure can give a good boost. Alternatively, I can start changing plants by the type, though I still prefer the way things grow in better lighting.

Second is the leak.
Yes, it does leak. The worst part has returned
I just have to top it up frequently for now. At least until next time to tear up comes.




Anyway, here is an echinodorus "kleiner bar" plantlet, a gift from a very satistied friend (he's been using wonder-gro aquascaping fertilizer line as I suggested and ended up with never stopping supply of K-bar plantlet from his tank). A new plant to me, and cross my fingers not to kill it. I doubt it can form the nice hue, but hopefully gets big.

Thanks mate!

[lauraleellbp]

I love these swords. (My GBRs do too... but for different reasons LOL) And my 'kleiner bar' LOVES your WonderGro tabs! I've had the sword for I think all of 2 months and it's already about to flower for me a 2nd time!





And here we go again...

[medicineman]

Great to see that it worked well for you Laura. Congratulations.
Those are beautiful kleiner bar plantlets, looks solid and massive too.

[zachxbass]

looks great MM... i actually saw your thread on dendroboard several months ago. Your project has been one of the major factors in me starting planted aquariums.... Thanks for the inspiration!

[vance71975]

WOW this is just totally AWESOME. I only have one question, to me the Proportion seems a bit off, The Cliff/water fall is HUGH and it makes the pond at the bottom seem small. I know 700g is far from small but just looking at the pics it seems dwarfed by the cliff. Is this done on purpose? Was the cliff suppose to be more of the focal point than the pond itself? If this had been me i think i would have doubled or tripled the size of the pond to balance it out. But still looks totally awesome!

[medicineman]

@zachxbass,
It is good to hear that you are motivated. Hope you enjoy the hobby!

@vance71975,
Cant help it
What is done is done, could have made it in more proportion. In fact I have many things to fix/adjust in the first place if I'm allowed to turn back time


Anyway,


Here comes the sun... didudidum....

As the season passed by and month switches,
So does the sun is back to shine!

Earth orbit has switched to the sunny side!
For the next 4-5 months it is going to be more sunshine directly on to the garden. I expect some changes in growth, and probably but hopefully not, algae as well.

A shot for you all


I'm going have to jump in again for trimming very soon if it goes like this

[Green Leaf Aquariums]

Wow!!! It keeps getting better every time!!