The 700 gal indoor sunken garden project

[capricorn77]

Originally Posted by CardBoardBoxProcessor

it is cap 77!! it is!!! except for some central park like thing with some with tower thing.. wanna see a picture? or see it yourself? go DL google earth..

Oh I absolutely believe ya! No worries there. I'm just saying that if there was wall to wall of concrete, then this indoor pond would give MedicineMan the oasis he needs after a long day.
Sorry if I made it sound as if I didn't believe you. That wasn't my intend, my apologies

[medicineman]

@Fish Newb,
Good idea on hiding lighting by using planting box to cover up the whole long cable thing. I must go to the lamp suppliers and see whatever is available and plan further from there.

@CardBoardBoxProcessor,
Yes, Jakarta is not just a city, it is a congested metropolis and it spreads out large area. What it lacks in concentrated high rise is compensated by the sheer size. The monument and park thing you mentioned is around the central area in front of the presidential palace (our "white house") and it explains the green-ness of the area. That big tower thing is the national monument with several hundread pounds of gold carving on top symbolizing neverending flame. Wall to wall building is a good way to illustrate some cramped areas of the city, even though there are many more prestigious spots with much more open space and greenery. I live on the southern part of the city which is richer in greenery and lucky enough to live right next to a park the size of two football fields.

@capricorn77,
We do have mosquito all the time all year long since it is the tropics right here. The possibily of water getting stuck in the nooks and crannies long enough for mosquito to breed does exist. However since mosquito will never lay their eggs on moving water, the pond and all the moving water part are spared. The passive nooks and crannies however, are made in a way that water will never stay there for too long and drains away.

If you take a scross section on the backdrop right by the spots with water flowing:

1. Steel frames with earth, rubble and soil
2. Base concrete layer (water resistant)
3. Outer crust
Base concrete layer which is water resistant will not allow water from backwall watering/waterfall to seep and lost. The outer crust is made in a way that it is light and porous. This way water will not penetrate inside the wall and wet the house structure (or even seep to the other side of the wall). Parts without backwall watering has no layer #2, so basically all water (which is not much) will seeps and drips down either to the pond or to the ground (drainage is already there to handle this).

Algae scraping? that would be as easy as doing an open top tank. The glass is less than 60cm deep anyway so it would be a piece of cake.

Waterfall issue is already prepared by having three valves (one to the pond and two to the backwall) which control the flow of returning water. If it gets too loud or too wet/splashy, the valves are already there, just adjust so more non-waterfall water get more portion.

[chinchek787]

Wow, u put me to shame!!!

[medicineman]

As promised, updated pic of the garden in progress.

top view taken at 3.30 pm


You can see the opening and all the semi-finished ceiling job and some part of the house, notably part of the unfinished stairs (shows how the job must be slowed down a bit).

Now the whole base backdrop/cliff is almost complete and will be fine tuned for water cascade. It would be necessary to carve or add some parts so the falling water will drop nicely and to/trough the right spots.



The pond section is also taken shape with its basic mortar layer for water resistance. Steel bars are still there and right on that spot it will be layered with concrete casting which will act as glass support frame. The strength will be exceptional that we think it will endure someone sitting on the glass with the water filled in (it is the contractor's idea to make the structure last for long time and sure it does cost the cool look of a full glass joint)
You will note a pool of shallow water for testing. It was used for pre-tuning the cascades and after that to test draining, making sure that every drop drains to the base of the pole sticking out in the middle).

On the leftmost bottom the control box is already casted. All valves to the drains are gathered in there and channeled into the house pre-sewer. I'd think of a nice way to cover it yet easy enough to open up for maintenance/draining.

That boxy structure by the left is the filter part. It is still to be further decorated by the outer skin to get more natural look and reduce the boxiness.

[Y0uH0]

Really awesome.It's amazing to see how things have taken shape. I can't wait to see the end product. As for now,ever considered opening it to visitors? You can consider imposing an entrace fee and i am sure you will reap alot of income judging by the beauty that is developing as shown in those pictures. Just joking,it is a really breathtaking project.

[organic sideburns]

looks great so far, nice pictures.

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

what fish are going to be in it? and now that I see the surrounding area it looks like it is in a really nice spot!

[medicineman]

@chinchek787,
Nothing to shame of, every well-cared planted tank is a masterpiece in its own right!

@Y0uH0,
LOL... that would be too much for me. Such project would be more suited to hotels or public aquarium if for show and certainly it needs to be at least twice as big to catch the public awe. Online visitors is different though, it is always open but you cannot see it in person/real time.
Hey, all kiddos and even adults like me would love to splashy-splash on such pond-tank thing (like the one they have in public aquariums' petting pool)

@organic sideburns,
Thanks. Suggestions are also welcome.

@CardBoardBoxProcessor,
Yes, it exactly located as in the initial planning (check first page). You can also view from different positions with ease; at level, from above (the level section of stairs) and from upstairs (as shown in pic).
I have not decided yet on what specific fish to put inside. Either a large school or smaller fish or fewer school of larger fish, but definately no heavy pooper or fish that require too much maintenance (live food, frequent vaccuming). I'm already burdened with daily activities and other tanks.


A bit of simple light planning :



I want to use 3 metal halides fixture, all downlight style with reflector (usually can be found in malls or showrooms). One is big (at least 400W) and the other two are smaller (@75-150W). The big one is by the center and it will be hanged using steel cable on a distance while the two smaller ones will be right by the top of carving using aluminium support. Note that this acts as supplemental lighting and for viewing effect rather than main source of light (the garden is already bright enough for some time of the day).

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

haha.. a discus pond! rofl

haha anyway.. is ig gonna be a koi pond or something? perhaops a huge school of tetras haha.

[the_noobinator]

this looks great! thanks for the update.

[organic sideburns]

Wow, very tall! All those nooks and crannies in the backdrop will be perfect for your fish and plants. Do you plan to add plants to the backdrop?

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

Originally Posted by organic sideburns

Wow, very tall! All those nooks and crannies in the backdrop will be perfect for your fish and plants. Do you plan to add plants to the backdrop?

-scratches head- Umm.. I think it only goes up like a foot of so.. high not actually going to be as tall as the rock wall. I think.. I mean if it was.. it would be alot mroe then 700 gallons.

[organic sideburns]

doh!

I thought the backdrop was part of the tank.

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

Originally Posted by organic sideburns

doh!

I thought the backdrop was part of the tank.

it would be amazing if it went that high!!! it would be like good for huge ciclids and arowana and such! or a huge s huge school of tetras haha! or disucs.. or hundreds of goldfish xd

[Rhinoman]

The filtration sound like big time overkill. Running all that fresh water in daily and that huge filter?