The 700 gal indoor sunken garden project

[Steven_Chong]

Yes, and it's it's a pond-tank, it would be great if you had fish that were cool to view from both angles!

I think we focused on top-angles since side ones are much easier to deal with. There are very fiew fish in this world that have evolved to be easily viewable from above after all.

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

giant gouramis 0_o

[medicineman]

giant gouramis 0_o

Uh.. nooo... giant gouramy, a very local fish for me, has a great appetite for plants.

They fit better in holding tanks, ready to become my meal
Really, they are famous here as tasty fish, growing 1-3 lbs as the popular size. Deep fried, sweet and sour, grilled, you can find them everywhere, markets, restaurants. The bones are very managable too, favoring the fate of the fish as a good meal. Most seafood and specialty restaurants have their own tank/pond just to keep live fish (fresh is an issue) and giant gouramy is usually included.
Some albino version or an extremely big specimen however will meet better fate as a pet.

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

I bet they task good haha.. okay then... how about a huge tank of three-spots? hahaah!

[Justintoxicated]

WOW, over there your on an entirely different level with planted tanks.

[Nightshop]

Why not stock it with a good ammount and assortment of tetras?

[fome]

8 million neon tetras?

hehe

[medicineman]

@CardBoardBoxProcessor,
The smaller and colourful gouramy are more like it. Those are possible, not eating plants unlike the giant ones.

@Justintoxicated,
Just trying something unique. A manifestation of childhood crazyness perhaps?

@Nightshop,
That is also one option. Generally they are shoaler, good colours and community planted tank compatible.

@fome,
How am I going to pack 8 million neon tetras inside? .. I'd need a real pond/lake for that.
More like 800 as the realistic max amount, that is also quite overloading the tank capacity.

Back to the tank...
The progress on the project continue as the workers returned.
I present to you the viewing windows! (shown with 80% water filled in)



For those of you who forgot or did not follow from the start, the viewing windows measure at 200cm x 60cm and 150cm x 60cm.

Now you have a clear idea on the size of the pond. So no more wild guessing and self assumption, imagining that my tank is too damn huge (it says 700 and not 7000 gal anyway ). And from now on you will also remember that this is a tank-pond and not just a pond.

This will give you a good idea on how the pond can also be enjoyed fully from above, unlike a tank which has smaller surface area (and usually too high to watch because of the stand).



Thinking of lily pads and flowers? sure they will add very welcome view from this angle.

[A Hill]

thats amazing. lilly pads would look great! I would vote for anglefish and other smaller fish like rams and apistos and some big plecos!

this is one amazing project!

- Andrew

[Brunog]

Im curious to know how much the ciment will buffer your water... might want to look at that for a while before chosing fish...

i dont know what your water is like out of your well... just a question :P

I would go with haplochromis... they look awesome from above... they do dig alot tho...

[medicineman]

Im curious to know how much the ciment will buffer your water... might want to look at that for a while before chosing fish...

This is an expected and serious issue since the beginning of the planning. I even consulted this matter with vivarium experts, they said no to cement at once just because they cannot wait long enough or they did not seal the cement off, furthermore it is quite bad for sensitive frogs. It is true that cement can buffer water, it is basically lime/calcium compounds turned into stone after all.
In my case, it is mixed with other ingredients to make different forms of concrete and mortar mix depending on the use of different sections. I'm going to use just plants and no frogs on the walls, so sensitivity issue is not apparent.
Upon mixing with water, dry cement will react and reach pH of 12-13 and greatly lowers to 9 or less as it is mixed with other ingredients and dries into solid mass. As it cures completely over the course of several days, the pH lowers again to 8. From this point onwards it will take a long time to reach near neutral, probably several months.

I've had cement based concrete ponds (and so many other people) with no ill effect to fish. Just prepare them well, give some time to perfectly cure, wash and bake it under the sun if possible. Sealing the concrete off will also help for folks who wanted the pond to be used ASAP. Plus it gives uniform colour to the pond lining, namely black for contrast.

Since I have the time in the world to wait (the whole house is also far from finished), probably several months, it should be OK. To speed up things I have some plans under my sleeve, like washing off with acetic acid and give good rinse, filling the pond with water and let nature works, adding some peat on the wait.

Anyway here is one of the workers doing his job on the filter, first time ever pic for a size comparison

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

should have went taller...

[plant_addict]

i agree, maybe atleast 2feet taller but thats your decision

[CardBoardBoxProcessor]

I dunno about 2 feet.. that is harder to look into.. but .5 - 1 feet higher.

[sayn3ver]

i would have went higher myself, as you'd have to be sitting on the ground to take advantage of the aquarium like glass on the sides. I would have probably extened it another foot or two, scaped it like an aquarium and called it a day.

But i'm not a huge pound fan as the detail is not as apparent from above as it is view from the side.

Amazing none the less though. Really well executed.