Ponds and Aquariums

[1776]

Post up your ponds and Aquariums.

I started this one up a bit back.
Used a cheap Walmart planter, built a shelf.

Then I realized that I need to move it to the other side of the patio for better sun...if I'm gonna break it down to move, might as well upgrade.

The Walmart one is ~12 gallons
The insert for the whiskey barrel is about ~23

I'm going to build the waterfall portion a bit higher in the new iteration and add a creeping jenny to the marginally planted shelf.

 

[1776]

Plants in there now:
Peace Lily (marginally planted on the shelf with aquarium substrate)
Parrots feather
Hornwort
Water lettuce
Frogbit
And apparently a bit of duckweed survived.

 

[1776]

Creeping jenny

 

[2Glocks]

Creeping jenny View attachment 132980

Creeping Jenny is tough shit. I left some in a planter for over a year without touching it and when I came back to it that shit looked better than ever.

 

[2Glocks]

@1776 send me your number, my grandma is kinda famous in her city for her gardens and ponds. She’s got 3 or 4 ponds and a garden that you could spend weeks in and not see everything.

Ive never met anyone else with the plant and pond knowledge that she has.

she’s cool as hell at 86 years old and has an Instagram page that she posts too all the time. She absolutely loves answering questions as well.

10/10 love my Grandma and am proud as hell of her.

 

[1776]

Here's a shot of the structure


Got some sand
And about 25lbs of flagstone to smash into usable pieces


I'll probably light a cigar and work on this tonight.

 

[1776]

 

[1776]

This will be the spillway for the water once it sets

 

[1776]

I'm still messing with the spillway, but it's running...
Water is cloudy from the sand base and my inability to pour slowly. Should resolve by tomorrow

 

[1776]

The last one didn't really have room for a proper fall, but this one did. I definitely prefer the sound over the trickle of the old setup.

 

[Okuma]

This is actually really cool.

 

[1776]

Got the stone from a big stone/gravel supply place and they didn't even charge me. Said it wouldn't be worth writing up.

Barrel $40
Liner $20
Sand $5
Pond sealant foam $15
Pump $15
Egg crate (for the structure) $17
Plants $25-30
Weed fabric (holds the substrate for the peace Lily and creeping jenny while allowing water through) $10
And some zip ties I had laying around to secure the egg crate to itself for a stand


Probably gonna add a sponge filter, that'll bump it up $20.

 

[1776]

Grabbed a sponge filter/pump yesterday and water clarity is almost perfect today.
Things seem to be settling in nicely

 

[1776]

I have a few 15 count travel humidors. Think I might mod one to hold the electricals and keep them away from the weather

 

[dial1911]

That's awesome! I think it turned out looking great.

 

[1776]

Thanks. I'm hoping the larger size and greater light in the new location help some of the greenery. That water lettuce has been struggling. If I can get everything stabilized, I might put a single dwarf cattail in.


Guy at the aquarium shop, where I got the filter, suggested getting a single small koi and just giving it to someone with a larger pond when it gets too big, lol

 

[dial1911]

Thanks. I'm hoping the larger size and greater light in the new location help some of the greenery. That water lettuce has been struggling. If I can get everything stabilized, I might put a single dwarf cattail in.


Guy at the aquarium shop, where I got the filter, suggested getting a single small koi and just giving it to someone with a larger pond when it gets too big, lol

Mom has done water gardens before- always at least threw in a gold fish to eat bugs.

I don't think the koi would it grow it's environment. But I've never had any myself.

 

[1776]

Mom has done water gardens before- always at least threw in a gold fish to eat bugs.

I don't think the koi would it grow it's environment. But I've never had any myself.

Apparently they do really poorly once they start getting too big and usually die...

Looks like orange rice fish are the preferred for this size outdoor environment. They're supposed to be pretty hardy and stay small.

 

[1776]

Here's some pics of my homies pond (that I've been helping him build)
He has to get rid of the excess dirt, we need to fill in some exposed shit, gotta wire in the new solar panel, and I'm going to construct a filter cage for the pump.

On the bright side, he got a water Lily blooming a week after planting it

 

[1776]

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