I got some new rocks from a friend in GWAPA, and wanted to try them out in a tank. Unfortunately, the only free aquarium at the moment was my 20L, which was used primarily as a quarantine tank and place to hold some extra low-light plants. My friend is lucky enough to have these rocks buried in his yard. They seem to be a composite of quartz and slate, with some having very attractive orange bands through them. Overall, they have a fair amount of character up close.

20L - Click picture for larger view

The aquascape isn’t tremendous, but  I think it could have some potential if I paid much attention to it. This tank has previously been a major farm of cladophora algae, but after moving about 20 Amano Shrimp from my 40G into here, they’ve really done a tremendous job of getting it under control. If they can keep it that way, I may very well enjoy maintaining a small scape in this aquarium. I just have to make sure I can easily fish out any quarantine fish! Comments welcome.

After hearing Sherry’s talk about her pond at the last GWAPA meeting, I decided it was time to post an update about how my raised brick pond is progressing this summer. I’m happy to say that things are going pretty well. I had a few plants come back after being frozen solid through the winter, particularly some Potamogeton and Ludwigia palustris. Neither is incredibly unexpected, however, as they’re both native plants.

After a few seasons, I’ve had to replace the solar pump as the old one just wouldn’t turn anymore. I think detritus got into the motor, but unfortunately, it’s sealed tight, so I can’t get inside to service it. Fortunately, I had a spare, so that’s going right now.

You’ll notice that I have several bricks lined up along the front edge of the pond. This is to keep a certain dog, Bella, from constantly trying to take a drink from the pond water. She’s got a huge bowl of water just up the steps in the house, but she loves the pond water for some reason. I guess it must have a more complex flavor, but nevertheless, I don’t need a sick dog on my hands, so hence, the barrior.

Without the barrier, it looks like this. Notice the large zucchini plant to the left of the pond, which is producing lots of tasty fruit already. I also have a couple cucumber vines growing which I’m trying to train up, over, and along the pond. In back of the pond, you can just start to see the tomato plants, which should eventually form a solid wall of green as a backdrop.

In the pond, this year, I’ve placed every species of plant I have that I don’t know the true scientific name. I have a good friend in GWAPA who does a lot of research into trying to figure out that Limnophila sp. ‘Mini’ is really Limnophila repens, and similar cases, but it’s nearly impossible to do that without seeing the flowers. So, I’m hoping that all of these plants will convert to emersed form and flower, so that I can help him identify these plants.

To accomplish this, I’ve propped up a few pieces of eggcrate on bricks, and set some tubs of substrate just below the water surface. I already have a number of species converting to emersed form, but only my large Crinum americanum has flowered thus far. As for fish, I threw in a few zebra danios to control mosquitos earlier in the season. Big mistake! I’m going to end up pulling out tons of these fish if the number of fry present are any indication. I’ve also put a few Threadfin Rainbowfish out to hopefully breed. Comments welcome!

Sherry Mitchell hosted GWAPA’s June meeting last weekend, where she took us around her beautifully landscape garden, which included a huge reflecting pool/pond. Appropriately, Sherry then described her various methods for successfully settings up a pond or container water garden.

As you can see in the picture below, Sherry plants all of her pond plant in containers. Instead of using the overpriced pond-baskets, she recommends using plastic under-the-bed boxes which can be had for a dollar or two from any Target or similar store. She has a large colony of goldfish in her pond, many which she has rescued from situations that were not befitting of living creatures.

To filter the few thousands of gallons of water in her pond, Sherry uses a homemade “Skippy Filter,” which she built using designs from SkippyStuff.com. Essentially, water flows in the bottom, and is lifted through a series of filter pads before returning to the pond. The benefit of this system is that it’s comparatively low-priced, reasonable in terms of the maintenance required, and does a great job.

In addition to the filtration, she also believes in doing 50% water changes each month. The water does not go to waste, however, as she has a drain on the filter which automatically waters plants in the rest of her garden, using the nutrient-rich water from the pond.

There were a number of lillies blooming while we were at her pond. She has a well-proven system for potting her plant. Instead of using a standard aquatic plant mix, she uses a combination of Osmocote fertilizer with top soil, kitty litter (for clay), and pea-gravel to keep the other stuff down.

She’ll use the same methods in smaller containers for growing out plants, or when setting up a container water garden. Sherry mentioned how it’s often difficult to find large containers that don’t have drainage holes. She seals those holes using margarine lids and aquarium cement on either side of the hole. From there, the container should be water tight, and ready for use!

This was a wonderful meeting. In addition to the beautiful outdoor features that Sherry described to us in detail, she also had a nice fishroom inside. We had another large auction, and raffled off some pond and plant supplies. I’m going to have to apply many of the principles Sherry described to my raised brick pond when I get the chance.