This is the journal of the backyard nano-pond that shouldn't have worked that does.
With that said, this is the old thread of ver.2.0 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364177
***VIDEO AT END!
Quick Summary: Roughly seven months ago I started a small pond in an old clay flowerpot that had a volume of about 12 gallons, but after a month, I found a crack in it that was constantly lowering the water volume, so I upgraded to a larger flowerpot that I found in my backyard that was taller, made of thick plastic, and had a volume of about 23 gallons. Initially desiring to mainly reproduce plants and maybe some mosquito fish, I stocked it with about 5 stems of anacharis, a quarter cup of azolla carolinia, and 5 mosquitofish to keep mosquitos from breeding. Initially I figured that the plants would be able to handle the light bioload, so I did not have any mechanical filtration. For 3 months, the pond had no mechanical filtration, and all of the fish survived, but the water was turning a murky greenish brown and visibility was absolute zero. Also, lots of stringy green algae was growing all over the plants and sides of the pot, so I enlisted the help of 2 juvie american flagfish, and subsequently added a Marineland 110 filter that I had laying around from a previous tank setup. The filter was mainly for increased biofiltration rather than mechanical filtration because after a month, I replaced the filtermedia cartridge with stones for increased surface area without the worry of clogging the filter. Soon enough, the water cleared up, and only suffering the loss of one american flagfish that I found next to the pond after a week of heavy rain. Sometime after that I added 3 ghost shrimp (2f,1m), one small water hyacinth, a small water lettuce, and a handful of giant duckweed. Most of the floating plants did not make the winter, and so now, the surface is pretty empty, but once the spring plants start showing up in my LFS, I'll be sure to cover the entire surface to keep the water at a stable temp once summer temps start hitting LA. I also added italian vallisneria a week ago for variety, but right now they're starting to turn brown. Hopefully they'll revive as the temps start to warm up.
Here's the latest water params that I took from a sample I extracted yesterday right before a monthly water top off (I do water changes every other month, with top-offs on the off months or when needed):
pH: 7.6
Surface Temperature: 76F
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
General Hardness: 4 degrees
Carbonate Hardness: 50-100ppm
So basically, with the exception of ammonia, the water params are almost perfect. I deduce that the presence of ammonia is due to the increased feedings that I have been doing since it's warmed up in addition to the extraction of the water hyacinth and about 25% of the duckweed.
And without further ado, here's the video that I shot just today. I apologize about the quality, but I was trying to eat pizza while filming with one hand.
***EDIT: YT embed not working so here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_boCan18U&feature=feedu
More pics and updates will be added to this thread.
With that said, this is the old thread of ver.2.0 http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=364177
***VIDEO AT END!
Quick Summary: Roughly seven months ago I started a small pond in an old clay flowerpot that had a volume of about 12 gallons, but after a month, I found a crack in it that was constantly lowering the water volume, so I upgraded to a larger flowerpot that I found in my backyard that was taller, made of thick plastic, and had a volume of about 23 gallons. Initially desiring to mainly reproduce plants and maybe some mosquito fish, I stocked it with about 5 stems of anacharis, a quarter cup of azolla carolinia, and 5 mosquitofish to keep mosquitos from breeding. Initially I figured that the plants would be able to handle the light bioload, so I did not have any mechanical filtration. For 3 months, the pond had no mechanical filtration, and all of the fish survived, but the water was turning a murky greenish brown and visibility was absolute zero. Also, lots of stringy green algae was growing all over the plants and sides of the pot, so I enlisted the help of 2 juvie american flagfish, and subsequently added a Marineland 110 filter that I had laying around from a previous tank setup. The filter was mainly for increased biofiltration rather than mechanical filtration because after a month, I replaced the filtermedia cartridge with stones for increased surface area without the worry of clogging the filter. Soon enough, the water cleared up, and only suffering the loss of one american flagfish that I found next to the pond after a week of heavy rain. Sometime after that I added 3 ghost shrimp (2f,1m), one small water hyacinth, a small water lettuce, and a handful of giant duckweed. Most of the floating plants did not make the winter, and so now, the surface is pretty empty, but once the spring plants start showing up in my LFS, I'll be sure to cover the entire surface to keep the water at a stable temp once summer temps start hitting LA. I also added italian vallisneria a week ago for variety, but right now they're starting to turn brown. Hopefully they'll revive as the temps start to warm up.
Here's the latest water params that I took from a sample I extracted yesterday right before a monthly water top off (I do water changes every other month, with top-offs on the off months or when needed):
pH: 7.6
Surface Temperature: 76F
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm
General Hardness: 4 degrees
Carbonate Hardness: 50-100ppm
So basically, with the exception of ammonia, the water params are almost perfect. I deduce that the presence of ammonia is due to the increased feedings that I have been doing since it's warmed up in addition to the extraction of the water hyacinth and about 25% of the duckweed.
And without further ado, here's the video that I shot just today. I apologize about the quality, but I was trying to eat pizza while filming with one hand.
***EDIT: YT embed not working so here's the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD_boCan18U&feature=feedu
More pics and updates will be added to this thread.
