Glass Vase experiment II - Terrarium

I rescued 2 Anubis plants from the aquarium when they were being smothered with algae and placed them in damp containers in moist soil to encourage them to grow in an emersed environment. They have recovered quite well with new leaves forming, so I decided to add them to a terrarium I have created in a 5.5" glass vase.

The vase contains a layer of gravel covered with a plastic mesh, then I added a sprinkle of activated carbon granules to capture any smells and finally added about 1" of compost.

I left the rhizome of the anubis exposed with the roots in contact with the compost.
I also added some small pieces of a selaginella moss and some pieces of British moss.

I cut a perspex circle to cover the vase and keep the humidity high. I am interested to see how they all grow, and will updated the blog in a few weeks.

Glass Vase experiment

Here is a little experiment with a Glass Vase I have setup. I added some substrate, then planted it with 3 spare plants. It is in the window next to my 50 Litre tank. I am interested to see if the plants will grow. There is no heating or filtering so regular water changes are required. (I will not be adding any fish to the container due to its small size.) I just checked the temperature and it is 17.5 deg C.

I will post updates to show what happens.

Window tank back in position with new filter.

My 24" * 8" * 8" aquarium is now back in its usual position on the windowsill.
I stripped it down and resealed it, then added an acrylic divider with a large hole in to create a "Matten" style filter unit. The acrylic divider was assembled with "Super glue" and fitted with aquarium quality silicon sealant.

A piece of medium density foam is placed behind the divider. The hole in the acrylic divider provides an effective area of 250 square centimetres.

In the recess created behind the filter I have installed a Dennerle Nano "ThermoCompact" 25W Heater and a small filter pump unit that has had its small filter box removed. The filter label indicates that it has a maximum flow rate of 300 litre per hour. The tank volume is 50 litres so the water is filtered 6 times per hour.

A  2" inch layer of medium/course gravel has been added to the tank. The filter has been "seeded" with Evolution Aqua Pure aquarium bacteria / enzyme balls.

The tank will now be operated for a few weeks to allow it to mature.

View of Aquarium on window sill.

Interior view of Filter.

Filter cavity showing pump and heater.

Holding tub for White Cloud Mountain Minnow

I have just setup this holding tub in my greenhouse for my White Cloud Mountain Minnow that are still in the outside tub pond. It is a 35 litre "Really Useful" plastic box I purchased from Amazon for £10 delivered. These are excellent storage boxes and with having external support ribs I think they should be strong enough to hold water. I stood the box on a piece of plywood with bubble wrap on it ,to to provide a firm base. This should help prevent distortion. I have installed two airlift filters, the first is the Alfagrog filled one which has been running for a few months and the other is a twin sponge airlift filter. I have added rainwater to the tub as this is what the outside pond currently contains and the fish are used to it. The temperature of the water in the tub was 11.6 deg. The greenhouse air temperature is 19.3 degrees. I will transfer the fish into the tub once the filters have become established. 

Aquarium update - 15th October 2017

This is an update of all of my aquariums @ 15th October 2017...

This is the fry tank in the greenhouse. I removed about 20 White Cloud Mountain Minnow from the Summer tub pond and they are growing well. It also holds my stock of Ramshorn and Malaysian trumpet Snails. I like to keep a few of these in my tanks as a "cleanup crew", but when they become too numerous I move them out to this tank. The tank is filtered with the Boyu external filter and it is working well.

This is my Carnivorous plant terrarium. I bought these two plants from LIDL supermarket for £6 the pair. There is a Pitcher plant and Venus fry trap. I thought it would be interesting to try and grow these. The tank has a piece of capillary matting in the bottom and I keep this wet so moisture can be drawn into the plant pots. A plastic lid is on the tank to keep the humidity up but there are holes so any bugs can be attracted into the tank. They are doing well up to now but apparently you are classed as an "expert" if you can keep the alive over the winter :-), so we shall see what happens.

My plants in my small aqua nano shrimp tank are doing well, particularly the "Jungle Val". I removed about half of the red cherry shrimp from the tank and placed them into my tall shrimp tank. The reminder are doing well and there are some berried females so I am hopeful they will breed. I have covered the exit grill with foam to prevent small shrimp babies being drawn into the filter area. The 2 Amano shrimp also look well.

This is the 24" livebearer tank. The tank contains a selection livebearers from the Maidenhead aquatics "spares" tank, (were people bring surplus fish for resale). There are some guppies that look to be endler/guppy cross breed, some Wagtail platies, and some Temperate platies.  My 3 corydorus are also in there with a Siamese algae eater. All seem to be doing OK. I am using a large sponge airlift filter that is working well. The air pump is in the stand below the tank so the noise is kept to a minimum, Plants are fed with "easy" fertiliser once a week and 1 ml of "EasyCarb" liquid carbon each day.  I decorated the tank with a piece of driftwood and Dragon Stone, which I really like.

The Aqua One aquarium is still stable, it contains home bred Kribensis together with Cherry barb and 3 Ember Tetra. The Kribs enjoy the heavy planting with Cryptocorn plants as they can hide in the under growth. The tank is quite highly stocked but Aqua One tanks have a large rear filter area providing excellent water supply. The filter area contains multiple sponge filter medium and some of the Biohome ceramic media sold by Richard (The PondGuru). 

This is my second Shrimp tank. I have tried to achieve optimum conditions for the Cherry Shrimp to encourage breeding. Filtration is achieved with a " Hang on back" filter this also has a sponge fitted over the inlet tube and a pop sock stocking case fitted over this. The flow is good to the filter pump and the hose should prevent any baby shrimp being drawn into the filter. Temperature is maintained at about 24 C. There are 8 adult Cherry shrimp in the tank and I have spotted 5 baby ones. 3 of the adults are also "berried" (carrying eggs).

Close up of the Red Cherry Shrimp.

Pond update 3

The summer tub pond has done well, it is now the beginning of September 2017 and over the past 4 days or so the water has gone crystal clear. I am not sure how algae blooms work but the only thing that has happened is that the days have been less bright and the sun is now lower in the sky resulting in less light.
The water temperature is 17 deg C at 09:00 the air temp is about a deg higher. The fish still seem very happy dashing about and feeding. I have an aquarium cycled in the greenhouse ready to receive them if the temperature drops much further I will leave the tub filled though as the resident Toad and Frog are still making use of it.
Approx 20 fry in the green house grow-out tanks are doing well. The external BOYU filter is working well, keeping the water in that tank very clear. The fish in the other tank with the Alfagrog home made filter are doing well but the water is slightly cloudy so I will have a go at making an airlift sponge filter to provide mechanical filtration.

Hydroponic plants

I was interested to see on YouTube how some people grow plants in the top of their aquarium with the leaves out of the top of the tank and the roots dangling in the water. Apparently there are quite a few different plants that are able to survive and thrive in these conditions. I have made this small container up with a plastic tray and a piece of acrylic on top, drilled with 18mm holes to allow me to insert plant cuttings  through so any roots are suspended in the water. I have added 2 Peace Lilly plants that were growing in compost to the tray as apparently these can be successful. There are also "Busy Lizzie (impatiens), coleus, spider plants and tradescantia.

I will update again in a few weeks to see if any have been successful.

Red Cherry shrimp tank mark II

I have setup this tank as a Red Cherry Shrimp Tank, I feel the existing tank they are in is probably not "baby shrimp" safe as there are vents through to the filter area at the rear of the tank which baby shrimp may be sucked in. I have therefore setup this aquarium with a "Hang on back "waterfall" type filter to provide a safer breeding tank. It is currently being run to mature the filters and shrimp will be added in the next couple of weeks.

Terrarium? - insect eating plants

This is not strictly Tropical Fish keeping!, but I thought you might be interested in my attempt at making a Terrarium. I gathered a few pieces of bark and mosses and added a couple of insectivore plants. One is a Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula), the other is a Pitcher Plant (Sarracenia Hybrid)
I put some capillary matting in the bottom of the aquarium and keep it damp. I am not sure how long I will be able to keep them growing. Apparently they are a bit tricky for those new to the hobby!

24" *12"*12 aquarium setup

My 24" x 12" x 12" (12 gallon UK) aquarium has been setup in the greenhouse ready to hold the White Cloud Minnow when the weather is too cold for them in the summer tub pond.
I am using a sponge airlift filter, I seeded it with a squeeze of a sponge into the aquarium water from a cycled tank filter and I will run it for a couple of weeks before adding any fish. So far the filter seems to be working very well.

Growing Emersed Anubias

My sickly looking Anubias were planted up a few weeks ago into wet compost and covered over with plastic film, as you can see they are now starting to develop new leaves and look healthy. I will update again in a couple of months.

Fry tanks in greenhouse

I have been having some success with my 2 fry tanks that are in the greenhouse. One is filtered using the home made "Alfagrog" airlift filter (that I described in an earlier post) the other is filtered using a BOYU external canister filter. Both are performing well and the fry appear to be growing.

The fry have been extracted from the outside tub pond, where the White Cloud Mountain Minnow have lived during this summer. I have placed about 12-15 fry in the two tanks to grow on. The temperature in the tanks is about 23°C @18:00hrs after a warm day and it seems to drop to the high teens during the night. The fry seem quite happy. I also notice there are at least 4 fry in the pond that are about half an inch long but it has quite a lot of algae growth so they are difficult to see.

Fry tank with BOYU filter

Fry tank with Alfagrog air filter

I also made a hood light from some 9mm plywood. It is 18" long and is drilled at each end to receive a glass tube LED unit that I bought as a submersible light. It comes on for a couple of hours in the evening via a timer switch. It is quite effective though it would not be bright enough for plant growth.

 

D.I.Y airlift filter using Alfagrog

This is a D.I.Y airlift filter I built using the following items:-

• a plastic drinks bottle
• a short length of plastic pipe
• an air stone
• some Alfagrog filter media.

To build the filter...

The plastic pipe was drilled several times through the bottom inch or so, with a 3/16" drill (5 mm).
The plastic drinks bottle was cut to about 7" tall and the label was removed.
The pipe was held in the bottom of the bottle while the E25 Alfagrog was poured into the space around the outside pipe until the bottle was full..
Finally an air stone was inserted down the pipe to the bottom of the bottle. The filter was lowered into the aquarium and the air stone was connected to the air pump.

Note: this filter is a biological filter, it reduces harmful pollutants such as ammonia and nitrites from the water. It does not remove particles of matter from the water, a mechanical filter with sponges etc. is required to do this.

The filtration process...

As the air bubble rise up the pipe they carries along the water in the pipe, this water is replaced with water that passes through the holes in the base of the pipe, this water in turn is drawn down through the "Alfagrog" from the aquarium.
Beneficial bacteria will collect and multiply on the "Alfagrog" and as water flows over this material the water will be purified of any ammonia and nitrites it contains by these bacteria. The resultant nitrates produced by the bacteria will be absorbed by any plants present and can also be removed with water changes.

More information about Alfagrog can be found by visiting http://www.alfagrog.com/index.html

Invertebrate Tank update. 15th August 2017

Invertebrate Tank update. 15th August 2017

As can be seen the invertebrate tank is doing well. The plants are growing well now and the shrimp, snails etc are all thriving. However there are still no sign of any baby Red Cherry Shrimp though, even though there has been several shrimp carrying eggs. I am still trying to investigate why this is happening. As I mentioned on a previous post, it may be due to the high water flow, so I am preparing a tank with a Hang-on-back 'waterfall' type filter. I have also just ordered some 'Alfagrog' to use in a home-made 'air-lift' filter, so it will be interesting to see how this performs.

Re-worked tank for Red Cherry Shrimp

I am resetting one of my tanks, (the Superfish Aqua 30 (5.3 gallon, 24 litre). so it may be used for keeping Red Cherry Shrimp.  I have removed the hood that was supplied with the tank, that contain a low energy fluorescent lamp, and made an acrylic cover to use instead. Lighting will be provided by an Led unit resting on the acrylic lid.

My current Red Cherry Shrimp aquarium has quite a powerful water flow provided by an internal power head. Although I have had several 'berried' female shrimp, I have had virtually no baby shrimp produced and I wonder if this is due to the high water flow rate. So the new tank setup will use a 'hang on back' type filter which delivers a more gentle water flow, I have added some activated charcoal to the filter to help purify the water. The shrimp have bred using this type of filter before so this should be more productive for them.

I have also obtained some commercial Azalea roots for decoration. I am soaking this at the moment to remove tannin and water-log it so it sinks. There are many nooks and crannies in the roots suitable for attaching plants to. 

Growing pond Marginal plants in a dry garden - update

The use of planters to grow marginal plants has been sucessfull. Depite the weather being very variable so far this summer the plants have grown very well and put on some good growth.

Houttuynia cordata variegata - Orange Peel Pla

Iris pseudacorus - Yellow Flag Iris.

Equissetum - Mare Tail

Scirpus cernuus

Aquarium stand completed

The Aquarium stand for my 24 x 12 x 12 is now completed.

Growing pond Marginal plants in a dry garden

There are times when you may want to grow a moisture loving plant in a normally dry garden. such as around the margins of a tub pond. This is my solution for doing so...

As you can see, these plastic pots do not have holes in the base although there are thin areas of plastic to enable the owner to make some. In my case I want the bottom third of the pot to retain moisture so I have made holes around the pot middle to hold this level of water below the holes.

This should provide a permanently damp substrate for moisture loving plants, such as pond marginals. Of course the pots will require watering but not as frequently as when the plants are growing in a free draining soil.

In this case, I have purchased a Sisyrinchium californicum from the nursery, it was planted in a marginal pond basket. As can be seen when I removed the plant from the basket it freely split into two separate clumps. These were planted into the pots giving them room to grow, They will make a nice display next to my tub pond.

Plant Label front.

Plant Label rear.

Invertebrate aquarium update.

This is a one month update of my invertebrate aquarium. I have been dosing with Easy-Life EasyCarbo each day and also used Easy-Life Profito fertiliser each week. 

The leaves of the plants were still quite yellow, so I have added some Easy-Life Ferro (iron) top-up to the aquarium as well. 

The plants are now starting to develop new growth. The Vallisneria spiralis in particular like the new conditions and there are now nine plantlets. I read the plant prefers hard water which is what my mains supply is. I have also added an established Rotala indica plant to the aquarium.

Stand Painted with Primer

The new stand is now primed with first coat of wood primer. The next paint coats will be satin finish in "Slate" grey.

Aquarium stand update

The Aquarium stand has now been "boxed in", and doors have been built and added to the front.

Gaps have been made in the top and bottom of the rear panel to allow cable and pipes to pass through to the aquarium. I will add a shelf if I decide to use an external filter.

Screw holes will now be filled and the stand will be painted.

Emmersed Plant growing experiment

Experimenting with Emmersed growing, I believe the plants are  Sagittaria subulata and a Cryptocorne. Substrate is a layer of gravel capped with plastic mesh then a course mixture of house plant compost with Orchid compost. Currently outside where the temperature is 20 C.

12-August-2017

Update. The plants survived but did not put on any fresh growth, so I moved them into an aquarium in the green house and they seem to be doing OK. The substrate mix I used became pretty smelly from the decay. It seem it is recommended that some Activated charcoal is added to the mix to absorb some of the volatiles produced by the decay process.

Pond update 2

I have added the window aquarium White Cloud Mountain Minnow to the outside pond. 

They were in the house, but the temperature was in the high 20's degC in the aquarium, so having seen that the original minnow are doing fine in the pond, I decided to add these to them.

I have also added an air-stone in the pond while it is so hot, to help ensure there is adequate dissolved oxygen. I think the toad and frog residents will be very grateful for the pond, the temperature has been in the 30's today.

Summer Tub Pond update

This is an update picture of my summer garden tub water feature. It has an external home-made filter box containing several layers of filter foam. A 400 litres per hour pump circulates water from the tub to the filter box and, after passing through the foam, it returns to the pond.

The pond also contains a tiny fountain pump that comes in with a timer to help oxygenate the water.

I have added six small White Cloud Mountain Minnow to the pond and they seem to be happy at the moment. They are classed as 'temperate' fish and can live in water down to 11 deg C.

The plants in the grey pots are 'marginal' plants that like a very moist soil. I have added drainage holes halfway up the sides of  the pot to maintain a water source in the base of the pots.

A mixture of ground cover and alpine plants have been planted around the pond.

It is surprising how a water feature can attract wildlife to the garden. We have already notice Damsel flies perching on the plants around the pond. We also have evening visits from a Toad, which is great.

16th June 2017.

I have just checked the pond this morning and was surprised to see a Toad and a Frog have moved into the pond. They are full grown ones. I wasn't aware they were resident in our garden.

(photos are stock images)