Resurrection (EA900)

[shangman]

So it appears that I'll be going to Wildwoods World of Water next Thursday if all goes well, where I'll pick up my first lot of plants (hopefully most of them), some soil and perhaps some hardscape. So I guess I should start planning what it'll look like!!

Will post some sketches this weekend, along with some other plants and inspo and stuff like that. Still not sure what it'll look like, but I guess we'll wait and see! Maybe I'll be making some giant pond-style wabi kusas to hang on the back/sides perhaps.

 

[Wookii]

Is it ok to return wild fish back afterwards then? This is another option if I catch them myself, just wasn't sure about potentially spreading nasties about into the wild population.

Well I caught all the fish from the same place, put them in the tank, and then returned them back to the same place a bit bigger and fatter than when I got them. I can’t imagine there is any scope for any new nasties to be acquired.

If you got stock from different sources, that could be more of an issue I guess.

 

[MirandaB]

Technically fish shouldn't be returned to the wild after being kept in a tank because there is still a slight risk of them being exposed to pathogens they wouldn't normally be in contact with.
One thing to be careful of in taking Sticklebacks from the wild is that they're not infected with Glugea anomola,it's really common in wild populations and I can't honestly say I've seen any out in the wild that weren't showing signs of it.

 

[shangman]

Technically fish shouldn't be returned to the wild after being kept in a tank because there is still a slight risk of them being exposed to pathogens they wouldn't normally be in contact with.
One thing to be careful of in taking Sticklebacks from the wild is that they're not infected with Gluglea anomola,it's really common in wild populations and I can't honestly say I've seen any out in the wild that weren't showing signs of it.

Oh Christ not another bloody disease!! I definitely would like to avoid that. I will buy the sticklebacks, but minnows don't seem available anywhere, they are vvv plentiful in my local stream though! I feel like mixing the wild minnows with sticklebacks could be a problem , even if they always live in my pond. What do you think, any minnow diseases to watch out for too? I can treat the tank with the many varied fish meds I have now when they go in, give them the royal treatment. I could also use my outdoor pond as a quarantine for the minnows first, catch and observe them before they go in the tank.

Well I caught all the fish from the same place, put them in the tank, and then returned them back to the same place a bit bigger and fatter than when I got them. I can’t imagine there is any scope for any new nasties to be acquired.

If you got stock from different sources, that could be more of an issue I guess.

Makes sense, simples! You gave them a wonderful holiday.

TBH for me there's the lingering fear in the back of my mind that the days-long bleaching and insanely thorough tanking & equipment clean wasn't enough (which is probs mad, the tank for over 2 days had 2 litres of 5% bleach in the water with everything on). It scares me to think I could spread the MB around in the wild, so won't try it this time. If this pond tank works nicely I think I will try ti again in the future and then could try it your way, which is very nice.

 

[shangman]

Two more native plants to add to the list:

Butterbur / Petasites hybridus (probably too big, but v cool)
Floating water-plantain / Luronium natans


Now here's a list of non-native plants I'm very tempted by! Just to muddy the waters a bit Some are probs too big, I got all the plants here from <The Encyclopedia of Water Plants >. There are loads more nice ones tbh, it's worth having a look!

Marginals

Miniature Bullrush / Typha minima
Star Grass / Rhynchospora colorata
Tufted Loosestrife / Lysimachia thyrsiflora
Swamp Loosestrife / Decodon verticillatus

American water-willow / Justicia americana
Water Spinach / Ipomoea aquatica
Carolina Spiderlily / Hymenocallis crassifolia (VERY TEMPTING)
Rain Lily / Zephyranthes sp.

Japanese Blood Grass / Imperata Red Baron
European Waterclover / Marsilea quadrifolia

Floating

Water Mimosa / Neptunia aquatica - seems slightly different from Aeschynomene fluitans, slightly different structure that grows more out of the water and with a different flower
Floating Heart /Persicaria amphibia (formerly known as Polygonum sp.)

Stem & underwater plants

Redstem parrotsfeather / Myriophorum Brasiliensis

 

[The Miniaturist]

Miniature bulrush & Carolina spider lily get my vote for non-native plants!

 

[Hufsa]

In other news: Mysterious local woman buys 10 000 square kilometres of land outside London. When asked about the purchase states that she "is making a pond"

 

[AlecF]

I haven't quite figured out how the Medaka lay. I ended up, mysteriously, with 5 new babies in a small tank, and I can only guess they came with floating plants I must have moved from the planter I have them in. No other way )head-scratch). The first time I had babies I actually siphoned them up in a cleaning session and somehow they ended up in the other tank. In other words, I am clueless, but they must be breeding a lot and eating the fry. And I am accidentally onto my second brood by removing them. I am going to start moving the floating weeds over from their planter to the small tank occasionally. I wish I had more of a clue! The babies are charming and VERY easy to raise.

 

[Hufsa]

I haven't quite figured out how the Medaka lay.

Arent these the ones that carry the eggs in their fins?

 

[shangman]

Miniature bulrush & Carolina spider lily get my vote for non-native plants!

100% with you! The bulrush I'm definitely getting, and if it doesn't fit in this tank it'll go in one of my nanos cos it's soooo cute. I think all of my nanos could do with some different emergent plants to spruce them up a bit

I'm thinking maybe the spiderlily could be the "star" of the tank in the emergent section, and if I cropped it for any biotope competition well... they'd be none the wiser

As much as biotope is cool, it's also nice to mix it up a bit too. I have a thing where if I get presented a list of rules to follow in design I just can't help but want to break them and do something a bit different!! I'm an anti-purist lol. No problems doing it in other aspects of life, but art.... I do what I want lmao. Well, I try to do what I want and then nature takes over and shows me the way it's gonna go, which is never quite what I intended lmao in both good and bad ways.

In other news: Mysterious local woman buys 10 000 square kilometres of land outside London. When asked about the purchase states that she "is making a pond"

I cackled at this lmaoooooo... if I won the lottery it would 100% happen!! 😂

I won't use ALL of the plants in the lists I posted ... Just laying out my options so I can choose well at the pond garden center later this week. Will definitely use... A few of them though.

I haven't quite figured out how the Medaka lay. I ended up, mysteriously, with 5 new babies in a small tank, and I can only guess they came with floating plants I must have moved from the planter I have them in. No other way )head-scratch). The first time I had babies I actually siphoned them up in a cleaning session and somehow they ended up in the other tank. In other words, I am clueless, but they must be breeding a lot and eating the fry. And I am accidentally onto my second brood by removing them. I am going to start moving the floating weeds over from their planter to the small tank occasionally. I wish I had more of a clue! The babies are charming and VERY easy to raise.

You can only view them from above right? Interestingly I can see this part of breeding in my tank from the side, in the morning females often have 2-6 eggs stuck to them which are completely transparent and hard to see. In the afternoon/night they swim against plants to deposit them and they disappear. I was cleaning out some plants a few days ago in there and had to inspect it all, just plants had no eggs but the moss had quite a few! Not seen fry yet tho.

 

[plantnoobdude]

I haven't quite figured out how the Medaka lay. I ended up, mysteriously, with 5 new babies in a small tank, and I can only guess they came with floating plants I must have moved from the planter I have them in. No other way )head-scratch). The first time I had babies I actually siphoned them up in a cleaning session and somehow they ended up in the other tank. In other words, I am clueless, but they must be breeding a lot and eating the fry. And I am accidentally onto my second brood by removing them. I am going to start moving the floating weeds over from their planter to the small tank occasionally. I wish I had more of a clue! The babies are charming and VERY easy to raise.

medaka carry eggs in their fins and then deposit them in floating plant roots/fine plant leaves. I used to keep them in tubs with some water hyacinth and akadama soil! good fun and very low maintenance.

and the hippuris vulgaris leaves are absolutely gorgeous submerged aswell. apparently hard to grow underwater but I wanna try some soon.
kind of like a poor mans native pantanal!
https ://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxl5EW3wvmk
(deliberate space after https to avoid massive link)

 

[Wookii]

what were the gudgeon like?

By sheer coincidence I just found the 2022 Biotope Aquarium contest results are now live (some amazing tanks this year):

BIOTOPE AQUARIUM DESIGN CONTEST 2022 – Biotope Aquarium

biotope-aquarium.info

. . . and which fish features in the 1st place winning tank? . . . Gobio Gobio!

The bank of the Solinka river, near Cisna town. Bieszczady mountains. Poland – Biotope Aquarium

biotope-aquarium.info

EDIT: And look what is second place; Gasterosteus aculeatus:

Sources of the Krężniczanka river near Bełżyce, Poland – Biotope Aquarium

biotope-aquarium.info

EDIT 2:

They also feature in the 5th and 6th place winners too (a lot of Polish entries!):

 

[shangman]

By sheer coincidence I just found the 2022 Biotope Aquarium contest results are now live (some amazing tanks this year):

BIOTOPE AQUARIUM DESIGN CONTEST 2022 – Biotope Aquarium

biotope-aquarium.info

. . . and which fish features in the 1st place winning tank? . . . Gobio Gobio!

The bank of the Solinka river, near Cisna town. Bieszczady mountains. Poland – Biotope Aquarium

biotope-aquarium.info

View attachment 187477

EDIT: And look what is second place; Gasterosteus aculeatus:

Sources of the Krężniczanka river near Bełżyce, Poland – Biotope Aquarium

biotope-aquarium.info

View attachment 187478

EDIT 2:

They also feature in the 5th and 6th place winners too (a lot of Polish entries!):

oooooooooh

That 5th place one is STUNNING!!! Big thank you for the inspiration!!! I have been thinking I will need a grass in this tank, I'll nab one of these. I wonder if I will come across any gobio gobio in my local streams, they are lovely!

Definitely will be having a bit of a lowered waterline on this tank, I really love the balance between the underwater and emergent growth, obviously vv important in a pond.

Working out the basic structure of the tank seems to me to be the most difficult thing, as generally ponds have nice banks of quite solid clay, and I want to recreate that. Today I've got to go and buy some chicken wire and hessian to see if I can make up a nice base shape to work as hardscape. I'm currently thinking of this tank as basically a giant wabi kusa and growing all my plants on 2 wabi kusa "islands", so it's pretty much just soil (probably a few bags of lava rock for volume), contained within a sculptural shape. May a few stones or gravel at the bottom. I will be getting my plants on Thursday, so trying to spend any extra time over the next two days problem solving that. If I can't get any wire covered in plastic, I'll yacht varnish the wire before it goes in the tank, and probably glue soil to it at the same time so it's less... wirey. Hopefully I will work out a good way of doing it and can report back.

 

[Courtneybst]

@Wookii That 5th place one is chef's kiss

 

[Wookii]

oooooooooh

That 5th place one is STUNNING!!! Big thank you for the inspiration!!! I have been thinking I will need a grass in this tank, I'll nab one of these. I wonder if I will come across any gobio gobio in my local streams, they are lovely!

Definitely will be having a bit of a lowered waterline on this tank, I really love the balance between the underwater and emergent growth, obviously vv important in a pond.

Working out the basic structure of the tank seems to me to be the most difficult thing, as generally ponds have nice banks of quite solid clay, and I want to recreate that. Today I've got to go and buy some chicken wire and hessian to see if I can make up a nice base shape to work as hardscape. I'm currently thinking of this tank as basically a giant wabi kusa and growing all my plants on 2 wabi kusa "islands", so it's pretty much just soil (probably a few bags of lava rock for volume), contained within a sculptural shape. May a few stones or gravel at the bottom. I will be getting my plants on Thursday, so trying to spend any extra time over the next two days problem solving that. If I can't get any wire covered in plastic, I'll yacht varnish the wire before it goes in the tank, and probably glue soil to it at the same time so it's less... wirey. Hopefully I will work out a good way of doing it and can report back.

Intrigued to see how you get on. I went through the same brainstorming some time back:

How to create a muddied river bank . . .

Bit of a random one this, but I've recently been admiring some amazing looking biotope tanks, and I'm wondering how they go about creating a full height vertical 'bank' against an aquarium pane. Some examples that I posted in another thread recently: I would guess at maybe something like...

www.ukaps.org

I never got around to trying some techniques out, but the plan was basically to construct if from brown lava rock set together with expanding foam, then carved and painted with brown coloured resin (you can see some of the techniques on Serpa Designs YouTube channel) and covered with lava rock powder/grains and covered in roots. I have always wondered how the biotope guys create all that 'mulm' for the aged lake bed look, as they've obviously not waited for 3 years for it to form naturally.

 

[Wookii]

@Wookii That 5th place one is chef's kiss

Yeah, nice isn't it - I've always liked those half filled tanks with equal emergent growth, I'm going to have to try it one day!

 

[shangman]

Intrigued to see how you get on. I went through the same brainstorming some time back:

How to create a muddied river bank . . .

Bit of a random one this, but I've recently been admiring some amazing looking biotope tanks, and I'm wondering how they go about creating a full height vertical 'bank' against an aquarium pane. Some examples that I posted in another thread recently: I would guess at maybe something like...

www.ukaps.org

I never got around to trying some techniques out, but the plan was basically to construct if from brown lava rock set together with expanding foam, then carved and painted with brown coloured resin (you can see some of the techniques on Serpa Designs YouTube channel) and covered with lava rock powder/grains and covered in roots. I have always wondered how the biotope guys create all that 'mulm' for the aged lake bed look, as they've obviously not waited for 3 years for it to form naturally.

Yesss, I was reading this thread a few days ago after searching on UKAPS for some making inspo. It's a really interesting technique, but then I want the bank to have soil in that the plants can get to do I'm trying a different technique.

I've made a plastic-coated chicken wire structure, which I'm going to print with yacht varnish a few times to make sure it rust/react in the water. Then under that I'll add 2 layers of hessian scrim, and then add the soil. I have some finer plastic mesh if I need it with the soil. I'll post a picture of the structure once I've added the hessian. Eventually my theory is that the roots of the plants will also be holding the soil in if the hessian rots, but as the tank front be up for longer than 6 months I think it'll be fine anyway.

It's basically a giant wabi kusa, the structures are open at the top for emergent plants, and on the sides I'll put plants in the small holes to grow out from there. Quite experimental, but I couldn't work out another way to make it how I wanted!

The mulm is a very good question, I'll see if I can harass some friendly biotype people on Instagram and find out!

 

[Wookii]

I've made a plastic-coated chicken wire structure

 

[shangman]

Oh all right 😂 I was gonna get the camera out and take a better pic, but here you go...

I present to you my pond islands!

 

[Wookii]

Hey, that's really good! I'm interested to see how you get on holding the soil in place on such vertical sides without it just turning to slurry and falling to the base of the tank. Perhaps you could bind it with some coconut fibres or similar?