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Wings ...sounds like a lot of new tank /tub problems to me ...suggests to me that there is not a lot of difference to setting up a tank to a tub , sames problems different container .

Understand your frustrations ...however this is a very interesting thread ..so keep us informed .


Garry

Sorry to hear of the fish losses. Is it a heating issue. I think I read earlier in this thread you have no power to this, so I thought means no heater.

Anyhow, hope things pick up with this project, as it is an interesting concept.



Cheers
TW

Here are a few pictures. I will comment on your comments later this weekend. Thanks for looking and leaving comments!






55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Here are a couple of plant pictures from the pond. The first is of a rotala stem making its way into the air. The second is of an Aponogeton crispus leaf that is now floating on the surface.

I have added a tiger lily and dwarf lily to the mix.

The Calla Lily is making a come back with much smaller leaves. No flowers yet.

I still do not have any fish in the pond as I am waiting for the temp to stable out a little. I am pretty sure it was the temperature fluctuation that killed. I am think I might try and breed Gouramis in it. I just don't know what type to get yet.





55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

all plants die off once planted in a new enviroment, its a part of acclimation. your cala lily might not bloom for a while, but dont throw it out or start out new! it is similar liek when an emmersed grown plant is planted in a submersed enviroment.. alot of leaves die off, then slowly new ones grow and eventually it will be as good (if not better) than before.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Very true about the need to acclimate to the new environment. It was just sad to watch it melt away.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Update ~ The mini-pond is back in action with a handful of new life forms.

Last weekend I got up early on Saturday morning and checked out the pond. Not to my surprise I found many mosquito larvae floating around at the surface of the water. I knew this was not a good thing for anyone around the apartments so I went to the LFS and picked out a male and female paradise fish. I was a bit worried about them the first couple of days because the water temperature was very warm. I have found that the lower part of the tub does stay cool so I guess the hung out there to avoid boiling.

To counter act the high temperature of the tub I added a couple dozen water lettuce plants. They were not in great shape when they arrived in the mail but they are doing great now as they are growing and spreading already.

I also added about 300 daphnia to the pond. I did this because I heard they would eat some green water I had developing. I guess in the worst case they became a good live food for the fish.

The Apongeton and dwarf lily are now putting a new leaf or two to the surface everyday. This along with the water lettuce has kept the water temp. lower in the 100 degree heat we have been having.

I am not so sure the tiger lily is growing or not. I tried to reach in and see what it was doing but I was attacked by the male paradise fish. He nailed my hand quite a few times. I don't mess with the plants nearly as much now.

That is it for now.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

hey wings!

sounds like the tub is taking a turn toward some good! I have been looking into doing something similar in the back yard, but i can find ny aquatic plantin soil, where did you get it? ACID RAIN keeps alot of gouramis in the tubs with no problem at all! and brreds tehm rather well, i am thinking some dwarf gourami for my tub... anyways i hope the tub is going to only get better... PS you might want to border the water lettuce with some floating wood or something sot hte rest of the plants still get light... the dwarf lily will take a week or two before any leave form... at least thats what hapens to me with my bulbs... a month or more for fully grown leaves i think, but ponds work differently than my tanks

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

.... but I was attacked by the male paradise fish. He nailed my hand quite a few times. I don't mess with the plants nearly as much now.

Sorry, made me smile. I guess it's hard to take a picture of male paradise fish, in a solid container - but if you can, I'd like to see a picture of this fiesty fellow.

Cheers
TW

Brandeeno,

The Dwarf lily is growing really well. It's putting new leafs to the surface quite often. The Tiger Lily on the other hand is in poor shape. I am not sure it will come back.

Here is a picture of the dwarf lily I had in the 40G a year or so ago. It seemed to grow pretty quick and had just great color.


TW,
When I get my hands on a camera I will try and get a picture of it. The male is a very dark blue/red so it blends in with the tub. The female is a very bright blue so it sticks out well. The female is also not nearly as outgoing as the male though.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

your picture makes the dwarf lilly look, well, not very dwarfish LOL

It's gorgeous colour. I like it a lot.

I look forward to seeing this fiesty fish of yours, sometime in the future

Cheers
TW

Just a little update:

I returned home (NC) from my trip back home (MI) to find the container completely covered with water lettuce. I pulled many of the plants and placed them in a bag to drop off at the LFS. After I removed most of them I found fry swimming around at the surface of the container. I am guessing the paradise fish spawned while I was gone.

Just two days later I need to pull more water lettuce again. These bright 90 degree days are making it grow at a crazy rate.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

congrats on the fry!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hope they develop well!!!!!!!!!!1

maybe youll need some more tubs in the future...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Hope you didn't lose many of the fry to the LFS if they were caught up in the plants!

Looks like the ponds doing great , nothing like seeing a good container pond doing well to make me want one (of course overnight temps are down into the 40's so I guess I'll have to wait a bit.

Drilling the holes looks to be a great idea, have you lost much of the soil from the pots?

^_^

Thank you and thank you ~ brandeeno and Babelfish

I have lost a little bit of schultz soil through the holes but far more of it was lost due to the replanting of the rotala.

I still have a good amount of fry in the tub. No worries there.

I think I started my tub when the night temps were down into the 40's. One night it dropped down into the 30's. That night I covered it and all was fine. I wouldn't recommend fish before the temperature stables out though unless you are doing a cold water fish.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Update time in pond world!!









The plants seem to be doing well. The only algae issue is that I get a little floating blue green stuff every at the top. The plants seem to be doing well and the fish are doing great. I have a lot of baby Paradise Fish and my baby BN is growing up fast than his brothers and sisters in the planted tank. I guess they have more competition. Thats all for now.

Feel free to post questions, comments and concerns.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

What is the waterchange routine in a container pond? Still weekly?

So, the fishies are ok in the unheated water, provided you put them there before the cold sets in - is that what you mean?

Your latest picture looks really nice.

Cheers
TW

What is the waterchange routine in a container pond? Still weekly?

So, the fishies are ok in the unheated water, provided you put them there before the cold sets in - is that what you mean?

Your latest picture looks really nice.

Water Changes ~ I do them every couple of weeks. Pretty much any time the water starts looking a little funky.

Unheated Water ~ Once the weather warms up and the temp. does not drop below 60 or so, the fish seem to do fine. I believe I read in a TFH that Paradise Fish are subtropical fish so they don't need extremely warm water but can tolerate warmer water. I have also played the game of moving the tub back and forth to control how much direct sunlight it gets. This helps control the temp. too.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

WOW!

Looks AMAZING !


(*sulks cause she wants her pond NOW, not in a year and a 40 days*)

^_^

Wow, that's a nice little project there wings!

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

What is the plan for winter, or where you live do the temps never drop below 60?

Cheers
TW

Babelfish,

You will just have to wait. Waiting is good for you!

Matty,

Thanks for the complement!

TW,
The temps here most defiantly drop below 60 degrees. I think the coldest it got last year was a day of about 10 degrees. One of the small mountain streams that I fish froze that day.

My plan for the tub is to take it down here in a month or two depending on the temperature swings. The fish will go into my 20G long that will be made into a mini plant farm.


55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

I think the coldest it got last year was a day of about 10 degrees.

10 degrees F = minus 12.2 degrees C

I wouldn't survive your winter, so I am glad your fishies will be moving inside. The average temp for Sydney for this month (winter) was 46.22 degrees F = 7.9 degrees C. That's far too cold for my liking & I am glad it is almost spring. Can't take the cold for much longer

Cheers
TW

10 degrees F = minus 12.2 degrees C

I wouldn't survive your winter, so I am glad your fishies will be moving inside. The average temp for Sydney for this month (winter) was 46.22 degrees F = 7.9 degrees C. That's far too cold for my liking & I am glad it is almost spring. Can't take the cold for much longer

Yeah I am sure they wont make the winter here. The winter here is way nicer than it is in MI where I moved from. It is highly common for it to be below freezing for months in the winter. Down here if there is a snowflake everyone freaks out. Pretty funny!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Had another look through the thread, couldn't find so thought I'd ask...
Do you have any type of pumps or filters running or is it all the magic of the plants?

^_^

Plant Magic! Seems to work for use terrestrial folks too!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings ...Looks fantastic .. Fun being attacked by your own pets Ungratefull little sods.

When do you have to take the tub down ... will it be this month or can yo get thru to October?


Garry

Looking at the averages for my area, I think the tub will have to come down this month. Next month the average high is 72F and the average low is 47F. That might get just a little too chilly for my fish.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Here are some pictures of my aquatic plants growing out of the water.




Male Paradise fish, he seems to like to be the center of attention.




Male chasing what looks like a young male.



55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Can the tub keep going, without the fish, or is it too cold for even the plants? Seems a shame to have to start all over again next spring.

Cheers
TW

That's a great shot of the male flaring his orange gill plate. I always think it's cool to see the emersed growth of the plants, thanks for sharing Wings.

---

Critical Fertilator: The Micromanager of Macronutrients

Wings ...Great shots again ..love the Male Paradise ...he looks mean ??!!!!

Garry

he looks mean

Hey he is the one that bit my finger! I think he was either hungry or protecting young. He is a little aggressive with the other fish in the tank but nothing too bad. I think there is plenty enough cover to hid when he comes to chase them off. Most of the time when he is chasing away the younger fish is during feeding time.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

yeah, he does look mean. Have your fishies moved inside now wings?

Cheers
TW

Yes I did move them inside a few weeks ago. Our night time temps are now starting to drop into the 30's and I don't think that the fishes would like it. When I brought them in the night time temps were getting down to the lower 50's. I had two BN plecos in the tub and I was surprised to find, first how much they grew and second that they were doing fine with the cooler temps.

My biggest paradise fish are now about 1.5 inches long and I have at least a good dozen of them or more. The tub is still set up with plants but I will bring in a few of them today as tonight is fixing (learning to speak souther USA) to get quite cool.

Thanks for stopping in!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

My biggest paradise fish are now about 1.5 inches long and I have at least a good dozen of them or more.

so do you think breeding was more successful in the container pond, than you've had previously inside in standard tank?

Cheers
TW

Now have I have written about how big they are I am guessing the biggest babies are more like 2 inches long.

so do you think breeding was more successful in the container pond, than you've had previously inside in standard tank?

Well the two baby BN I placed in the tub grew much larger than in the tank with all the other competition from their siblings and the shrimp. Plus there was way more algae in the tub than in the tank they were spawned in.

As for the Paradise fish I am not sure if they are more successful in a tub or a standard tank as I have never spawned them before. They have not spawned yet in their new home so the tub has been more successful than the tank. That could also have to do with the HOB filter used on the tank while I didn't have any filter on the tub.

My 55G planted tank seems to be quite the baby making machine. I have a ton of whiteclouds, Cherry shrimp, and BN plecos in there from spawnings in the tank. I do not though have anything to compare them to though with the tubs. Maybe later in life I can make comparisons.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Hey Wings,
Nice work with the tub!
Now that ur fix'n to bring 'em in, Ya'll should be
making plans for a much bigger 'un next year.

Where are you at? In the summer, in CO, our night
time temps are in the lower to mid 40s and daytime
highs are running in the mid 60s to low 70s, but
then I'm at 10,000 feet elevation.

Probably outdoor tubbing is not gonna work for me. .

Frank

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--