# Mission Bathtub 2021 - Better late than never.



## zozo (2 Jun 2021)

Went to the pond shop and they seemed to have survived the pandemic lockdown ordeal... But as suspected they had very few plants for sale this year and 0 Lilies. Understandably they said, last year was a kick in the gut, first, let us sell something before we dive deeper into more dept. So I bought some and gave a nice tip!...

It ain't much this spring after last year's shock freeze a lot died off. But it's still early and the weather seems to improve quite rapidly. Finally! 





What survived is the Watermint and in the sump the Marsh Fern and a plant I forgot its name from.




It's far-right and it will grow pink flowers similar to Pogostemon Erectus. The baskets are about empty and only contain a little surviving Gratiola and some sneak-ins, dunno yet.




At least my honeybunnies are happily outdoors again enjoying the view from the skybox.




And showing off again now and then.




This is the new and few additions, still young and small


l




For later colors




In the plywood tank, all died and as experiment what I actually always wanted to try. I placed the Potentilla palustris in the tank. To see how it looks behind glass when it develops its partially submerged wooden stems. It also still contains some surviving wool grass.




For the rest, there's nothing in there but this, taking a shower and growing a beard... Somehow he/she is very lazy, doesn't like to go, and at least already with me for 3 years now. It overwintered with the fish in the cellar.




Well not entirely true, there is more but yet too small to show... The goldfish spawned and always do this near the outlet and eggs ended up in the sump. Now there are a number of goldfish fry in the sump. And a few of them ended up via the pump in this tank. What is interesting I have a Fancy black pop eye goldfish in the tub. And I've seen it mingle at the party. I know it's a She, so it might be some of her eggs made it through and I wonder what shapes will become of here fry as a hybrid with rather normally formed goldfish. If it was a He, the changes would be better but never less it's going to be an interesting surprise. Half Fancy - But still Fancy enough? Still have loads of fry in the sump I'll take out when bigger.

Need to try another pond shop and see if I can get find me a small Nymphaea sp. I need a Lilly... 

In another experiment I added a baby Willow tree, they don't mind wet feet it seems. Topped it off, so it might stay shorter and become bushier.




And the first flower of the year after the Cherry tree is this edible Herb... Don't know its official name... But we call it Union Pipes I guess you know what it is. It has a lovely flower. The darn thing is already for over years in that old iron Mortar.


----------



## Courtneybst (2 Jun 2021)

Well that was a delight 😁


----------



## Tim Harrison (2 Jun 2021)

Finally, at last summer is here  
Despite the bad weather it looks great, and I'm sure Mission Bathtub 2021 will be a big hit also. Hope you find a lily Marcel


----------



## zozo (2 Jun 2021)

Tim Harrison said:


> Finally, at last summer is here
> Despite the bad weather it looks great, and I'm sure Mission Bathtub 2021 will be a big hit also. Hope you find a lily Marcel


Thanks, Tim!...

I think i did...








						Blaue Zwerg-Seerose schnellwachsende Aquariumpflanzen gegen Algen im Aquarium !  | eBay
					

Entdecken Sie Blaue Zwerg-Seerose schnellwachsende Aquariumpflanzen gegen Algen im Aquarium ! in der großen Auswahl bei eBay. Kostenlose Lieferung für viele Artikel!



					www.ebay.de
				








Placed the order a minute ago...  Haven't had this color yet...


----------



## Cait1 (5 Jun 2021)

I love this project. Finally procured a stock tank myself, so this will be inspiration. Do the goldfish need to overwinter inside or would it be possible for them to be out year round?


----------



## LondonDragon (8 Jun 2021)

Awesome  always enjoy these journals


----------



## dw1305 (8 Jun 2021)

Hi all,


zozo said:


> Don't know its official name... But we call it Union Pipes


_Allium schoenoprasum_ "Chives" in the UK.


zozo said:


> The darn thing is already for over years in that old iron Mortar.


It is a <"rare wild plant in the UK">, where it grows in seasonally wet rock crevices, basically a puddle in the winter and baked in the summer.





The larger garden variety is pretty common as a "garden escape" and seems quite happy pretty much everywhere.

cheers Darrel


----------



## zozo (8 Jun 2021)

Thanks guys!... As i'm enjoying the likes!... 😘



Cait1 said:


> Do the goldfish need to overwinter inside or would it be possible for them to be out year round?


It depends on how cold it will get and if it's an above-ground container they are in. Goldfish is a cultivated Carp sp. that is pretty hardy and doesn't mind low temps. But obviously, if all water in the container freezes to a solid block then the party will be over.  Thus something like last winter 7 days -12°C any above-ground tub will be a big block of ice in a few days time.

As long as this doesn't happen and a few nights of mild frost will not harm them. But it's always advised to be prepared and act swiftly taking them indoors or heat the water accordingly if temps start to drop subzero for longer periods 24 hours a day.

Keeping goldfish like this exposed to seasonal temperatures its the winter temp drop and the spring temp rise that actually makes them spawn and make babies. I only have bought 3 goldfish once, all that I have today is one happy family and born in the tub. So also be prepared for this...



dw1305 said:


> It is a <"rare wild plant in the UK">, where it grows in seasonally wet rock crevices, basically a puddle in the winter and baked in the summer.



I believe mine is a supermarket variety  and I did put it in this old cast iron mortar many years ago. And it survives everything from flooding, to dry to frost it keeps coming back year after year. Actually rare that it is rare... Whatever nature throws at it it doesn't mind.


----------



## three-fingers (8 Jun 2021)

Yay my favourite thread is back 😁. Funny the frog came indoors with the fish!

Would be cool if you got some hybrid goldfish fry that look like wakins!

I love goldfish but am scared to breed fancies again, since so many of the fry end up deformed with odd shaped eyes, fins, spine etc. and need to be culled 😭. That was a heartbreaking lesson for me when my fancies spawned and I saved some eggs in a breeding net on an impulse. I couldn't bring myself to cull the otherwise healthy imperfect ones so actually still have a wonky looking white fantail in one of my indoor tanks from that year lol. I love black moors and would love to have one again in the future, but I've decided to stick to the more basic varities now.


----------



## zozo (9 Jun 2021)

three-fingers said:


> Yay my favourite thread is back 😁. Funny the frog came indoors with the fish!
> 
> Would be cool if you got some hybrid goldfish fry that look like wakins!



Thank you!... 
It had to, otherwise, it would have frozen to death. It was still awake and in the tub when I drained it when the temps dropped far below subzero. I guess it didn't know it was in a steel tub trying to overwinter. It just would go into hibernation and then freeze in a solid block of ice and die. So I took it out and put it in a bucket in the cellar till the temps improved again. I've found dead frogs before in springtime in the tub. Since then I always drain it and clean it out completely to check before the frost kicks in too bad. Those darn frogs dig into the gravel under the plant baskets and go napping.

It's indeed a Black Moor Fancy I adopted 2 years ago and it's happily spawning with the rest... And loads of fry in the filter. Never seen those Wakins, didn't know they existed. Always wondered how the heck they manage these fish to take such crazy shapes. And I wonder what has slipped through this time with the moor mingling... I guess if so I'm into finding some strangely shaped goldfish. Makes me feel a bit like Dr. Monroe doing crazy experiments... Never really thought of the need to cull any, that wouldn't be my favorite thing either.  As long as they are healthy I'm ok with it.


----------



## Andy Pierce (9 Jun 2021)

Skybox is cool.  How do you do that?


----------



## zozo (9 Jun 2021)

Andy Pierce said:


> Skybox is cool.  How do you do that?



It is thank you, but it takes regular cleaning it gets pretty dirty pretty soon.

I made a frame from PVC tubing as a stand, then turn the tank upside down place it with the rim 1 inch under water on the stand. Then take a hose stick it in the tank and suck the air out... This you can do with your mouth or a wet/dry vacuum cleaner.

Then because the pressure in the tank gets less than the atmospheric pressure when sucking out the air. Thus the water level is pushed up into the tank. If all air is out it all will be replaced with water. Then take out the hose, and there is no way air can get back in as long as the rim is submerged. And the tank stays filled upside down.

You can do the same in your sink with a glass when you are doing the dishes. Submerge the glass, then when the glass is submerged, turn it upside down and pull it up out of the water. Same thing as long as the glass rim is submerged in the sink the glass stays filled with water. And empties again as soon as the glass rim immerses.

Doing it like this with an aquarium is a tad too heavy, but could be if you're strong enough. Simpler is suck the air out.


----------



## zozo (14 Jun 2021)

The first lily flower is up and running in the wine barrel...  Interesting is the mushroom in the background growing to the barrels wood.




And the watermint is the only other one growing like mad. The rest is still somewhat behind.




Last year I noticed the watermint might have aquarium plant potentials it seems to be able to grow in submerged form.
I did put it to the test and threw some of it in another tub in the garden a few weeks back. It still was alive and well submerged for all this time developing new growth. So my suspicion seems to be correct. Thus on about test number 2 and took some cutting and put them in the tank in the substrate and see where it goes from there.

In the background are the watermint cuttings. And even the submerged form smells equally good very minty... 




In the foreground is the new Baby Nymphaea Nouchalli that arrived the last Friday. It's still sleeping and I hope it establishes soon and start growing. In the background you also see some goldfish fry,  that's why the tank is still dirty, I see lots of goodies crawling through the muck and the fry yet isn't accepting dry food. I leave it as dirty as is till they are a tad bigger.


----------



## zozo (16 Jun 2021)

three-fingers said:


> Would be cool if you got some hybrid goldfish fry that look like wakins!



I caught something from the filter!?  Happily pooping... And too fast and too small to get a decent picture. This is for now the best one showing the double fantail.




For the rest, it looks like a pretty normal goldfish. I have no idea how these deformities work and till what age it keeps changing. But the tail is pretty early it seems.




It's safe in the unheated indoor tank now... I get some more pictures when it grows a tad bigger.





She did it!...


----------



## not called Bob (17 Jun 2021)

I have a deformed one like that, thought it would have been picked off young, but its been going for a few years, same as one with no operculum and so its gills out on show


----------



## zozo (16 Jul 2021)

Despite this year's cool summer with a lot less sun and a lot more rain than previous seasons. It all still grows steadily... 




That trailing plant hanging over the edge is Mazus Reptans




The old cast iron wood stove turned flower pot, doesn't disappoint.




Some Gratiola came back but rather still stays behind.




But Myriophyllum brasiliensis, all tho tropical always grows like mad.




The goldfish fry is happily growing in the small tank.




And as suspected the Water Mint definitively has submerged potentials. It grows a tad leggy, but I guess that's because of the rather cloudy summer.





Looking closer into the Lily growing in the flooded wooden barrel is see something monstrous hanging under a leaf.




It's already there for days without moving.  I'm not sure if it's done whit what it's doing. Thus I leave it be... But that makes it a tad hard to get a decent clear macro shot at this difficult spot. I have to hold the phone with a complete stretched arm to reach in and get close.




It's a bit blurry, unfortunately. But the first time for me to see them this big. About 6 cm tall.




And again a small naturally developed Wabi Kusa piece growing to a piece of wood on its own devices. It was completely naked the day it did put emerged on a basket in the tub and I did nothing to it. It seems some last years Hydrocotyl seeds germinated on it.




Some grass




And another plant I have seen before but yet can not id. It might be an Anagallis sp. maybe the A. arvensis, we'll see if it will grow red flowers later.


----------



## LondonDragon (20 Jul 2021)

Looks awesome as always  that monster looks like a dragonfly, maybe in transition!


----------



## zozo (20 Jul 2021)

LondonDragon said:


> Looks awesome as always  that monster looks like a dragonfly, maybe in transition!


Thanks, Paulo...  Yes, I guess so too, the nymph must have been growing up in the wooden tub. I find them every year in the water. But this big and emerged to go into transition is a first for me.

It gets even better! It got company...



 They look really scary... And Wow? I see a 3rd one too, can you see the tail at the bottom of the picture?

That one is in a rather odd position.




I can't see any damage to them so I guess they yet haven't hatched.


----------



## Wookii (20 Jul 2021)

They are big! . . . and quite creepy!


----------



## zozo (20 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> They are big! . . . and quite creepy!



Yes, they are, all 3 must have been for years in that tub... It must have provided enough food for them to grow up like this. I've caught quite a few smaller ones before in the water. But I drain and clean this tub every spring, taking out a lot of dead leaves and I didn't notice these big ones.


----------



## zozo (13 Nov 2021)

Winter is closing in, it getting ready to take action and be drained if it needs to, but till now it's still soft weather with only minor frost at night.

The watermint in the filter has grown like mad but soon will die off completely, the cyperus in the middle is from seed sown in the spring... 





Myriophyllum brasiliensis and Hydrocotyle leucocephala and Hydrocotyl vulgaris all did well this year.




And some more Watermint... 




This is the colour of how the Bog Fern ends his year, I'm not sure if it needs the winter, I suspect so because I was unable to overwinter this plant indoors.
It died and never really came back and slowly disappeared completely. And outdoors this plant is unstoppable comes back each year twice as strong. This one grows as an epiphyte on the tubs oakwood.




The Tropaeolum majus keeps on flowering all year as long as it's not freezing too much...



How fast time flies and summers end...


----------

