Journal Mission Bathtub 2017

[frederick thompson]

Nice pictures zozo. Heres some Rudd

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[zozo]

Oh forgot to take a pic from the Daphnia factory.. Which is perfectly clean now, with in a week time? It has nothing special, no flow, yet didn't add ferts. It only has a few plants in a basket with pond soil and a hole lot of mosses, mainly Fontanilis and some taxiphillum. As seen a bit in a previous picture all mosses where floating covered in a slimey green bubbling mass, looking awfull. The side wall of the barrel also were covered in a thik layer of this algae.
But now, it all sank to the bottom, it is perfectly clear, the wall are clean, all within a week time. Went away as fast as it came..

Do not believe the Daphnia at it all in this short periode. Last year it was about same story without Daphnia... And i did absolutely non about it.. I do not want to come accross cheeky, but i realy have no idea what people are doing in their (wildlife) ponds to get algae problems. I never have them and actualy do not know realy why other than enough plants..

 

[zozo]

Nice pictures zozo. Heres some Rudd

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Awsome!

 

[frederick thompson]

Haha. Knew you would like it. Take care

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[zozo]

Haha. Knew you would like it. Take care

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Everytime i see your pond i feel like digging.. .. You too take care.. Thanks!

 

[Zeus.]

Use to have twice a year algea blooms lots of blanket weed, till I fitted a variable magnetic coil powered by mains around one of the filter return pipes. Still get the aglea bloom but just transient. Daphnia just get mopped up by the fish. After seeing/reading about yours I have had some ideas on how to improve mine. Great thread keep it coming

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[frederick thompson]

Everytime i see your pond i feel like digging.. .. You too take care.. Thanks!

Why mate. You have shown you don t need to dig.Yours is brill. Mate.and your enjoying yourself looking at them sticklebacks. You have prooved to me. That you don t need a large pond like mine to get great enjoyment out of the hobby of fish keeping. Awesome.
Jesus to think of my bank account. And what your doing. Just brill mate. Love it.
Hi nelson hope your well mate.

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[zozo]

Why mate. You have shown you don t need to dig.Yours is brill. Mate.and your enjoying yourself looking at them sticklebacks. You have prooved to me. That you don t need a large pond like mine to get great enjoyment out of the hobby of fish keeping. Awesome.
Jesus to think of my bank account. And what your doing. Just brill mate. Love it.
Hi nelson hope your well mate.

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Well thank you... It's true to have fun bigger aint always beter.. But i would love to have a bigger pond, long time idea is to dig the lawn behind the wall the tub stands in front. And place infinity window onto that wall, whole length. I guess what makes your bank account drop aint the diggin nor massonry.. It likely is the whole complex filtersystem.. Which is in my plan not a nessecity, because i wasn't planning big fish.. Than a shallow marginal planted integrated swamp filter would be highly suficient enough. So one pump with a little prefilter would be all i need.. Same as i have now, just a little bigger.

But i have a huge chestnut standing on my neighbours ground loosing all its trash on my lawn 3 times a year.. Blossoms, bomshell chestnuts and than the leaves. Adn my own cherry tree does about the same. It would be a hell of a job to keep it clean under those 2 trees. Or it will become a huge mess with in no time. I can't put that many time into it.. So rather leave it.. I live rented, so i could and if i wanted to sue the neighbour to cut down that awfull chestnut, i need my landlord. And he just an not interested @0.. So i'll keep dreaming with the shovel in my hand.

 

[frederick thompson]

Haha well put . Trees i love um

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[zozo]

Use to have twice a year algea blooms lots of blanket weed, till I fitted a variable magnetic coil powered by mains around one of the filter return pipes. Still get the aglea bloom but just transient. Daphnia just get mopped up by the fish. After seeing/reading about yours I have had some ideas on how to improve mine. Great thread keep it coming

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Thank you.. My best guess is plants and also the marginal plants should stand in the pond water. Thats what i often see, in garden ponds, the marginal vegitation outside and not fed by he pond. So then it is also no use for it.. And the plant choises have regarding my idea rather great infuences. Like early growers and late growers.. E.g Iris pseudacorus, Nymphiodes peltata, Eriophorum are plants that bloom very early, so it also starts growing early in the year even in slight frost it grows. This is a huge help to get the cycle started early.. True aquatics do not grow much bellow 10°C, and late bloomers don't do much either early in the year. But some algae does. And ore take a nymphaea or even a nimphoides inside under artificial light if possible for the winter. It doesn't necessary need a rest periode than it stays green all winter long and put it back with already floating leaves after the winter when water stays above 0°. I think this will give you a great head start.

 

[zozo]

Oh forgot a very important one.. Fontanilis, this even grows in the winter, in my case it's an evergreen.. I do not know about British winters, but we had max -12 for a few weeks last year. After the winter i took out 10 times as much as i did put in last year and still crispy green and healthy.

 

[Fiske]

That spider looks like an Araneus diadematus , so it probably doesn't like that skating session. Otherwise, awesome tub

 

[Zeus.]

Winter in UK normally isn't that bad haven't had a frozen pond for a few years know. The last big freeze was in 1963 when the sea even froze. But with global warming you never know what to expect.
How do cope with the freeze Zozo- like what to bring inside?

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[frederick thompson]

This day and age with technology's. You get 10 day forcast. So you can prepare before hand. I have had a pond for 20 years. Never had problem with frozen pipes or pond. On this new one i had it designed so that every thing is always moving. With this in mind Trickle in out moving returns moving. Inlets to filters moving . Plus all lagged. So you never know. But like i say . With technology we should know. I look at my phone every day. To analyse this. Not just for freeze.but for spikes for the koi fish. To much drop to quick. It stresses them. And that brings on problems. Like fin rot. Ulcers. Because they flash. But you never know.

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[Zeus.]

Had my pond 15years without an issue even when it freezes, normally turn the filter off for the winter months. But obviously the expansion off the pond liner due to the expansion off the ice on the surface is taken up by ground and liners. I'm thinking about tubs etc which aren't in the ground and are more likely to freeze more due to their sides not being insulted by the ground. Would you normally empty them of water or just insulate around the tubs? Let's assume the tub is to big too move.

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[zozo]

How do cope with the freeze Zozo- like what to bring inside?

Actual the fish is most important in my case.. It's to tricky to keep them all winter in such a steel plate above ground tub. I leave tem in as long as possible, but prepare a few large plastic tubs in the cellar. That basket which hangs in the wooden barel is the (trickle) filter. It has a cyperus alternifolius in it, that dies if the roots freez, but indoors it's an evergreen. So that one goes inside before the frost.. And take some aqautic plants and mosses in.
That cyprus is a very good summer helophyte, but it does zip below 20°C Also take 1 Nymphaea inside, also an evergreen indoors. This is the one you see in the barrels picure above. I wont have this much plantmass already in april with leaving it outside.

It depends what my ideas are, last year in mission 2016 i completely started over with an empty tub. But this year didn't just left the tub as it was, only drained and cleaned it a bit after the winter to get most fauling organics out. As said i choose winterhardy plants according to their seasonal properties which start growing very early in the year to get it going early. Like that Iris, flowers from may to july, so you see it already starting to develop plant mass early march, 2 months later is is mature and 10 times bigger this grows like mad. I used it in the tub for years, but my old HDD crashed it has all the pictures from 2012 till now on it.

But this is how the iris looks now in late april in the old 10 year filter bucket. Can't use it anymore it rusted some holes and leaks. But in januari it still was empty..
The other plant is Bog forget me not.

This bucket also has some Schizostylis, they survive the winter, but as a temperate subtropical late bloomer (september) it doesn't grow that fast yet. It still is just a tiny plant. Not much of helophyte for now. It also contain some Pontederia yet not even showing, but will come..

The tubs helophytes this year are the Eriophorum and Bog forget me not. This is what survived the winter and grew back till now on it's own.
The floater is the Nimphoides peltata also came back from a last year leftover rhizome. All very early growers. There also is a purple iris in there, but planted last year, it still needs to mature it's rootsystem. The older this will get the more abunded it will come back each year. Iris is one of the main reasons to completely start over once eevry few years, if this one gets going it has an unstopable rootsystem, getting to much for such a small water body. But that will take 3 or 2 years depending on how much is planted. But that's what makes it a number 1 helophyte..

See the potamogeton natans next to it, it survives the winter but yet not much of a help..

And with this strategy, looking at the season the plants flourish and use that property, i keep it relatively algae free till now.

 

[Zeus.]

Cheers Zozo that's given me loads to work with. Had the garden scaped by professionals 15yrs ago just left them too it and paid the bill. Busy with work and kids. But kids virtually left home, and garden needs a rescape. Seeing what you have achieved is inspiring me to redo mine
Sorry for hijacking your thread

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[zozo]

Cheers Zozo that's given me loads to work with. Had the garden scaped by professionals 15yrs ago just left them too it and paid the bill. Busy with work and kids. But kids virtually left home, and garden needs a rescape. Seeing what you have achieved is inspiring me to redo mine
Sorry for hijacking your thread

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That's not hijacking that's what it's all about.. At least for me it is, helping eachother out and not fishing for compliments only.. So shoot if you have questions.. And or ideas. I'm glad to help and still eager to learn.

Pond building is one thing, professionals might know all about regarding construction.. But using plants to make it run is something still rather very underestimated or ignored and put aside as merely decoration. I guess this also comes with professionalty, plants are not much of a profit.. They don't want to shoot their own foot and rather sell you a nifty filter system and some half truth about it.

Also if you go to most professional pond shops they do not start selling pond plants before may.. This gives a lot of people the wrong impression about it. But choose and collect the right ones and it can start already as early as february / march. ANd the earlier it starts the beter of you are half way through it.

 

[zozo]

Would you normally empty them of water or just insulate around the tubs? Let's assume the tub is to big too move.

Depends on the tubs material.. A steel/sink one can take the freezing, the wooden barrel also. PE aint a problem and stays flexible, but not much of a decoration imho. PVC tubs are no go, this gets rock hard and breakes if it gets to cold. And even above ground to freeze 40 cm of water than you need some rather cold winters.. One year we had -18 for a long periode (8 weeks or so), i believe this was the only year the tub freezed completely solid. - 12 for 3 weeks only made about 20 cm of ice.. I even had 2 little baby goldfish, black ones i missed catching last year, surviving. I found them healthy and well when i drained it for a cleaning. 1 in the tub and 1 in the barrel. both are still around. So they can take it and hibernate as long it doesn't freeze solid.

 

[zozo]

One of the stickleback girls is pregnant.. Consantly swimming around curving her body and showing off her fat belly.

The black spots become much darker, all over a more shiny color when pregnant..

Here she is showing off her fat belly to the male, he is somewhat intrested but not yet completely ready. He's trying hard to build a nest, but the other 4 girls are constantly taking his mind off it.