Journal Mission Bathtub 2018

[zozo]

Probably the last of the Hydrocleyes 2018 Summer ended, it's going down fast now.. Weather stil nice, but day times are rappidly in decline.

The summer was hot and dry, all emersed moss went brown and asleep, but again astonished how fast it revives if the climate allows it.. That green moss on the DW is maybe 2 weeks old..

The palm in the pot has a lot Cyperus company now, it all fallen in there from seeds.

And the minions grew rather well All born this spring not all equaly large but all relatively fat and round by now. Actualy they never got any special food, that little aqaurium kept them all alive till the day they were big enough to nibble pellets. What they at till then, dunno, probably aufwuchs..

Realy gorgious baby goldfish.. And realy fun to see them grow up, get fat and change behind glass. Very pet like at a young age and strat beggin for food the moment they spot my presents..

Now i need to get ready and prepare their indoor habitat tubs before it gets to short and dark and strip some plant baskets from the utdor tub. It was good summer, but as always over too fast.

 

[Edvet]

Fat indeed !

 

[zozo]

Found this today in the Daphnia tub. A Mini Toad. It probably jumped in for a feasty meal, but couldn't get out again.. Poor thing completely exhausted from trying, quietly rested on my thumb for at least 10 minutes.

 

[zozo]

Not bad for a little outdoor low tech.. Even beter than i ever expected.. Another month and it goes indoors again.. I was thinking what to do with it next year.. But it looks so good would be a pitty to rescape it, realy curious actualy how this will procede next year... I think i build a second tank next to it. Still got some space for it..

The color of Potamogeton gayi in the falls sun. A nice orange red/brown..

Taxiphillum also grew like mad, this is the little moss tree.. The shrimps favorite spot.. Never realy thought it would work, Raising cherry shrimp in the same tank as hungry goldfish fry.. But it goes very well together, i count more shrimps than i started with..

 

[Edvet]

I am guessing they wont feed on the adults that much.

 

[zozo]

Slowly cleaning all up to get the fish and some plants indoor for the winter.. Still night temps yet not under 0°C, but light hours are significantly on their way down. Plants are nearing that tipping point of stop.. Anyway this one is what caught my eye the most.

A piece of Mopani hanging submersed to the tubs side with an emersed growing Bog fern planted on it..

First time i took it out and it looks realy cool, it grew and attached rather well...

Turned this way i might just put it in an aqaurium hanging to the back panel.. And see how this fern overwinters indoors. I guess it should, its a cosmopolitin, also growing in the tropics.

 

[zozo]

Hmm, this maybe shouldn't be in ponds but in diy. At least part of.

Anyway above fern is in an idoor test tank now.. And it's a by Mission Bathtub inspirated new experiment.

Fern Island..

How did i do it?... The wood (Mopanis) is darn tough and hard.. I drilled holes in it in which a tapped M3 thread. Still had some acrylic M3 screws. And created some acrylic hooks fitting the 4mm glass panel. Screwed that to the wood.

To get the wood in desired vertical angle did the same

Cut a piece of scrap acrylic tube to lenght fiited in a rubber bumper to not put to much strain on the glass.

It hangs like a charm..

Kinda looks funny.. Tropical planted floating iceberg..

Since it is about completely covered with Fernroot on top and fernroot is often used as plantmedia in terraria.. Lets see what we can grow to it.. Maybe some HC..

 

[tam]

Nice, I really like the hanging wood!

Just watch those toads in spring next year. They are very cute but we've lost fish to them/frogs before. The males get so overexcited about grabbing a female and holding on they occasionally get confused with a fish and attach to them instead.

 

[zozo]

Thanks Tam.. All fish go indoor during the winter and go back out somewhere around April or March, depends.. But than Randy The Toads excitement will be long gone.

 

[Oldguy]

Epoxy treated plywood

Have you thought of fiberglassing the plywood. About 50yrs ago I put a plywood end in the end of a fiberglass mini bus roof that I begged ( the end where the doors went.) Fiberglassed over the plywood to seal it and bond it to the rest of the now upside roof to make a pond. Still sound to this day. I used 1oz matting, very easy to dress into corners and wet through with resin. The resin I used dried non-tacky on the air side. Later read a book about making monster aquariums out of plywood coated in fiberglass but never got around to making one. Like your bath tub pond. Had one as a kid, but nothing fancy like yours.

 

[zozo]

Have you thought of fiberglassing the plywood

Yes i did.. And indeed best practice for larger and tall constructions, at overlapping seams or corners in the wood construction. In rather small and shallow straight foreward box construction i experienced that it aint realy necessary, than a thick kit bead in the corner is sufficient. There is very little strain the kit can't handle, it has an awfull large stretch to it. Than a box can be kitted actualy the same as a glass aqaurium. Since it is plywood, jank some screws in it too.. And it goes nowhere.

What is much more important also for small outdoor projects is using a UV blocker in the epoxy.. I see the epoxy above the water line exposed to sunlight (UV) slowly degrade and chip off. Tho the pre treated plywood panels (shutterboard) have that UV blocker by default.

 

[Edvet]

Seen this guy and his channel?:

 

[zozo]

Seen this guy and his channel?

Nope.. Thanks for sharing..

 

[zozo]

Seen this guy and his channel?:

I've been watching his channel, non stop.. That guy is phenomenal!! If he doesn't have video's with absolute superb ideas e.g oversized aquarium under gravel filter for ponds, than he has videos with girls in bikini's or just having a crack at it.



You got to love this guy!.. He definitively needs a Pond Sticky!