# Planted Tanks > Aquascaping >  Project sunken garden

## medicineman

Here is my new project sunken garden taken shape. It is time to say Hi!



If you havent seen this on neighbour's forum, this is a pic to give you an idea of the scale 



Just want to share it to the forum and get useful comments. Feel free to ask. I'll give details later.

Mods: since this is not a vivarium, not a paludarium either nor I can say this is a tank. It is not a pond either and it is still far away from being planted. But I post it here anyway.

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## Fei Miao

It's fine here, keep the updates coming.  :Grin:

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## kemp

definitely looking forward to more updates!!

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## Sweet Angel

Wow... direct sunlight...?
Want to do experiment / research in finding the best solution to get rid algae fast...?  :Grin:

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## richietay

Wow! Keep us posted please.  :Smile:

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## bossteck

NICE!!

Any more updates? Details man! Give us more details!  :Grin:

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## eddyq

That alots of works and ideas behind this project. Looks like a huge vivarium with water flowing down. It would be nice to see plants growing out from the tank.

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## wks

:Shocked:  Wow medicineman, it looks like you are operating a mini botanic garden here! Keep up the good work. :Well done:

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## aquascaping1982

Very cool & nice..keep us updated!

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## medicineman

Since there are many requests and most of you probably did not follow at the the other forum, I'm going to flashback to square one on the plan.

Basically the project is planned as a replacement of an old dry plant-only terrarium (pothos, phillodendron) with an artificial cliff which is inside our living room. The old house is outdated its 70's style and getting old, so it needs to be renovated. Along with the house, the terrarium was demolished, stripped to bare walls



Layout of the room :
Green colour is garden area



The idea is to replace this old terrarium with something with a punch and blend it to the house.
I made a top view picture as a concept of the sunken garden like this :



1. Water section of garden
2. Glass for viewing
3. Floor (lowered)
4. Dry section of garden 
5. Filter compartment
6. Floor (raised)

more to come...

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## Betta Almighty

awesome set-up! Cant wait to see when the plants are set-in. Guess you are gonna need alot of pump if you are planning to have plants on that huge cliff....

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## wks

Hi medicineman, can post a link of your jewel project in the other forum? I'm very interested to know more about your new garden. :Smile:

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## medicineman

@wks,
If you like thrills and want to wait for some more, I'll be updating slowly  :Grin: , check your PM if you cannot tahan waiting.

@eddyq,
I did some research and ask opinions during planning and building. Dont know if I did it all right the first time, but hopefully with the experts backing me up most things are done OK.

@Betta Almighty,
Yes, the walls are going to be planted just like before (too bad I have no before pic). For the parts of wall which does not get water from the waterfall, I will resolve with automatic misting (still tinkering how to DIY it) or manually spray them once a day. 

In case someone did not notice, there are parts of waterfall (gentle flow) coming out of that backwall.

@Sweet Angel,
To answer that question on direct sunlight...

I do plan to utilize some sunlight, but to call it not so direct. The garden area is within reach of direct sunlight for 2-3 hours, that is during noon 11-2.



This ones shows the area in early stages (nothing built yet) at 3.30. Sunlight hits from an angle. Lighting is generally there from morning to afternoon but not bright and direct all the time. 

For something that is built permanently right inside a living room, it will run for as long as the house stand. So I must build it efficient to run, that is maximizing what is free from nature.

There is an opening measuring around 3m x 3m at the top and considering how pollution and rain can effect the garden (furthermore it is right inside the living room, and not just inside the house), I decided to seal it off. No excess dust, acid rain and stray animals to mess up my garden (and house).



1. House walls 
2. Garden walls 
3. Opening with clear polycarbonate/laminated glass roofing

Since there is probably not enough sunlight to go around, I resolve to additional lighting for supplement and viewing purpose. Bigger metal halide with or without HPS combo. 1 x 400W might be enough for lower maintenance setup, 2 x 400W will definately enough as a regular setup. No high light setup for me, at such scale it is too troublesome.

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## Sweet Angel

I see, yup, glass roof will do help  :Well done:  
Without it although only 2-3 hours direct sunlight can cause disaster to your awesome & $$$ consumed project...

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## wks

Medicineman, thanks to your link. Your new garden is indeed slowly taking shape. May I suggest you keep some native fish instead of koi or South American fish? Indonesia's famous red arowana will definitely be my top choice! If you think that will hurt your pocket too much (but I doubt so :Grin:  ), red tail golden will be a good alternative.

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## medicineman

@Sweet Angel,
I know what excessive sunlight can do to a planted tank, dont worry, trust me I've tried it before. To let you know there is already algae growth inside the pond after more than two weeks of filling and everyday constantly hit by sunlight. If you add fertilizer.. bad news... but there will be plants to counter that. 

@wks,
Well you see those neighbour forumers are mostly western people who rarely find or see a point in keeping arowanas, especially the endangered and protected "red dragons". That is why nobody seems to chime in the word arowana. I cannot keep other kind of smaller fish when I have arowana around, but it is also a nice option. The red ones may cost above S$ 2000 even just for a juvenille. The golden ones are a lot cheaper though. I know what you are talking about because I've kept golden one in the past and have witnessed a staggering red arowana specimen. The beauty and grace is almost unmatched compared to other type of arowanas. 

Back to the project story...

And so I look for a willing and experienced lanscape contractor and found one. Blueprint generally comes from me, but I give the team some freedom to give me a design based on the plan. I'm forced to stay to watch and order the base work during the early stages. We cannot afford to do some mistakes from the base and sorry later.



The cliff section is far from done but has taken a good shape to give an idea of the rough layout. First the team measured working area and dug as neccesary to desired depth. Bottom plumbing was then installed before they poured in concrete for foundation. Thick steel wires were shaped and laid as base shape forming skeleton along with guideline/basic brick works. Work progress from bottom up with earth/sand fillings by the empty inside. 

Spots where water will drip from are reinforced for extra strength and water resistance (the grayish unfinished spots) and the outer skin is carved on (a process that requires artistic hand). As you can notice there are several (I think 5 of them) whitish pipe appearing out of the cliff part. Those are spots where water will gush out and drip down to the pond. The debit of water of each outlet will be controlled remotely by valves to achieve maximum effect. The sticking pipe pole by the center is just there to cover pond drain from getting covered by debris (it will be a draining hole at the bottom of the pond).



Here we can see the floor is excavated for waste water plumbing, huge drain pipes will be installed along that hole. Excess water from plant watering drain, pond overflow, floor drain will be channeled into one huge control box, pre filtered and goes into waste water plumbing with the rest of the house.

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## XnSdVd

Eek! This project is massive! is that your home? Beautiful design by the way. I'd imagine you'll be planting ferns and the like along the wall...

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## avijitsen

Simply Fantastic,

Am spell bound and am eagerly awaiting to see the end results in the comming months. Am sure looking at all your attention to details and your extensive knowledge on plants/fishes, you will end up with something truly out of this world.
All the best again!

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## Harsh

WOAH!! Nice .... really looking forward to updates.  :Smile: 
BTW what other forum exactly are we talking about here?

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## wks

Medicineman, have you decide on the type of aquatic plants in your new tank? It will be interesting to see the layout on paper (or the forum) first and that will generate lots of talking points! :Smile:

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## medicineman

@XnSdVd,
Yes, it is under construction at our old house along with general renovation. I'd love lots of ferns and creeping plants, but time will tell if they can thrife in there. I still need to learn the green thumb way to keep sensitive tropical plants.

@avijitsen,
Thanks. People's opinions also matter for me.

@Harsh,
Well.. the neighbouring american based forum. You know. But you can stick to this thread as I will update my work right here as well.

@wks,
The project is still a long way to go. I even did not intend to move into the house too fast upon finishing the renovation. Aquatic plants definately non-high light and no extra fast growing weeds. I need something of lower maintenance. Still have work and other tanks to maintain see...


Back to tank (flashback of jobs done):

We do have mosquito all the time all year long since it is the tropics right here. The possibily of water getting stuck in the nooks and crannies long enough for mosquito to breed does exist. However since mosquito will never lay their eggs on moving water, the pond and all the moving water part are spared. The passive nooks and crannies however, are made in a way that water will never stay there for too long and drains away.

If you take a scross section on the backdrop right by the spots with water flowing:

1. Steel frames with earth, rubble and soil
2. Base concrete layer (water resistant)
3. Outer crust
Base concrete layer which is water resistant will not allow water from backwall watering/waterfall to seep and lost. The outer crust is made in a way that it is light and porous. This way water will not penetrate inside the wall and wet the house structure (or even seep to the other side of the wall). Parts without backwall watering has no layer #2, so basically all water (which is not much) will seeps and drips down either to the pond or to the ground (drainage is already there to handle this).

top view taken at 3.30 pm


You can see the opening and all the semi-finished ceiling job and some part of the house, notably part of the unfinished stairs (shows how the job must be slowed down a bit).

Now the whole base backdrop/cliff is almost complete and will be fine tuned for water cascade. It would be necessary to carve or add some parts so the falling water will drop nicely and to/trough the right spots.

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## medicineman

Talking about filtration. I'm using overflow filtration, so the surface would be always scum and debris free. It is just important to have clear surface in a pond, especialy when you have interesting things to see within.

Here is the planning. Water overflowing from the pond enters filter and go trough chambers of different filter materials. Then water will be collected at the end and pumped back to the pond.



1. Inlet from pond. Surface will be clean from film and any trash.
2. Filter chambers. Will be accordingly filled with brush, ceramic rings, bio balls, filter mat, sponge and filter floss.
3. Backwash drains (controled by individual valves)
4. Overflow drain, controlling water level at constant height.
5. Return line.

The filter is designed for ease of maintenance. Most dirt, debris, mud, whatever it is will be mainly stuck at the base of each chamber. The valves at the bottom of each chamber serves as backwashing system. Open the valve and the way will ease, draining the silt along. WC is also painless. Just open a valve to the pond, fresh water will mix evenly and end up at the filter as well. Water surface will rise over time and overflow at the filter drain, eliminating excess water. Heavy maintenance can also be done at spot with help of a hose. No need of moving around filter media and mess the house. Simple and easy.

I proposed a blueprint to my contractor and they did quite well as per requested. Here you can see the chambers taking shape.

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## medicineman

The cliff part is at last painted.
I'm presented this kind of colour theme by the team. It still needs another layer to go as the finishing and is going to be roughly the colour later on. The work on the house creates some stirrups and progress on the garden must be on halt accordingly.

What do you think of the colouring?



I'm considering to ask for for slightly darker colour with more light highlights for the second layer.

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## medicineman

So, how is it folks? (the initial colouring)
Right now the clear roofing is under construction, so the team will not retouch the paint for some time.

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## TS168

Very nice one. Hope to see the final result.

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## Jungle-mania

Is the pipe in the centre meant for a waterfall? If so, are you intending of colouring it or attaching any flora to it to make it look more natural?

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## eddyq

The paint colour looks ok to me, was wondering if the lower portion wall paints might dissolve when water flow down.

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## medicineman

The pipe on the center serves as a temporary hole cover. There is a drain hole by the bottom and it has no valve yet, so a pipe is installed in its place to hold off water. Later on the pipe will be removed and replaced by unvisible-from-the-surface mesh. The only water cascade exist will be from the backwall, flowing gently to avoid splashes, excessive noise and too much CO2 outgassing.

Not to worry about dissolving paint on the cascade area. It will eventually over time covered by some sort of algae anyway, so colouring will become darkish green in any case. I'll be pre-running it for some time before I fill it with plants and fish, better be safe from uncured cement and paint residue than sorry later. The craftsmen use their own techique of painting and assures me by previous examples of such cliff type holds pigment very well, unlike some other form of cliff texture. The pigment seeps inside and stay that way, once cured it will not leach out. The opening by the top is actually not finished yet and rain battered the whole structure for weeks now. Paint is still looking OK so far.

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## garythay

wow awesome very artistic

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## medicineman

As you may already know that the job progressed very slowly since it is a syncronized job to the house under construction. Each must be matched with the house progress in order to prevent damage to each other (ie : dust and mortar from stair work will stain the pond below).

List of jobs done :
1. Re-colouring (not final yet). The top part is likely done, but lower part will suffer from house work and will need another retouch.
2. Perfecting some details on pond and cliff, smoothing up and extra texturing
3. Finishing the filter chamber (and testing will be next). I still need to cover up the filter later on with something.
4. Setting the waterworks on waterfall to make the cascade falls as planned. The valves worked as planned that I can control how much water is falling. I would not want too much water and end up having a noisy fall inside the house (and to also think of that excessive surface agitation it created).
5. Some cleaning job (they actually cleaned my tainted glass good enough ). Murky water... 
6. Frame for the skylight (no glass roof yet, coming soon from workshop).

Yesterday I came over by request to inspect how the water flows from the pond, then to the filter and returned via the falls and through two underwater jet holes. Everything seems to work perfectly with constant water level before and after the pump runs (important when power is out, no water is wasted just because the pump is off). The 100W pump seems to be too weak for the job though it has the power of H max, but I'd say it lacks the needed GPH. Whenever I turned the valve to the underwater jet open, the flow to the falls would decrease significantly to a point when there is hardly any falling water.
If bigger pump, special 150-250W pond pumps does not resolve the problem well enough, perhaps I will be adding a powerhead or two in the pond just to improve circulation. 

There are still a lot of work do be done, far away from being planted (which is also good, all that cement mix takes like forever to properly cure and pH lowered to neutral). From automatic watering system (nozzles or misters) to hole covers, from lighting to wiring. Not to mention all the aquascaping stuff involved. I think it is the right time for me to shop for a 400W MH pendant and a couple of 70W ones to even out/visual effect.

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## medicineman

The skylight roof frame is set. It is made of strong aluminium alloy pieces, might not look like it but is rated to withstand a man cleaning on it (important for ease and safety of maintenance). 



Now waiting for the laminated (double bonded) 10mm glass pieces in production. The glass pieces are also film protected to hold them in place in case of being broken. 

This is going to be a nice addition, not only as a free light source but light up the house as well during the day. Even though with no garden inside, a house will feel better with one of these installed.

And you can see here that the whole structure is re-painted a second layer. This time you can see more colour contrast and improved saturation, with slightly darker base and more earthy colours.



This time I'm more satisfied with the paint which look better.

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## Fei Miao

Yes, the paintwork is more natural, I believen once the plants/moss/algae sets in, it would look great, I admire your patience and planning... :Smile:

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## uklau

:Shocked:  It's an eye opener for me. I'm speechless  :Well done:

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## medicineman

Thanks for the compliments.

OK... it has been too long since there is ever any update, so here I go again.

As mentioned before that I might be needing a form of extra lighting to supply the lower part of the garden with sufficient light to grow that compact plants and wider selection. And that lighting source other than natural sunlight which hits in enough intensity during noon hours must be artificially made. To light up something this big while looking good, there can be only one way; going for HID. My choise is MH again since HPS would be too yellow and promotes too much of just vegetative growth.

I pick 400W MH light with tough industrial fixture. All metal alloy casing with reasonable quality reflector combined with 6,000K osram lamp. I know people saying that I might not have enough light intensity and coverage with just 400W and advise double fixture and even a single 1000W MH system.
My doubt about using 400W MH light is answered from testing, as shown here



Hanged at around 3-4 feet from expected water surface (shown here with low water level, around 5 feet away), the fixture spreads almost the correct coverage I want. Not too much spills, but lighting up all the pond area as well as a small part of the lower cliff. Easy on the eyes of the viewers and does not obstruct the overall view too much. Anyway when the house is inhabited, there will be gentle ambient light for the house, negating the extreme contrast a bit.

Selecting 400W light is a correct decision I'd say. You can see part of the cliff is all washed out, indicating how serious 40,000 lumens of light can be even though it is hanged several feet away (compared to several inches in a tank as in CF lights). The top part above the light may be almost pitch dark at night, but during daytime they get much more sunlight than the lower area. That can be fixed easily with mild CF spotlight to create some mellow lighting effects on canopy when it is getting dark.

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## XnSdVd

It'll do... though i didn't know there were MHs rated at 100lumens/watt... Most i've seen are those in the 80 - 90 watt range.

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## medicineman

Well.. almost kinda reaching more than 90lm/W, except for some HPS one

Several samples of 400W bulbs

Taken from Philips :
Watt (W) 400 
Volt (V) - 
Cap Base E40 
Color Temperature (K) 4300 
Lumen (Lm) 35000.0 

Watt (W) 400 
Volt (V) - 
Cap Base E40 
Color Temperature (K) 4000 
Lumen (Lm) 35700.0 

Taken from osram :

Rated wattage in Watts 400 W 
Luminous flux in lumen (HQI CCG) 34000 lm 
Luminous flux in lumen (NAV CCG) 42000 lm ----> if you count in NAV CCG it would reach 100+lm/W
System power consumption in W (HQI CCG) 420 W 
System power consumption in W (NAV CCG) 460 W
Colour temperature in Kelvin (HQI CCG) 6100 K 

HPS :
Rated wattage in Watts 400 W 
Luminous output in lumen 56500 lm 
Luminous Efficacy in lm/W 141 lm/W 


Anyway here is another view of the light in action. Note that the light is a bit scattered but still acceptable. Lowering the lamp position or adding small side skirts to the fixture will improve concentrating the light area.

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## charlessito

sweeeee ,cant wait to see the final result with plant and water running :Well done:   :Well done:   :Well done:

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## medicineman

Using spot light type MH and hang them on the canopy might work. But at higher level, more light will be lost and I would end up using much stronger light, such as a single 1000W MH. I think by then I would see some power guzzling issues with other tanks I will be running along :icon_conf 

I'm actually planning to hang the light that low, just for the boost of the pond part since the upper region is already well dreched by stray sunlight. The light itself is actually falling in just nice with no obvious dark spot inside the pond.

A wrought iron hanger (garden style) specially shaped and mounted from the stairs' side would look sweet. Add in a pivot on the mount, and the hanger could be swinged to free the view, perfect for sunny months when additional light is less needed and overall photo sessions.



Another idea is to hang the lamp via a cable with a pivot and winch at the ceiling and have the lamp automatically retrieved by the winch out of the way when the light is off. That would be clean and very cool.. but for a guy like me who lives in Jakarta it would prove a big challenge.

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## XnSdVd

I'd go with the cable if i were you. At the very least use stainless steel for the stand.

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## medicineman

As expected, the finishing on the project was devastated by the surrounding works. Should have done things slowly on this pond, at least don't do the finishing yet and wait for the house.

Here you go, a teaser pic (taken with 2MP mobile) after some good cleaning and detail retouch. At last construction and renovation is coming to an end, dust settles and it is getting clean enough to re-finish the whole thing.



Expect some more updates in a couple of days.

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## ranmasatome

i'm looking forward to it.. :Smile:

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## medicineman

Well... there is a minor setback that we found today.

I've left some water to stand inside the pond for months for testing, making sure nothing leaks. Sure, it is good enough for I did not see any sudden drop in water level, nor any wet spot surrounding the pond, as well as no wet area by the other side of walls. No sweat, no worry, the pond is all water tight.

Today I asked the workers to fill in the empty pond (just rescently cleaned and I want it filled back). There is an overflow water level check drain (4)located at the filter box to keep water level constant. This overflow drain is being plugged (to keep it from being clogged by construction debris), and out of their knowledge, complying to my request, they filled the pond full enough to over the drain level (but not to the point where water is overflowing from the pond). 

Sure enough a new flaw is discovered not long after.



Now if you take a good look at the filter box. The level of watertight layer is just a bit above the planned water level. The rest above that is not water tight (crust, porous cement work). When water gets over the watertight level, disaster will happen as we witnessed not long after, the room behind was flooded by some seeping overflowing water. This would never happen if the overflow check drain is not closed. Though not a major setback and almost impossible to happen again in normal operating condition, I do not accept such flaw and decided to play the safe route.

I guess even with careful planning to details, flaws will always exist.
Adding 15-20cm of additional height to water tight layer will make sure nothing leaks to next door, even if accident happens.

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## medicineman

I present to you the finished, cleaned product 


taken at 1 hour before dawn 

No... not planted or decorated yet, but that part will be on the way. 
This time no work will ever stain or dirty my garden again, for all major work on the house is finally over. 

If you can note some plants are already there, but still in their pots and not yet planted and I still need heck a lot of plants to fill in the crannies. 

It came across me the idea of a bird's nest. The same structure could be artificially built from degradable natural material such as woven plant fiber (probably attached to the walls by nails) and this can act as vantage points for epifits such as ferns, vines, small bromeliads. Already I made some three fern panels to attach bird nest fern to the walls. 

A major setback that prevent me from proceeding to planting is the lack of misting system. It is virtually difficult to find any around here. Some that are available are large greenhouse "aeroponics" pumps, while othes are high pressure fogging machines running at 1000-1500 PSI. These are just out the equation for me, in capacity, pressure, machine size and not to mention the ridiculous price tag (US$1,500 at the least-for just some Taiwan brand). 

This forced me to resolve something such as DIY misting system. I'm talking about high pressure cleaning machine, portable size (the stuff they use for cleaning your AC). They are able to run long time at once (though still considered intermitent duty) and max out at 500 PSI, but is adjustable via a meter gauge to run at less than half that pressure. The flow rate is 0.7 gpm, and with the right nozzles I think I will be able to run at least a dozen or so of modestly sized spays. No performance chart... but so far this is the best that I can find, costing very low at just around US$ 100.

For the submersed scape fans : sorry, no aquascape yet. It is, I think the easiest and last part (though the hardest to balance) and can wait for last.

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## blackghost

gosh...

it looks like an exhibit in underwater world or something..

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## medicineman

Here is a pic of the waterworks in action (shown only the center part). 
Sorry for the standard freehand pic. To create whitewater effect and see the flow clear next time I will need a tripod and slow shutter speed.



The flow dribbles trough intended spots, creating the desired effect. No excessive splashes (tunable via a ball valve strainer) and water surface of the pond/tank remains relatively still enough to enjoy aquatic plants (will be there later on) from above. 

The flow path is also suitable for growing emmersed form of aquatic plants or bog plants such as anubias, water sprite, moss.

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## medicineman

Here in close up you can see that water surface is being set quite high, following nowaday's trend. I like it that way, even though this might cause me those jumpy fish. 



In reality it looks more like that the water will overflow in any minute, but it wont since there is already an overflow box to the filter to keep it level.

Well guys, I'm taking my time finishing this one so expect patience. After all, no one is moving in yet. The place is being looked after only by maids now.

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## ranmasatome

WATER!!!!!! AT LAST!!!! Thanks fo sharing MM.... im really enjoing this post.

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## a_scape

> Here in close up you can see that water surface is being set quite high, following nowaday's trend. I like it that way, even though this might cause me those jumpy fish. 
> 
> 
> 
> In reality it looks more like that the water will overflow in any minute, but it wont since there is already an overflow box to the filter to keep it level.
> 
> Well guys, I'm taking my time finishing this one so expect patience. After all, no one is moving in yet. The place is being looked after only by maids now.


At the end, you are doing a very good job my friend :Well done:  
Wish I had an opportunity to visit & see your place :Roll Eyes:

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## medicineman

Well.. Singapore has some of such exibit, and those also play a role into influence to the project.

@ranmasatome,
Glad that you are excited about water and really enjoyed it.

@a_scape,
If you feel like it, you are welcome to come over and see it yourself later on after this thing is up and running  :Smile:  


I test run the filtration system (this far pump was only on for short periods without anything in the filter) for half day on just a single filter floss sheet in one of the filter chambers. Water in tank was a bit murky the night before, and the next morning the clarity is greatly improved. Puts quite a smile in my face, seeing that the design actually works very well despite of just a single, under capacity filter floss is being used. Sure enough, with actual capacity and constant flow there is no doubt that my design does the job.

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## joydiv

Will I have the honour of visiting and looking at the setup?

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## medicineman

@joydiv,
Of course you are welcome as wll. Perhaps you will have the opportunity to spectate planted pond and a large school of fish swimming by later on.

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## joydiv

Thanks
off topic abit, can I get ADA soil over there in Jkt?

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## morta_skuld

very nice project!

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## medicineman

@joydiv,
Check PM  :Smile:  

Next is planning for constant water change system, or in another case, easy water change system. 

As stated before, there is an overflow check to the drain by the pond that will keep water level constant, so no more spills to the house no matter what happens (forgot to keep an eye on the tap while WC for instance). By adding in new water, the total mixture of excess new+ old water will get to the drain.
Same like what most people face, I'm seeing our local tap water instead of my own well water) as a better source for it came from such that the hardness is not too high (kH 2-4 and gH 3-5). The only drawback is that like most tap water, it is treated with clorine by the company. Most of the time the concentration is so low that people can go right ahead use it straight away without killing fish. However on bad days, the concentration may elevate a bit to the level that it will start to kill some of your weaker fish.

Not wanting to go to time consuming manual WC and using something like chlorine remover all the time, I resolve to carbon filter route. After all, our fellow members here have proved that using double, sometimes a single carbon block before the tank is effective enough. I get myself a cabon filter canister and some carbon blocks and fortunately they are quite cheap around here at just US$ 14-15 a set. If it is not good enough, I guess I have to use two or three in line.

Anyway, here is another pic showing another side of the garden. You can see the stairs from here, and it seems going to be a good place to enjoy top view.



Geezzz.... 1300 pounds of white silica sand from Bangka is waiting to be washed. I know this is going to be bad for me ....  :Knockout:

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## virgoriangur

wow it looks wonderfull  :Grin:  Thumb ups :Smug:

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## ryzcris

beautiful... I think this is really maximum utilisaton of an airwell...
love the concept...
can't wait to see more plants and fishes...
Wonder how difficult will maintenance be though...

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## eddyq

Next year send your sunken pond or tank for ADA contest. Surely at least top ten placement. Thanks for sharing.

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## Aeon

The walls remind me of Haw Par Villa. Looking forward to the contents in the water!

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## Betta Almighty

ohh my....thats one hell of a work i must say. By the way, Is the area air-conditioned?

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## medicineman

Thanks for the admirations!

Haw par villa? never been there. Should bookmark the place and see for self as a tourist  :Grin:  

To answer air conditioning... yes and no. Room is not air conditioned on normal days/not full time. Air conditioning would be nice for cooler temp (positive thing to the submersed plants) but usually creates dry air, not so good for the emmersed plants.

Currently fixing the overflow system, the waterway to filter is not big enough. As in a tank, too small bulkhead overflow pipe may result in tank unbalance with the sump below. So there goes the chisel, hammer and grinding drill again.

----------


## Jungle-mania

Out of curiousity, I know this is still a faraway thing, but what fish are you going to keep?

----------


## medicineman

It has been some time eversince I stalled the project. 

With huge bags of gravel stacked by the store room, I start to collect the rest of what I need. 

One thing is another CO2 regulator. This part is easy as it can be obtained from many shops, for fish tank or not, it does not matter to me as long as I make it work.

It goes quite different around here for CO2 cylinders. You need to own one instead of exchanging for a filled one. Naturally, I want to have the biggest cylinder I can get, and I want a good tank which will not fail and last a long time before I need to get another one. 
Iron-based ones are quite plentiful, new or used, but they rust over time. 
A hunt for big aluminium cylinder was on and I finally managed to get 20lbs capacity.
Bad timing.... no CO2 gas for now. Need to queue for a long time before any fresh supply from factory will ever come (another reason to own several big gas cylinders). Fortunately the refill shop is kind enough to lend me a half filled tank - just because he owns an aquascape as well and know how bad it is not to have any CO2.

I also managed to collect much needed big enough powerhead/pump to power CO2 micro bubbler - my plan of CO2 diffusion into the pond. Since there is a huge outgassing process that will be happening on the waterfall part, I think it is better to create small bubbles of CO2 and blow them out like a mist. These will get stuck everywhere and dissolve, hopefully absorbed by plant stomatas that outgassing is no longer a big problem. I have done this before in a tank with those bad wet and dry filter and the result is quite acceptable.

As time goes by, my research pays off. 
Somehow continuing from a success in making quality root tabs, I find a way and create another product... my own base fertilizer.
(dont mind the label... it is just for fun right now)


Like usual, I turn mad scientist and decided that it is going to be the fertilizer to test in large scale. 40+ lbs of the stuff, mixed 1:5 ratio with plain gravel to become base fertilizer. This is a critical decision which I may or may not regret. With a large stake, there is no turning back now.


@Jungle-mania,
How three dozens of puntius denisonii... these fellow are currently available here and I should not miss this opportunity  :Grin:

----------


## medicineman

Here is how the concept base fertilizer looks like


Light brown grain of high concentrated granules that it has to be mixed well with a part of plain sand/fine gravel to work. It got lots of stuff inside ranging from minerals, iron, micro elements to partially soluble macros. I dont expect best result out of the first initial testings, but will hopefully get more refined later on.

I mix the stuff to 5 times it mass (which I say is a bit to the strong side) with dry 1mm grade silica sand, 40+lbs of fertilizer to 200+lbs of sand in total. I didnt bother to clean/wash the sand beforehand since it is intended to be placed at the bottommost part of the setup, forming a layer of heavy mix 1-1.5 inch thick. 
Then another layer of capping 1-3mm grade gravel is added on top to seal the mix from water collumn, totalling in about 3-4 inches of substrate.

Meanwhile we take a look at some of the emmersed plants I planted earlier for a head start. With the correct care and enough mix of added fertilizer, they started promisingly to take off.

Here is a kind of red Piper sp, a climber.


And here you can see a group of climbing green Philodendron sp


Now I need to get some wood.... serious hardscape

----------


## Jungle-mania

I recalled somebody on Australian forum using mangrove wood (illegal, but manage to get one in a LFS), they do not break down for a very long time compared to bogwood and driftwood. You might want to consider that.

----------


## Goondoo

> I recalled somebody on Australian forum using mangrove wood (illegal, but manage to get one in a LFS), they do not break down for a very long time compared to bogwood and driftwood. You might want to consider that.


I don't think mangrove wood are illegal in Indonesia? Or are they?

----------


## medicineman

Meanwhile, I went for hunting hardscape. What I have in my mind is huge branchy driftwood, but unfortunately such piece is likely originated from a living mangrove. All my suppliers seems to be detered if I ask for bigger piece of whole mangrove driftwood, probably because of the fact that huge pieces can be obtained only by killing a good sized mangrove tree. Then it would take some time to cure properly, not to mention there is a risk of people getting involved getting arrested for cutting mangroves.

So I must be satisfied with just smaller pieces and other wood alternatives. I found this huge piece of driftwood, rasamala tree type (a kind of wood suitable and commonly used) and bought it home.

Comparative size with a standard brick piece 


Good thing that the wood is readily sinking halfway, I just need to soak it further in my pond for a few days. The seller also promise me an exchange if I cannot use it, so nothing to lose!

Not enough of just DW, I proceed with hunting suitable rocks ornament. There are so many alternative out there, ranging from roundish smooth river rocks, reddish pumice, hard slates, unsuitable calcium based rocks, petrified wood to lava rocks. I pick the last, porous lava rocks, good size.


Just one of more than a dozen piece I bought home. Hope I'm good enough in doing rock arrangement :icon_redf

----------


## medicineman

First, like I mentioned before, the first layer of substrate-fertilizer goes in. 20kg+ of base fert mixed well with around 100 kg of plain gravel.


Then, additional plain gravel for capping is added, forming a nice layer of plant bed some 3-4 inch thick, sealing the fert mix below from getting directly into water collumn.
You can see here the substrate is being manually flattened and inspected for correct minimum depth (since there is no way to see by eye if enough substrate is being used.




In total, currently 12 big sacks of white silica sand, 1-3mm grade goes in (some 1200+ lbs).

After that water is filled in slowly, up to a halfway point. This is because I just want to condition the tank first before pumping excessive water out later on and start again with hardscaping and eventually planting.

----------


## BFG

Will the water falling or flowing down from the waterfall eventually create a dugout area beneath the overhanging part of the waterfall? If that's the case, the base fert might be mixed into the water column. I suggest getting a few flat surface stone to diffuse that water flow from the overhanging area near the base of the waterfall structure. Just a suggestion though.

----------


## medicineman

@Gondoo,
Getting the big ones usually means cutting down a mangrove tree instead of using the dead one. Getting caught transporting of cutting down huge part is not a fun job for any wood seller I suppose, and that is why it is not easy to find those bigger pieces.

@BFG,
Thanks for the reminder. 
The potential problem is already foreseen beforehand because I tested with a hose, simulating water falling down. The area directly below the hit of water does not have any base fert and the bottom most part is being filled partially with coarse river pebbles. This, with a layer of additional gravel on top and with deep water (75-80cm) hopefully will be more than enough to break the eroding power of falling water (which will be set halfway dribbling anyway, I hate having too strong waterfall).


I decided the new wood is too big and bulky for this use. Good enough that the seller allows for goods exchange (perhaps I will pick plants or branchy slender woods).

Being finished in soaking and cleaning for fine dust for these past few days,
all lava rocks goes in and form the hardscape, creating a bit beachy look.


Kinda split into two sections of rock grouping. Another angle of view from top.


And one other from the side.

----------


## tcy81

very big project, hope to see more updates soon  :Smile:

----------


## medicineman

Planting time now.

My package of plants arrived to my delight. Two boxes full of plants. This time I did not hunt for plants, I back ordered them for the best and preferably the good sized ones. I got various bigger size hygrophilla, huge cypts, assorted echinodorus, some crinum, some ferns and others.

I start off immediately, not leaving excess precious time before the plants can go bad. First of all water level is being lowered as low as possible to ease planting job. Then the planting continue in just damp condition, and in this way of planting, things get much easier. No excessive murkiness since ther is no disturbance to the substrate to mix with water. When planting dry, a handheld sprayer is your best friend, keep the plants moist enough during the planting and filling water.




It took quite some time to fill the pond despite the fact that the house is fitted with double 1000L water towers and two wells. Reserves almost ran out so water filling must be stopped for a while and continue the next day.

----------


## Jungle-mania

I know it is not completed, but you have already WOWed me over.

----------


## blackghost

same here. absolutely jaw dropping..

----------


## oblivion

is that 1st pic the fully planted scene?
i suppose you will be planting more later on?

looking good!  :Well done:

----------


## nkm68

Hi medicineman, mind telling what's thickness of your viewing glass? 

Thanks

----------


## fireblade

wah!!!!!!!
I feel like crying! the place so big for creativity to run wild!!
I suppose you will have to climp in to do planting right?
will that disturb the gravels and turn water milky?

----------


## vinz

This is an amazing project! My dream tank... but I'll put arowanas!

Stickied for the time being.

----------


## oblivion

> This is an amazing project! My dream tank... but I'll put arowanas!
> 
> Stickied for the time being.


I'll prefer a couple thousand tetras.  :Grin:  
Now that would be an awesome sight

----------


## medicineman

@lee1224,
No, I'm not finished.
Need more plants, esp tiny or small growing ones to complement the big ones.
The dry part also need more plants. Will do things slow, probably involving trial and error.

@fireblade,
Hell yeah. If I want to keep my clothes dry, the pond needs to be drained 3/4 of the volume (a great waste of water) and then I jump inside. Taking careful steps not to crush any plant and do any work necessary. 
The gravel will definately get disturbed if I go in but water will not turn milky so bad since just the top part is being disturbed.

@km68,
19mm glass. Far over the safe limit, I'm glad that I picked such thickness now I can safely lean or no worry when accidentaly knocks the glass. It looks good too, a match with the tank size.
You can actually escape with 12mm if on a budget.

@vinz,
Thanks for the stick. This will help some people who need to see but do not notice yet.
Arowana? they are nice fish. I'd be upset if one jumps out the pond though  :Roll Eyes:  

@lee1224,
Several hundread perhaps would be more practical and likely possible. Must resist and think of maintenance needed.



Filled and running now. The filter started to work and hopefully in several days, the combination of filter and bacteria will clear up the water murkiness.
My 20lb+ CO2 cylinder is not back yet from refilling (yeah, no more CO2 within the city like last time!) and currently I use spare leftover 4lb one. Running at 6bps via 3 blown micro bubbler points, I am hoping it could buy some time before the leftover run out.



Seen from second floor. Quite a jewel to enjoy at night.


I'm not finished with planting the pond yet. Thing is I ran out of small plants. Planting will continue with several dozens of foreground plants later on, though I still like to left a large amount of open space by the front for fishies to hang around. Then some more plants to the waterworks, perhaps anubias and some emmersed growth aquatic plants will work.

----------


## fireblade

really cannot imagine this is inside a house...

btw, will you be planting some moss on the background on top?

still cannot believe my eyes!

----------


## nkm68

> @km68,
> 19mm glass. Far over the safe limit, I'm glad that I picked such thickness now I can safely lean or no worry when accidentaly knocks the glass. It looks good too, a match with the tank size.
> You can actually escape with 12mm if on a budget.


Thanks for the reply. What's the water volume of your lovely creation?

----------


## Jungle-mania

Ever thought of using a float to move around your pond to maintain your pond, that way you don't have to waddle through it. Plus you can laze on the float too.

----------


## BFG

I think a school of altum, a big shoal of blue green tetra, a pinch of red-line torpedo and some cleaner crew could be ideal.

----------


## oblivion

> @lee1224, Several hundread perhaps would be more practical and likely possible. Must resist and think of maintenance needed.


the dimensions of the whole thing is kinda confusing on my eye
it does look it could support a thousand tetras or two  :Grin:

----------


## medicineman

@nkm68,
Pond volume is estimated to be around 3000 liters at the least.

@Jungle-mania,
That is funny but doable. Not for this pond though, a floaty would be too big.

@fireblade,
Will be planting more on the waterfall. Moss, fern, anubias perhaps. One thing sure the waterfall will develop a thin layer of algae over time and it would be a welcome addition.

@BFG,
I love those fish. But altum seems to be very hard to find and painfully expensive around here. Red torpedo (denisonii) is already in the list, managed to secure a small shoal of 20.

@lee1224,
It could. But I just prefer not to push it too crowded in sake of maintenance.


Some more pics of still murky pond.
Will update later on when water is crystal clear.





Currently the pond is much visible, water start to clear up. Some mucus-like growth appear at the bottom, a good sign of beneficial bacterial growth (they stabilize tank and clot fine particles to sink).

----------


## medicineman

here is the garden around 4-5 days after initial setup day.
Water clears up a bit and already I put in several algae eater to counter excessive algae growth.



Lets see towards free time and more possible plants and hardscape to use in the pond. 
Some tree trunk or bark and more plants for the cliff would be nice.

So I decided to put one of my favourite fish in, a hundread of schooling rummy nose for a start. Pre order is necessary at this scale and now it proves good to know someone from local fish farm  :Smile:

----------


## Slough Shark

That is a Kingly setup you have there!! Amazing work, and thanks very much for sharing it!

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## iwishweallcouldwin

your setup is amazing beyond description.

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## Graeme

I just wanted to say that i have really enjoyed this journey.
Its nearing completion and has got better and better.

Thank you so much for sharing with use.
I am still awstruck every time i see your work of art.

Graeme

----------


## iwishweallcouldwin

i agree with you graeme, and im sure many others agree with you too. thanks for sharing your amazing project with us. simply awesome.

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## leslens

amazing work, cant wait for the foreground plants to be planted.

one question
wat are the dimensions of the tank?

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## Goondoo

> @Jungle-mania,
> That is funny but doable. Not for this pond though, a floaty would be too big.


A surf board sounds good!  :Opps:

----------


## medicineman

@leslens,
Dimention is around 2.4 x 2m if you take the straight lines.

Sorry for the lack of updates for I've been trying very hard and keep ending up at the notification board eversince the forum migration.

Here is a quickie pic of the current condition. Taken from one of the viewing window.



The bacth of 150 red nose arrived. I purchased directly from a local fish farm. As you know very well that red nose is so prone to mass fatality every now and then. I tried to keep the risk minimal by reducing the stress from transportation, water parameter and cramped holding tank. Turns out to be a wise step to take for two weeks later the bacth is swimming happily and eating well ... without any fatality observed  :Smile: 

I did added some plants, donor from my other tanks. Turns out that just like in a typical tank which condition will differ from house to house, no every plant survive in the pond. I will keep trying in small number and see the best choise.

----------


## ranmasatome

Dedy...
Wonderful tank.... been quitely reading this thread... think its been an absolute effort on your part.. and i really respect that. Great work.. the tank is really starting to look up now eh? hahaha..

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## iwishweallcouldwin

good choice of fish! very nice. always liked rummynoses.

----------


## medicineman

@iwishweallcouldwin,
Next would be puntius denisonii, I plan to get at least 20-30 of them. That is if my supplier can make available. Already I got 10 cory sterbai as bottom feeders. 

@ranmasatome,
Well most plants do survive well, esp the ones I brought back from Singapore. It is just a different kind of satisfaction when you set and able maintain it yourself, it is not always about big bucks to own such setup and I'm sure glad.

I havent got the chance to saw off that white drain pipe, it kinda gets on the way of view. Need to puddle in and get soaked to do so...

Here, another quickie mobile phone pic


The water looks a bit murky because my mistake, I put a ladder into the pond to fix the metal halide pendant. The darn thing seems to have spoiled its starter component which sometimes failed to kick the light on.

Another homework is the submersed gray rain bar pipe. I plan to paint them black so they will blend in better. Right now they are just too contrast and obvious.

----------


## StanChung

Hi Dedy, sigh.... so wonderful! 
If it's not too late, I'd put a swivel for the MH so that it can be swung back in for maintenance.

----------


## Goondoo

> MG]
> 
> The water looks a bit murky because my mistake, I put a ladder into the pond to fix the metal halide pendant. The darn thing seems to have spoiled its starter component which sometimes failed to kick the light on.


Errr.... You do know that MH lights have a "cool off time" before it can be started again, right?

----------


## medicineman

Sure I know (I have 6 other MH lamp). 
The lamp just sometimes wont start up even when it is dead cold (on timer). It is kind of frustrating when it fail because you need it so much. Upon inspection I found melted connector... so definately it is the light shop fault for no being careful when they assemble (loose connection is the likely cause).

It turns out that my supplier cannot give me those 30 puntius fish I want. These fish just rescently being bred locally, with the imported ones much too sensitive and high-risk, I'd rather wait for the next local batch. Oh well, right now I must be satisfied with just bala shark.

----------


## StanChung

Bala shark? I thought they nibble on plants? Puntius denisoniis nibble on plants too, especially small soft leaved plants.

----------


## Jungle-mania

In regareds to your rain bar pipe, you could instead cover the pipe with black netting and have some moss growing on it like flame moss or creeping moss to give a more natural feel.

----------


## mkt

Hi real nice setup.

I was just wondering if there's sufficient water movement generated with the rainpipe.

----------


## bryan

Boesmani Rainbows will look great in that tank.

----------


## medicineman

@StanChung,
Worry not... I've seen them (bala shark and puntius) do so in my tank. Funny enough they did stop doing it and prefer feeding time instead after tamed. Anyway after more than a week, most of my plants are OK and I can only see a partially damaged echinodorus shoot (now growed into large leaf) and that is it.

@Jungle-mania,
Well... that is a briliant idea. Though I'm not too sure, they might block the rain holes and significantly slow down current.

@mkt,
More than enough. 2 rain bars powered by 135W pump. 1 powerhead rated at 2000 l/h. I can see CO2 mist distributed well all around the tank, and my red nose pack enjoy themselves in the breeze.

@bryan,
Rainbows are very nice. I used to have them, though they may get a bit agressive towards tankmate.


Back to pond..

Echinodorus rubin "narrow". They do no longer sell this beauty at tropica anymore...


Growing quite fast (25+ leaves) as I got this specimen earlier as a plantlet (12 or less leaves) from a collector in Singapore (kudos to Ben for hunting it for me). Must have been the short burst of direct sunlight from the canopy as the growth and colour is equally stunning. A good sized lace plant (Crinum calamistratum) I got from tropica mass import earlier, fortunate enough it does not do anything bad since it is not cheap and easy to get.

Assorted plants (Limnophila aquatica, Hygrophila, vallisneria, Saggitaria, etc) covering a huge Echinodorus marble queen. 


Some direct burst of sunlight proved to be highly beneficial as the plant retains some of the marbling, unlike in average aquarium where it would turn single colour. The plant is notorious for growing big, so we will see forward what will happen.

Note the 3 plantlets swaying in the current. It seems happy enough and I will be planting those little fellows in the future.

----------


## kiasu

omg?!! can i go swimming there?

----------


## medicineman

@kiasu,
Err... better not man  :Grin: 

I did just that before (well.. not actually swimming, but I jumped in) carefully and I dont like the slight murkiness afterwards.

I maintain the plants using simple method from afar. Long pincers and long tongs, some with blade on tip to handle them without the need for me to go inside. Such routine must be done bit by bit everday, for a prolonged leaning and working at once with tools (which is not as easy to manouver) is stressful.
Heavier, mass maintenance would require me to jump in and take careful steps, preferably by the stones (or as I did once, added more stones/tiles to step on) not to disturb the substrate too much and cause a havoc. A quick half water drain via large draining pipe will further ease the job as I do not have to dive my face in when leaning. Refilling after I drain is a problem though, as it takes quite some time.

So here is another pic showing some plants :



Left : Echinodorus barthii x
Right : Echinodorus rubin
Front : Echinodorus horemanii (I think)
Some leaves from giant Crypt balansae and assorted Hygro by the background

----------


## StanChung

I think that one is E. uruguayensis. E horemanii has thinner leaves I think. I have both.

----------


## medicineman

@Stan,

I have uruguayensis and the leaves are almost vallisneria-like, long and thin, and one single plant could be having large amount of leaves. 
But who knows... for most of the plants I get locally (except tropica imports) come with no label, sometimes with no or wrong spoken ID.

Anyway, here is another full picture showing full burst period. Metal halide with sunlight... hard to beat that.


Good thing the rest of the day it receive much less light and I'm out of algae problem. Just enough burst to kick the plants.

----------


## iwishweallcouldwin

nice overall picture of your project!! reward of all the hard work which you have put in. very well done. :Well done:  :Well done:  nothing beats coming home after a hectic day at work to admire your pond!!! beats all the frustration out of you....

----------


## Graeme

This really is a amazing post.

The tank on its own is beautiful.
The waterfall/moist wall is beautiful

When put together its just amazing.
Thanks so much for sharing with us.
I love looking back to page 1 and seeing how it all started.

Is it what you planned in the very early stages?

Thanks
Graeme

----------


## medicineman

@Graeme
More or less I end up with something I plan step by step. The contractor, artisants and workers made this possible with some attention to details. In fact I did draw, concept and exchange ideas from the start even though if I could turn back time I have some things to change. 

@iwishweallcouldwin,
Sure it can be a relieve and a good object of relaxation. As one of the house centerpiece, one cannot miss it on the way in. A good place to chill by the side. You get that outdoor feeling with indoor comforts. Is it relieving to say that the pond does not smell like if I keep fish only tank, and the garden is not actually excessively dirty to handle like outdoor ones. 
Just nice.


I did recieve some Puntius denisonii at last. A dozen of the juvenile ones. Funny thing is, they mingle and behave like my pack of red nose. These denisonii school and eat together with red nose, perhaps seeing that they have common features, just slight different size for now. The outline, the colourings, the way they move ... denisoniis and full grown red nose just look quite similar at this stage. A good thing because my red nose are eating like pigs, and these denisonii follows - a promise that they will be eating well.

----------


## iwishweallcouldwin

hi medicineman,
regarding the behaviour of your denisonii and rummynoses, i had the exact same behaviour when i introduced smaller zebra danios into my rummynose tank as well. my danios instantly shoaled together with my rummynoses, and both species did not mind mingling together at all. no doubt, my danios were the greedier eaters from the start and now they're of the same size as my rummynoses, and they are still shoaling together even after so long. guess this is their intrinsic behaviour? to school together with other species of similar characteristics?

----------


## medicineman

Update post on GROWTH



Strong growth on the plants, different from what I find in regular tank (perhaps due to rich bottom and some sunlight supplement).

The water is not so polished to clear because there has been some problem with water source, though it is not bad enough to ruin the pond.

I dosed in interval quite plenty (just the plenty look when I dose because the volume of this tank is huge enough) of Wonder-Gro Macro+ and Micro+. CO2 mist is kept minimal still at 5-6 bps.

So far so good, the only problem is just some pesky BBA, a small price to pay when harnessing sunlight and nutrient combo (not to mention that large outgassing of CO2 from the waterfall).
I could use some excel and increase micro bubbles a bit and see what will happen.

----------


## StanChung

It's coming along nicely. Growth looks good!  :Smile:

----------


## crazzz

Really an EYE OPENING!!!
Only got 1 word to describe......
WOW!!!!! :Shocked:

----------


## Fei Miao

Absolutely amazing! Looks like your patience and careful planning paying off handsomely. The plants growth are coming off nicely> I awaits more updates with high expectations :Smile:

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## Jungle-mania

I checked up on tying the moss on your pipes and I did for mine too. It will work, just that you have to be sure not to add too much moss and to trim every now and then. In my case, I haven't seen the need to trim after 5 months and still going.

----------


## medicineman

Thanks!

I might try that out some time, after I get some clean moss that is. Did you roughen up the pipe surface prior to attaching the moss so it would stick easier? (crude sanding with grit paper)

----------


## heeroyu16

Wow Just Simply Wow....
How are the plants on the wall growing?
And do you on the MH light during daytime too?

----------


## rwalker

Hi Medicineman, 

Simply gorgeous and amazing setup!
It is like those big fish aquarium in Singapore Zoo  :Shocked: .
Wonderful project and effort.

Keep us posted!

----------


## medicineman

Hi again,

Another update on the growth. Sorry for the low res-pics, keep forgetting to take out the SLR from the other house  :Roll Eyes: 

Here you can see forest of crypt wendtii green. These kind grow quite big. Growth has been strong ever since they were planted less than 2 months ago.


And here you can find Hygrophila agustifolia with flamboyant, green, long leaves that sways to the current. This plant has been growing strong as well, now reaching water surface.


Adeed in more puntius and two dozens of assorted wild caught fish donated from a friend. Perhaps I'll be taking their pics later on for a sure ID.

----------


## Nevada

Nice and interesting tank Bung Med! Soon enough you can be the provider of Crypts in INdonesia ...  :Razz:

----------


## Jungle-mania

> Thanks!
> 
> I might try that out some time, after I get some clean moss that is. Did you roughen up the pipe surface prior to attaching the moss so it would stick easier? (crude sanding with grit paper)


nope, simply tied it with fishing line in a criss cross fashion. just make sure the moss is spread evenly.

----------


## jonas83

Wow.....Veri big scale, wat are you planning to keep? japaneses coils?

----------


## medicineman

@jonas83
I keep small aquarium fish for the sake of easy maintenance. Want to have fun and not problem  :Smile: 
I have got enough tanks already to keep me occupied.


Update on the garden.

A setback was found around two months ago as water level keeps receding each day. A leak of around 20-30 gallon per day is obvious and fresh water is added daily to compensate the loss. I never intend to do continous water change, but what can I say that now I'm forced to do such. It is a bit wasteful and I prefer not to do it. But fixing and looking for the leak would mean the garden needs to be torn down, and I'm not ready to do such thing at such early stage. Next year perhaps, and only if the leak gets worse.

Growth has been fairly well so far to the terrestrial as well as aquatic plant.
The pothos haired down with wild effect and plants grow bigger. Some branches started to climb up though most are keen to hang low. A bit explosive increase in plant mass, and a mist of occasional WG-Macro+ to terrestrial plants appeared to be beneficial now.

----------


## medicineman

Pretty sure that it leaks and not just from large rate evaporation (such big system with waterfall do evaporate and seep quite a lot).
I have already did a series of testings by the help of a series of valves.

1. Turned the waterfall off.
2. Turned the tank return line off but waterfall on.
3. Turned the tank return line on but the waterfall off.
4. Turned the main pump off and seal the valves.

In the end I still get reduced water level at the main tank, but not the filter chambers. It must be a tiny crack, or perhaps a series of hairlines (which by experience sometimes gets self clogged, reducing the leak rate significantly).

A close up on the pond section.
Already some lotus formed aerial leaves. I havent got the urge to jump in and do trimming yet to those assorted hygros.



Indeed the growth has taken over the pond section that now you can hardly notice the piping form the pic (although still can see them easy in real).

----------


## bcline

i just read this whole thread for the first time, and it was a very enjoyable and interesting read from start to finish. I am new the the aquascaping community and am impressed at skill and effort that this project took.

----------


## Jungle-mania

One way to find your leak is to use a harmless dye and release it slowly from the centre of the pond after you switch off the waterfall. Once you start to see a trail, shift the dye closer to that direction. This is a method I have seen when they are trying to find a new entrance to a flooded underground cave.

----------


## medicineman

@bcline,
Glad that the thread could be enjoyed. Happy aquascaping (of perhaps making paludarium of normal scale if you like this so much).

@Jungle-Mania,
Thanks for the idea. Sounds good for later investigation. Not so soon, but much later  :Well done: 
Hope the dye could still be traced despite the minute leak.

Back to project,

Indeed the growth has taken over the pond section that now you can hardly notice the piping form the pic (although still can see them easy in real).

Close up on climbing pothos (philodendron scandens variety)



The growth has been rampant, occacional sprinkle of WG macro+ fertiliser seems to be helping a lot. That orchid has not flowered yet, need to learn how to induce flowering on them and get more to cheer up the still bald cliff.

This kind of plant can even go under water, but not as aquatic plant. You can see below that already a branch long enough reached water surface and start to grow along water line. More of these will be seen in the future for the plant will learn that the pond is nutritious.



Here you can find tiny hygro poliserma budding out of water. They appear not so good, perhaps due to lack of nutrition (no substrate) grown with just water and any dissolved fert. Or perhaps they remain that size because of humidity factor, any bigger and they may dry up.

----------


## medicineman

More of the views







Enjoy!

----------


## fireblade

very impressive grow!! 
maybe can take some close up shots of fishes in the tank?

----------


## ytlammm

Magnificent ! So envy of you having such a big place for such a scape !

----------


## dwgi32

Really outstanding project, thumbs up.

----------


## medicineman

@fireblade,
Maybe I will take some using the help of remote flash. There are assorted fish in the pond for now.

Lets look more at the terrestrial plants

One of the Bromelia. Not so reddish anymore due to the swing in sun ray following season. It has not received as many sunlight as before. A plantlet is growing out of the mother plant. 



The ferns are growing strong as well. Leaves are long and wavy as shown at one of the variety here (I have no idea exactly of the species).

----------


## winterflame

i second that wks~

----------


## medicineman

Some update

Sunlight back again at the right angel. And so the plants responded as it drops directly for short hours on them.
Here is the poliserma sunset forming nice hue


Growth on tiger lotus. No less than a dozen new aerial leaves alone appeared within just 2 weeks time. I guess it is my fault for putting 2 tabs of Wonder-Gro Root+ nearby the base.

I may need to kill off some if they keep growing at such rate. Would not want them to choke neighbouring plants.


Latest nightime shot


It is getting even fuller and fuller over time :icon_roll

----------


## DazzleDiscus

One word medicineman- one word: WOW!

Could you do my livingroom?!?  :Laughing:

----------


## joe faria

Speechelesssssss

----------


## Fei Miao

> More of the views
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Enjoy!


Absolutely beautiful, great to see how this project turned out!

----------


## lowell

awesome!!!!!

----------


## fireblade

I feel like jumping in for a swim!!
if I have such a setup, think I will sit infront of it everyday for at least few hours....

----------


## herosipet

This is the eight wonder of the world.
This is brilliant.
No words to compare.

----------


## redcaptrio

I quite agree.. my eyes almost popped looking through all the pictures.. a great thread and a project worth emulating.. that if you have the "bucks" to spare. lol
Truly inspiring MM..  :Smug:

----------


## jedimech

Marvellous!! 
Continue to keep us updated!!
Thanks for sharing with us.

----------


## Jungle-mania

So did you manage to find the leak?

----------


## herosipet

I love to se some arowana in there.
If there is a will there is a way.
Wating for some update.

----------


## redcaptrio

> I love to se some arowana in there.
> If there is a will there is a way.
> Wating for some update.


you'll need to put up nets around in case you will house an aro in there as these are great jumpers..  :Jump for joy:

----------


## Anubis

My 1st. time viewing this thread , and I must say MAGNIFICENT !!! looks very similar to my vision of my one day completed pond. still have a long time to go for that one.And I must commend you on your diligent posting thru out the process... a true sign of love and commitment to both your project and your fellow forum members. Even though 8 pages of postings is a bit much for a one time read I could not stop till the last post.you might consider a few Staghorn ferns for your waterfall wall .I'm sure they would love to stay in that beautifull environment as much as any of your other choises.Thanks so much for the continued updates (esp the pics)now my 125 gal Arrowana /Cichlid tank seems to be a piece of cake . :Wink:

----------


## monkeyruler90

danng, i'm impresssed. such tank would require hours of work and alot of financial resources. you've done a great job. keep it up. you seem very dedicated

----------


## ukplanter

WOW ! im a new member and this is the fisrt thread i looked at! when you guys do a plant tank you DO a plant tank.

Fantastic

----------


## medicineman

Thanks for viewing and I'm glad that you enjoy the thread.

The project is made possible after all as this is not my first big aquascape system. The main concern at the first place is if the pond ever work and reach stability. Now it does and I'm glad for it.

Finally I jumped in for a trimming session last month.

Main target was assorted hygros, where they have grown to the surface even longer, bending and blocking light. The group also caused slight stagnant condition, slowing down water current and susceptible as dust filter. 

I also cut down 90% of the aerial lotus leaves before too late because the plants below started to suffer.

Sorry for the lack of pic published on this, I was stripped down to just undergarment  :Embarassed: 

Update on the leak

Since the leak is ever worrying every day as the water lost exceed 20 gallon per half day. It is necessary to refill twice a day to avoid water level being too low and damage the main pump.

The team worked on the project was summoned back to do a review and give their best bet to where the point of leak might be.

A suspect spot was pointed out, which is the overflow section from the pond into the filter box. 

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...2/IMG_0227.jpg

This overflow path was enlarged by one of the workers doing finishing job because the flow was not large enough to serve the system. Unknowing of the initial construction, he had chiseled out a section and uncovering a layer which is not waterproof, exposing partially of the brickwork. This potential problem was not recognized earlier on due to the similarity in colour and texture of brick to the finishing. 

Hence a fix-work is done. The main pump was pulled off and water level reduced by several inches. To compensate, a submersible pump serving as water current and a trickle DIY filter using a bucket was added.
A layer of waterproofing and additional cement cover applied to the wound, and hopefully after it dries up resulting in better rate of water loss. 

Likely there will be large loss still at least due to large waterfall system, but not as bad.

----------


## medicineman

It seems to be bullseye for now.

The leak is drastically reduced and indeed the chipping of layer is the main cause.

Next best thing I can publish for now is a simple, short, low resolution video using a phonecam to give you a live condition of the setup.

Here you can see central shots showing critters of the pond.

Enjoy! 

http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...8022008010.flv

*If I have time, a good version using triple CCD cam will be made. Sorry, no high-res video anywhere near near future.

----------


## fireblade

nice video there!!
can see that the water is crystal clear and fishes swimming happily!!

my!! I love your CAR!!!

----------


## stormhawk

Dedy, beautiful setup, and I am very jealous indeed. You have so much space to work with, and the eventual product is just amazing.  :Shocked: 

That said, the cliff definitely needs some vegetation, pronto. Looks pretty bare, so to complement the plants in the water area, maybe get some new creepers or mosses? If my brother-in-law saw this thread, he might want one to be built at his home in Surabaya.  :Laughing:

----------


## PlAnTaNoOb

Respect!

Wow... those fishes are a lucky lot, with so much room to swim about. Maintenance must be pretty painstaking?

----------


## medicineman

@fireblade,
Thanks. 
While the enzo is actually taken secretly from Singapore ferrari dealership at lok yang. There are less than 400 made, so I took the risk to snap one. 

Sometimes I have trouble of water quality from our well, the pond becomes a little murky (good tap water is also used occasionally but not all the time) . Maybe it is time for me to install a triple layer water filter for crystal clear water.

@stormhawk,
That is next homework. I have collected some wild ferns and they will be a great addition.

@PlAnTaNoOb,
It could be a PITA, but when treated right it is just another tank.

Maintenance expense is not much more than a big tank of one-third the size.
With no chiller of fans to run, 160W worth of pumps and 400W worth of a single halide lamp, it is not that bad. 
Though I must admit chemical expenses is kept low only because I happen to make my own fertilizer  :Roll Eyes:  , otherwise it could hurt more (about 1 litre of liquid fert consumed each week, dozens of root tabs used up every month)

Downside is I have to jump into the system and soak myself (needs to be done every couple of months).

More video

Here is another low-res video showing the full tank and some fish action.
Enjoy!!

http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d6...8022008009.flv

----------


## medicineman

Some time later and after a little bit of trimming

Overall look



I called in for a welder-craftsman to help me fix the light hanger, because a single MH light hanged at such so far does not light up the tank well up to the edges, too much concentrated at the center. Now it is raised to around 4-5 feet or so from water surface, giving a more even light coverage. Result could be seen just a week away, plants at the edges responded positively.

It has been some time since the garden is set. Now the pothos has grown vines, dangling the backdrop into the water. Some have actually reached the waterworks, submerged and climbed back up the waterfall.

----------


## yeoyl87

AMAZING........ Really nice to look at but I cant imagine the hard work behind. This is so, especially nearing time for some trimming. Kudos to your hard work.  :Cool:

----------


## iwishweallcouldwin

this is truly an ever-inspirational thread! well done dedy!

----------


## medicineman

Pardon me for the lack of fish photos. It is not as easy as taking one in a normal tank (as I did many times in my tanks).
Instead, have some more garden pics. 
Cant provide better pics as well, not before getting myself a good spend on close f2.8 nikkor lens  :Roll Eyes: 





Some of you may notice that reddish hue from the lighting unit.
Well, my old osram bulb had given up the ghost some months ago. Much prematurely that is. Too bad, because I kind of like the white-greenish spectrum it emits. It is hard to find equal replacement around here. 
Better than waiting for a long time and let my plants suffer, I just quickly swap in a common replacement, which is rather yellow spectrum. Some may not like it, but it works just great!

----------


## Orlando

Hi Dedy! Good to see some familar people here..You already know what I think of your tank/pond.. :Smile:

----------


## ExpelledBAN

Nice tank MedicineMan. Looks awesome is there still anymore leaking?

Orlando what brings you to AquaticQuotient,lol

Im in search of rare plants that i can get overseas - Frozenbarb

----------


## Orlando

Hey whats up! A friend of mine on the other side of the globe wanted me to join, so I did.. What plants do you need? PM me and I will get you prices with shipping..Good to see you over hear!

----------


## Vaahnan

This is amazing....Gosh......well its def a great idea, truly inspirational...you gave me some ideas  :Idea: . :Grin: ....will try and see if this can work out for a HDB flat....LOL...but on a smaller scale....much smaller....say abt a 6ft x 4 ft x 4 ft ? maybe as a wall display....?

Anyone else here thinks i have gone bonkers? Lol.... :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:  :Jump for joy:

----------


## planted86

> This is amazing....Gosh......well its def a great idea, truly inspirational...you gave me some ideas .....will try and see if this can work out for a HDB flat....LOL...but on a smaller scale....much smaller....say abt a 6ft x 4 ft x 4 ft ? maybe as a wall display....?
> 
> Anyone else here thinks i have gone bonkers? Lol....


let me know how much the HDB fine you for having such a big tank in your house... lol...

----------


## vinz

Vaahnan,

First you got to get HDB's permission to install such a large tank.  :Grin:

----------


## Vaahnan

> Vaahnan,
> 
> First you got to get HDB's permission to install such a large tank.



Haiz.....sad so sad :Crying:  :Crying:  :Crying: .......but it's not that it's out of the question.....scale it down a bit....but for the background i am sure we can use styrofoam or something lighter...you know maybe like the ones they sell for fishtank backgrounds....but i was thinking more of a wall display....welll all the same....this dudes tank rocks!!!!!

----------


## medicineman

@ExpelledBAN,
Not much leaking as before. But the setup will still lose water whatsoever, in considerable amount at least due to splashes and evaporation.

@Orlando,
Good to see you at "the other side of the world" 
 :Smile: 

Folks,

The weight of such setup is something to be reckoned with. And the hazards of setup when construction is not done properly is very real. From leak to excessive room dampness, from mold to crumbling walls.

It could be done within an elevated building level, but you will need good experts to make sure that everything goes right to the very details.

You could try building a huge paludarium of a fraction scale instead, several feet base and high using thick glass. Then use styrofoam as the basic shape, covering them with mortar mix and sculpt it, then add finishing to look reasonably real (artistic hands needed). 
There will be much less worry and it would be more versatile (not as a part of a house structure).


One more top view picture to show

----------


## heeroyu16

Holy smokes~~ The orange lighting brings out another type of scape.
Look even more stunning then the white ones.

----------


## chiller

Its an admirations of not only the set up but the effort put in!

----------


## thewhityfang

hes work its so great  :Smug: 
i wanna make my own someday  :Grin: 

can i swim in your ponds?  :Embarassed:

----------


## rbt

Wanted to chip to say that i really do admire your 'project'. Simply stunning.....boy will it cost a bomb to get it done over here...and that is not talking about buying a place that has to come with it. :Laughing:

----------


## dnomyaj

This is soooo OMG  :Shocked: ....it's perfect!!
Salute to you Medicineman... :Wink: 
Thumbs up!! :Well done:  :Well done:  :Well done:

----------


## Panut

omg, this is beautiful..

too bad this isn't portable or i'll come and take it away secretly  :Grin:

----------


## webbie180

Thanks for sharing, awaiting for further updates.......

----------


## medicineman

Latest full overall pic



It has been some time and things have changed. One thing missing is sunlight. As the season change, so does the angle of which sunlight hits (yes, this does happen as well on tropical Indonesia). No more straight sunlight hitting the pond section directly for the last several months. It does bring some harm to plants (esp the ones demanding stronger light), problems related to lacking of light. 

My artificial lighting system does help and prevent things from crashing completely, though it can never replace the dimming, natural light. 
How I wish I have bought something stronger to light up this tank at the times like now :icon_roll 

On the overall, they look great and the system is running stable. I managed to keep it running relatively free of algae (frankly, I have a bit of stubborn BBA, but they are much under control and hard to spot).

On the canopy section, a part of the photos hanging down are going a little bit bald. I suspect it needs a major supplement/overhaul at the pot substrate. Or perhaps it just abandon the more poorly nourished area and prefer to grow more near the nutrient stable water edge (look at how they colonize waterfall and the pond edges).

----------


## medicineman

It is feeding time.
Some of the fish begging for food



A quick count of fauna up to date:
- 4 Angels
- 4 Bala shark
- 4 Puntius denisonii
- 100s of Rummy nose tetra
- 2 Puntius johorensis
- 3 Clown loach
- 2 SAE
- 5 CAE
- several wild rasboras (unidentified sp)
- A dozen of nerite snails
- A runaway red platy (I swear it was a baby fish hitchhiker) 


It has been sometime since some of the fish were introduced into the setup and they have grown quite much. I'm giving the credit to ample living space and plenty of circulation.



What's surprising is how fast can bala shark grow in just less than a year, considering they started as much smaller fish, even smaller than a big SAE. For size comparison : Full sized SAE, young adult Puntius, adult platy and full sized rummy nose. You can see how dwarfed the others become when coming face to face. Used to have 10 of them, 2 jumped out and die (such accident is expected to happen when you have such uncovered setup filled with good jumpers), 4 was successfully caught and re-homed to a koi pond.

----------


## medicineman

More of the underwater views... Enjoy!





Some of the echinodorus :

Echinodorus barthii, acquired as plantlet

This is a huge species of echinodorus, as shown here. The leaves alone are bigger than your palms.

It is somewhat damaged (and several other plants the same) by the activity of this fish, said to be striped barb from Sumatera. I got this one from a friend who swear he caught it from a stream while he was back at his hometown at Jambi, Sumatera.


Echinodorus rubin, also acquired as emmersed plantlet. Brought this one as a gift from a friend in Singapore.

Yet another echinodorus giant growing dozens of leaves. It could have grown better under stronger lighting.

Echinodorus marble queen. I started off with a motherplant. Soon it pops 2 plantlets and here they are now.


The setup pretty much fill itself up without me adding more plants (see how bare it was initially).

----------


## Fei Miao

Gorgeous! But how are you dealing with the dampness and mold?

----------


## medicineman

@fei miao,

Areas that are damp, some with thin layer of moss/aglae form growing are very limited to those nearby where the water are (including waterfall and nearby splashes). It gets quite dry some distance from that, and I do not see any moldy wall or serious humidity hike due to the setup exisiting in the house. It could be due to good ventilation/air circulation within as well. 

It is important to keep the walls well sealed which drains to ground before one attempt to build such setup. Keep your walls safe from seeping dampness and related issues.

----------


## Jervis

Thanks for the tips... I believe a project of this magnitude will not be easily replicate in Singapore... just wondering although the warmer colour temperature of your MH bulb gives better growth... a whiter bulb (say 10000K) might look more natural. In your latest pix, I see whitish light coming from your skylight... but the tank looks very yellow.

----------


## Jungle-mania

How is the water leakage? Did you manage to find it?

----------


## medicineman

@jervis,
Used to have white 6700K lamp until it failed prematurely. Since it is a 400W unit, it is not so easy to find a replacement bulb as I wish. What I can have is this 5000K unit which is in my opinion a bit too yellow for viewing. 
The growth is fine though. I've been using it for months and my plants speak for themselves.

BTW, you have a lead to whereabout of white 400W single ended MH bulb in SG?

@Jungle-mania,
The outrageous leak (100+ liter per day) was discovered and fixed. There are some other sources of large water loss even so, but at more reasonable rate. Now I have to top up the system every 2 days to prevent the filter from being out of water. Perhaps after I got tired of it, I will simply make an automatic water leveling system and hook it up the tap, as simple as your toilet flushing mechanism.

A good lesson for those who want to follow my path. Make sure you make the system as leak proof as possible!

@reefzlover,
You could consider making one inside all glass. A huge tank and decorate it vivarium way. Also nice and much more manageable.

----------


## medicineman

Final set of pictures for this session :

From the top view.




Considerably much fuller than the intial set-up.

----------


## herosipet

Hi! Dedy,
Any update for my wall paper? LOL. 
Just droping by to say Hello.

----------


## medicineman

Hi.

There are some minor repositioning and I keep trimming back the stem plants.
Will keep this one updated later on  :Smile:

----------


## Verminator

I can't believe i've been on this forum for as long as i have and not come across this thread. Simply breath-taking. Words cannot describe how in awe i am at this "tank" 

I take my hat off to you sir!

----------


## Joseph*

Yes, it is indeed a great piece of work/art/design.

All it is lacking now is some tropical birds flying around, frogs and some tree snakes and it would be a complete piece of rainforest in there. (then you would need to set up an enclosure for that area, haha)

I'm just crazy, don't mind me. But it certainly looks like it will go in that direction if you have no boundaries for your project.  :Well done:

----------


## medicineman

Here comes the sun... didudidum....

As the season passed by and month switches,
So does the sun is back to shine!

Earth orbit has switched to the sunny side!
For the next 4-5 months it is going to be more sunshine directly on to the garden. I expect some changes in growth, and probably but hopefully not, algae as well.

A shot for you all


I'm going have to jump in again for trimming very soon if it goes like this  :Roll Eyes:

----------


## luncheonMeat

Wow! Your tank has certainly come a long way. Time to get wet! 
3 Cheers for your tank!

----------


## Trevor

A W E S O M E!

----------


## Joseph*

Breathtaking..

----------


## Panut

Crystal clear water despite direct sunlight.
AwEsOmE!

----------


## rbt

Wow the clarity of the water is simply amazing....making me thirsty lol.

----------


## cibserg

Congratulations. Most beautiful project I have seen.
Thank you for sharing with us.

----------


## aquafren

i like the raw nature look of your tank set up, medicineman. It should give your torpedo barbs very good growth environment.  :Smile:

----------


## medicineman

Lichen/moss growth on a part of the backdrop

----------


## medicineman

View from above on how dense the terrestrial plant can be, even without proper misting system (could have been better with one).
I just mix some Wonder-Gro Macro+ or Micro+ into my 2 gallon hand-pump misting spray and give occasionally.

----------


## devilzvinz

THIS IS AWESOME !!! :Well done:  :Well done:

----------


## medicineman

Full shot



Note some of the climbing vines turned into giant form  :Opps:

----------


## Aquaculture

Oh wow. Its looking really natural. Very nice bro.

----------


## benjamin.fxj

I dare say the most breathtaking project I've seen here so far.

----------


## Kajsa12

I've been reading the whole thread. It took more than a few minutes :Grin: , but it was time well spent.
What an amazing garden :Shocked: .

Thanks so much for sharing.

----------


## JadeIceGreen

Awesome! I've never seen anything like this, this makes all our tanks at home look tiny!

----------


## freshfish

wow beautiful ... looks so nature  :Smile:

----------


## fighting fish

Breath taking tank you have there. can sit by tank and just enjoy the beauty for hours...

----------


## Viper007

Wow your house must be really big to have such a beautiful showpiece!  :Smile:

----------


## Petia

Its amazing how you bring the outdoors indoors literally. Beautiful work of art.

I notice the picture in post #168, there is a power strip dangerously close to the edge of the water. Perhaps you can consider installing outdoor water proof power sockets for safety reasons.

----------


## medicineman

Short story update :
I've had enough of the old fish stock for they have always bothered the plants too much. From nibbled or pulled off leaves to unplanting smaller plants.

So reluctantly I'm forced to evict some of the most possible culprits :
- Bala shark : guilty for creating bottom mess and probable of plant nibbling behaviour (even towards slow growing and thick-leaved assorted echinodorus). They blow and sucks in gravel for food and making the tank murky twice a day (right away after feeding time, it does not matter if there is no food sinks down).
- Puntius denisonii : guilty for unplanting small plants and possible plant nibbling.
- Puntius johorensis : confirmed on act plant nibbler
- Some other fish, and left with angelfish, algae eater, CAE, corydoras in the tank.

So the list after I use fishing net (yes, cut, long fishing net as normal aquarium net or simple fish trap will not do) and create a mess out of the tank, I'm feeling quite glad.
The extreme measure result in improvements right away. Now I see much less leaves floats around and no more plantlets getting carried away. The water is also relatively much clearer due to less bio load and lack of bottom disturbance.

As replacement, I ordered some natural colored discus from a local discus breeder to match the wildness of tank. To my surprise, two of the discus (size 3.5-4") immediately formed a pair within two weeks of being introduced in the tank and they laid eggs on one of the giant echinodorus leaf. They refuse to gather during feeding time as usual and darken in colour, became aggressive towards trespasser.
Too bad my water seems to hard for the egg to form/hatch properly. Four days later they seems to abandon the nest (no more eggs observed) and come out to eagerly eat. I'm not totally clear if the egg does not hatch and eventually being eaten by the parents or they simply hatch and hide. I'm not too accustomed towards discus breeding behavior.

Just several days away ever since they are back to beg for bloodworm, the couple kind of disappear again behind the forest of echinodorus leaves. Well, kind of, as one of the parent would still come out to be hand-fed. Nursering couple still needs to eat anyhow.

I managed to take decent shot of the slightly smaller, non breeding discus :




Lately I found a bulb just like my old, burnt one.
I decided of getting rather bored by the existing orange bulb and take the greenish-white bulb home. The effect is just like before : white with strong tint of green and blue. A matter of personal preference, people may like or dislike the change. But I assure you my plants appreciate both.

Here is a full front shot, taken in late evening



To the back center part of the tank (fills up space to the right of green limnophila aquatica until left of the broad leaved echinodorus marble queen), not well seen due to dimmer lighting and dark leaves colour is my giant echinodorus rubin.
This species indeed is not a joke as it reached massive full size of 50+ leaves, almost the size of a small racket each.

----------


## ecar0h

Breathtaking. Wow!

----------


## Verminator

Simply stunning. I can only dream of having such a tank.

----------


## iwishweallcouldwin

Nice discus!

----------


## medicineman

More pics ...



you can spot one of the natural coloured discus from here

From the top

----------


## Aquaculture

Love the greenery. Able to post pics of the full view, up to the wall. Really curious on how it'll look like by now.

----------


## craftsman

This is so dang beautiful!!! I wish I can do this. Ha ha ha ha ha ha  :Grin:

----------


## medicineman

Not all of the blue-green discus formed good colouring. Here is an example of how the younger one at the right still retains quite a lot of the stress bar and of less colouring


The other one with formed colour, but more obvious stress bar


One of the lone, natural colour discus


The couple


My greedy and tamed anglefish (yes, you can stroke and hand-feed it)

----------


## plasticknife

This is the most impressive home setup aquarium i've ever seen. FULL SCALE!!!! will book mark this thread for reference for my future project.

CHEERS!!

----------


## littlerat08

> This is the most impressive home setup aquarium i've ever seen. FULL SCALE!!!! will book mark this thread for reference for my future project.
> 
> CHEERS!!


I will be foolowing your thread.. Awesome is the word. Beyond imagination. Great job and I salute you.

----------


## footballe

> I've been reading the whole thread. It took more than a few minutes, but it was time well spent.
> What an amazing garden.
> 
> Thanks so much for sharing.


took me 1 hour to view the whole thread. this guy is crazy !!!

----------


## medicineman

Play around with my new lens... and for update



I took out this echinodorus uruguayensis out of my tank. The plant takes up so much space and would be better in the pond.


If I have the chance, perhaps one day I will make again a setup but looking more to something like this, something combined with outside garden. Living room or dining room next to such would be nice.


This setup is taken from Singapore zoo. It is the new proboscis monkey display if you wonder. They have this setup with the monkey at the dry part. I observe the fauna to be scissortail rasbora and a kind of bala shark.

----------


## iamdanny

wow wow wow...
do u need a godson? or i could be your butler..

----------


## Gutokoro

Wow!

Fantastic! Really amazing pond/aquarium.

Congrats.
Regards

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## medicineman

Right now the setup is under a major maintenance.
Abnormal water loss is the cause. I've had enough with re-topping the setup each morning (and sometimes I had to do it at night to prevent the main pump from chugging too much of damaging air). It could be somewhere over 10 gallon water lost over a day period.
I found out that the filter box is where it leaks the most. There was this several hours blackout and water level in the filter dropped down, even after all excess overflow is drained automatically.

And so emergency DIY filter is set up and additional small powerheads installed while water level is lowered. Work on the filter box in undergoing, all material taken out, chamber torn down and all surface chipped out.
The leak is somewhere and a good, thorough chipping is necessary.

Adjustments will be made such as mending the source of leak, enlarging filter capacity, raising stationary water level and rerouting water way passing the chambers.

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## medicineman

Now that the filter is repaired.
It has improved design. Better self drain. Increased filter capacity. Elevated water level. Rerouted filtration chambers.



This might not look or sound much. But believe it does to some extent.
Increased filter capacity is good. 
Better (and secured) self drain allows more excess water to overflow when passive water change is done - and the plumbing is also clog proof due to easily cleaned, coarse pre-filter mesh. 
Rerouted chambers allows for better water distribution and gives the filter more spare water - good thing when no one will/willing to be topping up for a long time.
Elevated water level means now the filter is almost at the same level of the pond, and this means less waterfall effect. Leads to reduced CO2 loss.

Elevated water level at the filter (and also redesigned overflow path) means the working water level at the pond is elevated as well. You got to love this, and especially when the pond is filled to the brim of self drain lips, the pond almost appear it has no glass and that body of water afloat.



Check out the inset for a close look. Milimeter away from overflowing. But it never will, as any excess liquid than this level will be self-drained.
 

Lack of flow, sligtly lack of light (the pond is closed using wooden boards whenever the filter is being worked) and underfiltered for some time does take a toll. Though not bad I'd say.


To compliment the new filter, I also did some rejuvenation on the backdrop. Some of the spots could be better with more/replaced plants.


I'm happy to say now the leak is much more manageable. I'd say the loss of water now is more to how the vines are sucking in all the water they need out the tank rather than some minor leak. Massive root formation dangle around the backdrop edges for moisture and nutrition.
Over 24hrs period the loss would be relatively small, a 1-2cm drop in filter water level (that is probably equal to less than 10g). That would be a week and even more before the water level is low enough to let the main pump start sucking in air mixture.

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## WiNd08

Beautiful system! Love the water which is at the brim of the tank... looks so "filled"  :Kiss: 



Somehow i feel your tank would turn towards a more "amazonian" biotope than the "SE asian" biotope?? Just guessing  :Razz:

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## fotoudavid

Beautiful.

Hope one day i can afford such tank and set up.

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## doppelbanddwarf

This tank or should I say pond never ceases to amaze me every time I look at your thread.

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## louislkl

*I'm totally out of words man ... This project of yours are too good that words can describle them .... GREAT WORK ....... seems like i have a Dream Tank now .. Thanks to you .... Super great piece man ....*

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## herns

> Now that the filter is repaired.
> It has improved design. Better self drain. Increased filter capacity. Elevated water level. Rerouted filtration chambers.
> 
> 
> 
> This might not look or sound much. But believe it does to some extent.
> Increased filter capacity is good. 
> Better (and secured) self drain allows more excess water to overflow when passive water change is done - and the plumbing is also clog proof due to easily cleaned, coarse pre-filter mesh. 
> Rerouted chambers allows for better water distribution and gives the filter more spare water - good thing when no one will/willing to be topping up for a long time.
> ...



Wow! Does the water leak from the slab? Did you use pond liner?

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## wong1979

Impressive! Would love to be a fish in your tank.

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## f3nd1

Pak @Medicineman Salut saya!!! ini bener2 keren hahaha good job!! keep on posting and salam kenal

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## Sunflower

A closed up of the pond really takes my breath away, with the clear water and green plants..you have succeeded in bringing nature into the house. Nice job man.  :Jump for joy:

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## chinsm

Upz to share this wonderful thread with those who have not seen this awesome masterpiece and also request for an update  :Laughing:

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## leslens

wow
first saw this thread 2-3 years ago and now its really great to be back seeing the changes and marvelous set up again

the BEST i have seen

Deddy, are u in the medical line? Looks like you are doing well. I doubt many singaporean practioners will have the space/time/money to invest in such a truly awe inspiring tank of their dreams!!

Truly inspiring thread
One day I will try to do something like this, maybe in 30 years time!

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## jiajuen900

Wow i like it better than singapore zoo one  :Grin:

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## mozesyap

Just discovered this thread.. I must say I am awed

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## LUIS ALVES

hello

we want more pics from the water ... discus ... and another fish's  :Very Happy:

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## kenny1111

this is really A* (star) pond..(or tank ), anyway SUPER ....

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## k3nlim

looking forward for more updates

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## reddragon343

This is an awesome set-up. You could throw in like a dozen pairs of Apistos.....that'd be so awesome. Good job Medicineman!

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## Verminator

This thread has gone quiet for a long time (such as i have too), any chance of an update - would be nice.

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## jam

Wow!

Fantastic!

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## jiajuen900

update would be great  :Grin:  This thread keeps coming up again and again =D

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## biscuit

its like a mini underwater world at home, super nice

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## Dean

> 


 :Shocked:  Blooming hell that's very nice!

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## jd_man

I feel like moving there to stay with you. Simply amazing and brilliant setup. Suddenly i wish i have money to do what you did. Aghh..

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## harrynkl

Jaws drop  :Shocked: 

read through your making of the garden very impressive  :Well done:

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## mikeang

Your tank inspire me to set up one of my own even though I know I never have green fingers. Wish me luck.

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## Cheddar254

thanks for the awesome thread and dedication! i spent +- 2 hours reading through this, this is the best thread on this website, youre like the next amano :P

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## benjaminong88

I totally agree. This is the most impressive work ever posted here. The fish inside must thinking they already died and went to heaven  :Laughing:

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## Numbskull

I look through the first 5 pages and jump from there to the 12th page.

All i can say the view and scape is breathtaking.  :Shocked:

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## codexboy

stumbled upon this, its breathtaking and im sure it makes everyone here envious. well done!

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## goldfish&koi

OMG that is nice. for me only can dream

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## broken arrow

amazing :Shocked:  :Well done:  :Well done:  :Well done:

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## bluebubbles

The hard work finally pays off. If there are a school of 100 neon tettras inside there, it must be breath taking too.  :Laughing:

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## carfyx

Took my breathe away .. simply too awesome !

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## biscuit

needs a new update!!!

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## djalviafatra

great.......... !!!!!!!!

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## Kekwa

Inspirational

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## dialow

This is amazing! Great job!

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## jaggedge

breath taking and eye dropping ...WOW!!!

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## redfever

Excellent work mate. Its an amazing and jaw dropping effort and i have to say you nailed it perfectly.

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## ggkitty

very beautiful stone walls u have! looks like a mini underwater world

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## eugenekhf

Medicineman,
hi, i am thinking of doing one (a much smaller one) like yours, but i cant figure out how to install the glass. any ideas to share?

Thanks....

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## armageddon

fantastic journal... had the same idea... but singapore cost is easily 10 times more... haha...

anyway, a consideration if you are able to get your hands on, get some altums... they are the real nice ones.  :Smile:

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## AhVy

Oh my... I had to hold my breathe reading all the posts.. Lol

Seems like there's no more updates....? 



Via Tapatalk

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## mdm

took me 2 hours to browse through all 14 pages

just one word...* WOW!*

kudos to medicineman who spent almost 2 years to have his tank/pond setup from the very basic to a full grown one

and it's amazing that this thread spans 7 years

really hope there will be more updates of this incredible project

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## mukyo

setting my tent here. too awesome...

-----------------------------------------
Visit and comment my L Tank and S Tank... <-- Click click !!
Thank you  :Smile:

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## ConcaveLiNkiN

This a simply impressive project! It really demostrate the advantages to having actual sunlight for the plants, they grow beautifully. And not to mention the plants growing on the wall, nice, but do you actually trim them?

Overall, great job! I believe there must be a great sense of accomplishment throughout these years.  :Smile:

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