Plans & dreams

[addy1]

I would also like big property but without big lawns or houses, life is too short to spend it on maintenance . Big lake, cottage and forest would be ok. Thanks sissy for info, ill check it what i have here concerning pumps and gravel for bog.
I have crushed granite in aquarium, its working nice and have nice dark colour, maybe ill use that for bog

If your crushed granite is like what we have in arizona, it is full of fine granite dust, compacts down like a rock. It would not work well for a bog. I used pea gravel, just fine dust in the gravel.

 

[sissy]

never knew you could by crushed granite,I wonder if it is the same kind of granite addy

 

[majstor]

If your crushed granite is like what we have in arizona, it is full of fine granite dust, compacts down like a rock. It would not work well for a bog. I used pea gravel, just fine dust in the gravel.

This is what it looks like (pulled out of aquarium):

It has been sieved to get rid of smaller particles (like coarse sand) and washed. Washing water was oily red thick.
Lots of prep work to get it in aquarium but plants are doing ok

 

[sissy]

That may be to fine like addy says and would clog up to fast and end up looking like a mass of gunk .My neighbor a bog for just plants and no pond and she used pea gravel and did a top dressing of marble .It looks pretty with all the white and then the green of the plants .She just put it in last spring and it looks nice and her plants are coming through already with all the warmth we have been getting .I'm not sure what marble would do to the ph of a pond .She has big chunks of granite rocks and soapstone to add interest .But her husband works for a countertop manufacturer and installer so she gets it free .Your aquarium is nice I just started a plant one with just snails in it .

 

[majstor]

That may be to fine like addy says and would clog up to fast and end up looking like a mass of gunk .

If i intend to use filter than i would want for gunk to collect in filter of course, and not in bog where cleaning is impossible, but...
I dont intend to have filter (at first), wouldnt gunking of bog actually be good because it would mean that is working like a filter would? I could pump all that junk from bottom of pond and it would end up in bog, where plants would use it.

 

[j.w]

When I had my aquariums I used this stuff called Flourite (What it does is provide a rich source of iron (more than enough to last years) for rooting plants... the plants are able to extract the iron from the Flourite®)and man did my plants love it and they grew like crazy.

 

[sissy]

The plants would use the fish waste if you have enough plants and the roots are long enough to use the nutrients up .I know that with a filter all the gunk goes to the bottom of mine and I just drain the bottom of the filter until water comes out clean and then use that on my plants .JW I have never heard of flourite and did you buy it where you bought you plants for your aquarium

 

[j.w]

Just bought it at the pet store near us sissy. It kinda looks like tiny little lava rocks.........it's that same reddish color.

 

[fishin4cars]

This is what it looks like (pulled out of aquarium):

It has been sieved to get rid of smaller particles (like coarse sand) and washed. Washing water was oily red thick.
Lots of prep work to get it in aquarium but plants are doing ok

That's one good looking tank! Very Nice!

 

[sissy]

Have to check that out JW as I may try to get to Danville today . I am going to check online to see which will have that ,petco or petsmart ,I bought my plants at petco because they grow there plants in tanks already and they just sell them by the bunch ,they are chaeper than petsmart also .I hope my tank with the plants and snails in it turns out half as nice as that .Those plants look so healthy .And have to ask are those pieces of wood really wood or plastic ,the sure look like wood .I learned from a guy here how to cure wood so it is like drift wood ,but stable and hard .

 

[majstor]

Have to check that out JW as I may try to get to Danville today . I am going to check online to see which will have that ,petco or petsmart ,I bought my plants at petco because they grow there plants in tanks already and they just sell them by the bunch ,they are chaeper than petsmart also .I hope my tank with the plants and snails in it turns out half as nice as that .Those plants look so healthy .And have to ask are those pieces of wood really wood or plastic ,the sure look like wood .I learned from a guy here how to cure wood so it is like drift wood ,but stable and hard .

Those are real pieces of wood. When im out in woods looking for mushrooms im more interested in nice piece of wood . Like pond, it takes time to get aquarium right and im not there yet . I need to work on background, water purity and bba.
Buying plants from shops is something i dont recommend because they are coming from ideal conditions in nurseries, and when they are transfered to subpar conditions general aquarists have in their aquariums, it comes to problems of adopting to new enviroment. It is much better and cheaper to buy from other aquarists. Plants wont look so good but it will be much tougher.

 

[majstor]

That's one good looking tank! Very Nice!

Thanks! Its not so good comparing to some other aquariums ive seen on net, but beeing on top means you dont have anywhere left to go

 

[sissy]

true but you have to isolate the plant to make sure you don't bring anything into the tank or pond that will cause problems .Where I live there are not many places to buy stuff like that .We are very rural and not many choices as there are only farm ponds and they get a lot of ducks and geese in there pond and whatever else might get in them

 

[j.w]

sissy I got that flourite stuff at a pet store called Jones and co. I don't know if Petco or Petsmart have it or not but they might. My plants sure did love it tho. It says to rinse it really well so it won't cloud the water and I did so but no matter how much you rinse it there will be cloudiness at first but it settles really nice after awhile. You might be able to find it online for sale but being as heavy as it is shipping might be expensive.
Just found this sissy: http://www.amazon.com/SEACHEM-FLOURITE-BLK-SAND-7KG/dp/B0018CLX3C

 

[majstor]

I made some 3d sketch of pond to see how would it look like. On deepest part (5ft) about 3ft in lenght would be under wood deck and then would become shallower towards house. Canal connecting pond and bog would be also deep as possible (it depends how much im gonna be able to dig without dirt caving in)

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=20aab5a1610379b4a89b263f5b6227e9