Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping => Gallery Showcase => Topic started by: daveyng on March 27, 2018, 04:49:12 PM
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I have been extremely interested in keeping temperate fish for a while now and having no space for another tank in the home I decided to construct a small heated mini-pond from wooden sleepers in my garden.
The climate is not too extreme where I am situated so I came up with the idea of expanding into the garden.
9 200 mm x 100 mm x 1200 mm sleepers were used for the basic structure which was then lined with 25mm insulation to prevent heat loss.
The capacity is approximately 300 litres with the filter.
Heating is provided by 2 x 300 watt titanium heaters which are connected
to an Inkbird Temperature controller.
My intention was to have some Shiners in the pond so I went for high flow with a large capacity pressure filter. The pump is rated at 4000 lph so I am guessing I am getting about 3000 lph based on the size of the tubing used etc.
I also wrapped the filter and pipes with thermal insulation to prevent heat loss during circulation.
The pond is covered with a clear plastic insulated sheet to prevent heat loss during the winter months this will be removed during the day when it gets a bit warmer.
The circulated water is currently returned to the pond just below the surface of the water. I also have a return above water level for use during the summer months.
I have attached some pictures of the pond during construction.
Setting up.
Construction was started in October 2017.
The pond was initially filled with tap water and water conditioner added.
I also used cycle and food to get the filter going.
Temperature is set to 19 centigrade with a 1 degree drop.
Added oxygenating plants (Elodea) and rocks with java moss and Anubias attached. These are all growing well.
I installed a Seneye device to monitor the temperature / ammonia levels etc.
During this month I changed a small percentage of the water using aquarium water from my tank on a daily basis (I still continue to do this).
This was left for a month after which I added 5 White Cloud Mountain Minnows from the temperate section of my LFS.
Ammonia levels went up slightly to about 0.02 ppm then dropped to 0.01 after about a week Currently the level is averaging 0.005 ppm.
The PH averages out to about 7.5.
I have been gradually stocking the pond since then and it now contains
8 x Rainbow Shiners, 6 x Red Shiners and 10 White Cloud Mountain Minnows.
I have also added a few nerite snails and there is a small population of MTS present.
Once the 2 x 300W heaters cut in it takes about 1 hour to increase the water temperature by 1 degree. Normal heating period is about 1-3 hours per day, however, during the recent cold spell the heating period increased to 4-5 hours per day.
All the inhabitants are doing fine. They are feeding well and spend most of their time towards the bottom of the pond darting about in the flow from the outlet pipe.
I have taken some underwater video footage using a cheap waterproof camera. It's not brilliant but at least I can see the fish in their environment. I will try to find a way to share this for your perusal.
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Looking super good there Dave... Hope you're planning to keep the thread updated as things progress... :)
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Fantastic. ;D
Great idea to expand to a pond when you run out of room in the house.
Great fish as well. I have rainbow shiners in my river tank, as well as WCMM in my temperate tank. I don't have any red shiners, but I have seen them at an LFS. What a great mix of colours.
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the only problems i can see, is in the summer i would think you could do with a chiller, direct sunlight could push the tem up to over 30, and when you take the cover off in the summer your need something to stop the herons.
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Thinking about the summer temperature problem. I could stick some silver tinted solar film onto the cover. This would reflect heat away from the water surface. Also a gap under the cover would allow air to flow across the water surface. The downside of this would be the effect on plant growth.
Alternatively I could stretch a mesh across the surface to stop predation and leave it open. This will allow me to cascade the water back into the pond via the filter which will assist with aeration and provide a cooling effect.
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Whereabouts are you daveyng? In the uk I wouldn't be worrying about summer temperatures but winter temperatures. I can't see 600 watts being enough tbh.
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I’m on the South Coast in Portsmouth. During the recent bad spell the temperature fell to about -3.0 and the heaters were on 5-6 times a day for about an hour. Temperature averaged about 18.2 C during the cold spell.
The heating cuts in at 17.6 C according to my Seneye. The Seneye is about -0.5 C out and I haven’t bothered to set the trim adjustment.
I’ll post a picture of the temperature graph from the Seneye for the last month to show how the heating fared during this period. I’ll try and stretch it a bit so it doesn’t look too cluttered.
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I have attached a temperature graph for the last month. This will give some indication on how the heaters have performed during the recent cold snap.
The red indicators are false positives for the device being "out of water".
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That graph looks as if your heaters are coping well with current conditions.
I've had more struggles with keeping tanks cool during the summer. I have a few temperate tanks, and some are more of a problem than others. I've seen my axolotl tank go through a couple of warm summers, and eventually bought a chiller unit for them because they can die at temperatures =>24C.
Shade, air movement and water movement are all very helpful, as you've already considered. Before buying the chiller I also floated ice packs in the axolotl tank (sealed in ziploc bags, to be on the safe side), used fans at the top of the tank, and did large water changes daily, but it wasn't easy to keep >400L cold enough.
Considering the weather in the UK you probably have quite a while to implement suitable precautions before the warm weather arrives. :)
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Posted a video on YouTube of the fish having "lunch". I took it on a sunny day so it's a bit washed out I'm afraid. I'll have another go when it's overcast might show the colours of the fish a bit more.
Here is the video :- #Invalid YouTube Link include https#
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Got the tag wrong on the last post. Hopefully this one will work :- #Invalid YouTube Link include https#
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Another failure I’m afraid. I’ll have another go later.
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The link to my video, hopefully this one works :-
https://youtu.be/ksHuxrgA0Ok (https://youtu.be/ksHuxrgA0Ok)
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That worked a treat and the pond looks a treat too... :)
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Those are some active & perky fish.
Adorable. ;D
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The link to my video, hopefully this one works :-
:cheers:
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Wow - lovely. What voracious feeders they are!
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Now that the weather is starting to improve. I am starting to think about suitable plants for the pond. I am considering aponotogen species. Based on what I’ve read they seem ideal for this type of environment. I’ll plant them in baskets using aquatic soil. I did consider a dwarf lily but I think the high circulation may not favour this type of plant.
I am also going to place some large size ‘river’ gravel on the bottom around the planters and elevate the pump.
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Sounds good!
Just a thought 're the gravel though... if its darker than the current base it may hinder your view of the fish... it would make maintenance less easy too... that said it will likely enhance the look greatly! Can you see the base from the surface?
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Currently there are a few rocks on the bottom covered in Java Moss and one with an Anubias attached. The rest of the base is just the black liner. I Think the gravel would improve the visual look of the pond and the fish may be happier in more ‘natural’ surroundings.
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There is another benefit to having gravel on the bottom - it will be home to a whole host of micro-organisms that are of benefit to a tank/pond.
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Currently there are a few rocks on the bottom covered in Java Moss and one with an Anubias attached. The rest of the base is just the black liner. I Think the gravel would improve the visual look of the pond and the fish may be happier in more ‘natural’ surroundings.
Gravel sounds like a good move then :)
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Yep, I am going to go with the gravel. I have also ordered a few aquatic planters, liner and aquatic soil.
I will probably get a few Aponotegen Henkelianus for the planters they grow to about 40cm and will be OK with the temperature. I was also thinking about Hornwort as a stem plant.
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Only thing with homework is that it can loose its needle like leaves quite easily which normally would need vacuuming up to prevent them rotting in the tank. Do you think this will be practical in your pond setup?
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The aponogeton helenkus have lovely leaves, they'll look fantastic. 8)
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Only thing with homework is that it can loose its needle like leaves quite easily which normally would need vacuuming up to prevent them rotting in the tank. Do you think this will be practical in your pond setup?
I assume that's meant to be hornwort :rotfl:
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I hadn't noticed that @Sue
I read it as hornwort :rotfl:
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I’ll try the Hornwort.If it is a problem I’ll ditch it and have a rethink.
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I've added homework, I mean hornwort ;), to my tank recently. I like it and the way it drapes - a lovely canopy effect - but is a downside: the fish food gets trapped in it, so I have to give it a prodding post-mealtimes to release the food particles caught up in it.
[Message edited. I had thought there was a second downside but, having re-investigated just to be sure, I realise I was wrong and so have reneged the second downside I had mentioned.]
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I assume that's meant to be hornwort :rotfl:
Arggghhh, auto correct is really not set up for fish keeping chat, I get all sorts of rubbish and normally spot it and correct it, that one has slipped through the net...
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I recently purchased a couple of bags of river pebbles from a local hardware store. They were classified as suitable for aquatic use. 1 bag has been washed and spread out over half of the base of the pond. I can actually see the fish now without too much difficulty. The other half will be completed in a couple of days.
The Aponotogen Henkelianus (4 bulbs) have been planted in a basket. I have used Westland aquatic soil for this purpose. I have also got 1 sprig of hornwort and placed this in the same planter temporarily until I put another one in place. The planters are 23 x 23 x 13 so I would imagine 1 would be OK for the 4 Aponogeton bulbs. I can always relocate a couple of bulbs at a later date.
I am going to place the rocks covered in Java Moss next to the planters hoping that the moss will creep over the exterior mesh to disguise it.
I am also considering cutting a hole in the side of one of the planters and upturning it to create a ‘cave’. I have some small Java Fern plantlets and a Anubias to attach to the mesh. These should eventually cover it.
The Java Moss is growing profusely so I would imagine it will start spreading across the pebbles as well.
I have also added a dozen Amano Shrimp to assist with Algae removal.
I would also like to add some more fish. I’m thinking either Golden Barbs or Odessa Barbs (perhaps both).
Stocking would be 12 x Golden or 6 x Golden + 6 x Odessa.
I think these would complement the Shiners and WCMMs.
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Sounds like it's coming along nicely Dave... :)
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That sounds absolutely brilliant ;D
I would never have thought about keeping shrimp outdoors, though of course you can with your heated system. Like the idea of how you're doing the planting, including the cave idea... or could it be part of a raised area of the pond I wonder???
Must be great being able to see the fish more now... I cam imagine you wanting to get fish which look different from above... something most of us never have to think about!
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Sounds great. 8)
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Couple of pics of the bottom of the pond with the river pebbles in place. The Java Moss attached to the rocks look almost 'fern like' from above. You can also see the top of the hornwort which has now reached the surface. It must be growing about 4" a day. The Aponotogen bulbs have also started sprouting leaves.
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I like it with the pebbles. 8)
Great to hear that the plants are growing well, and I hope that your fish are enjoying their new additions. :)
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Great pics Dave... (http://www.tropicalfishforums.co.uk/Smileys/tff/smiley-face-thumbs-up.png)
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Wandered in to my LFS today and they had some ‘Metallic’ golden barbs. Came home with 8 for the pond. They are now swimming happily around with the Shiners.
At least now if someone asks if there are any ‘gold’ fish in the pond I can say yes.
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I can't fault your logic @daveyng ;D
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Great plan/addition, @daveyng :fishy1:
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Forgot to mention, I also added a dozen 'largish' Amano's towards the end of last week. I have seen them wandering over the pebbles and on the java moss.
I was considering getting a couple of hillstream loaches once a biofilm/algae has established itself on the pebbles.
There is plenty of flow and the temperature is fine for them. I haven't kept them before so it would be something new for me. Any thoughts on this idea ?
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Lovely little fish for sure... I can't really advise on them myself, as I know virtually nothing about them, but can completely understand wanting them... Hope they are suitable, coz they're great l'il fish... :D
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Temperature should be fine as you say. Re flow, hillstreams are adapted to take a lot of linear flow - the sort of flow in a river that we would struggle to stand up in. People often set up river manifolds for them. That said they dont 'need' this type of flow it's just what is found in their natural environment.
I would suggest if you get a few you might need to consider supplementing the amount of food available to them with something like repashy soilent green or algae wafers unless you are getting quite a significant amount of algae growth?
They are lovely fish for sure. I would love to have a river tank to keep them in. @Littlefish have you kept hillstreams?
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@Matt yes, I've got a group of sewellia lineolata in my river tank.
@daveyng there are a few types available, which were you considering getting? They do like a lot of flow, and need high levels of oxygen in the water. They may also appreciate some larger rocks among your pebbles.
My gang enjoy algae & biofilm, but are also happy with the Repashy food, algae wafers, cucumber, etc.
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I did see the Sewellia Lineolata on sale at my LFS. They look quite striking so I would probably go for them. I have Algae wafers and sinking wafers which I use for the Shrimp and Catfish in my tank. I have Been putting a couple of sinking wafers in the pond for the Amanos. They love them.
How many Sewellia would you suggest ?. I would probably go for 2-3.
The flow in the pond is not really linear but it is quite turbulent around the return from the filter. The Shiners tend to shoal in this area, swimming against the current. I also have the option of directing the flow to a ‘pump’ water feature, which I will start using when it gets a bit warmer. This will assist in keeping the oxygen levels up. I would imagine that I’m circulating something approaching 3000 lph counting losses.
One thing I have noticed with the fish in this environment is their behaviour. They seem to be more aware of their surroundings and they all tend to stay together as a group (regardless of species). They only venture up to the surface when they know it’s feeding time.
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They are lovely looking fish. :)
They are wild caught and quite sensitive, so make sure that they are feeding at your lfs prior to purchase.
Although linear water flow is ideal, it is not absolutely essential. Cool water and high oxygen levels are essential. You may want to look at how you are going to keep the pond cool during the summer, and how you are going to deal with surface evaporation (may need a solid lid, and top up losses with RO).
I have a group of 9 in my river tank, and they seem fine together. I got quite a few because SF says they are found in large groups in the wild http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/sewellia-lineolata/
Although they are said to be relatively aggressive, my gang seem ok as long as each one has a large rock to themselves. They mix well at food time, and mix well with my other fish. When I first got them two of the males had a battle for the best rock, but that was short lived with no harm done (and fascinating to watch).
As for the behaviour of your fish, things might change slightly as your plants grow. However, the rainbow shiners in my river tank are usually low to mid-water, rather than near the top, which seems to be the same as what you are seeing.
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I have taken to shading the pond over the last three days for a few hours during the peak sunlight period. Temperature currently is around 21C. I had a problem with rising pH during these periods. This seems to have alleviated that problem as well as curbing the temperature rise. I’m using a sheet of “silvered” insulation (bit like bubble wrap) which also reflects heat over the area that catches the Sun. There is also an insulated hard plastic cover over the entire pond. I am thinking about using a “bank” of fans which I can put in the space between the hard cover and the water surface. I’m hoping the evaporative effect will cool the water. I use a small one on my aquarium and it seems to work.
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... I use a small one on my aquarium and it seems to work.
Wouldn't mind seeing a pic of that Dave... Looks like we're in for a hot summer and cooling the tank is likely to be a challenge...
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I have used fans previously to cool my axolotl tank, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tropical-Freshwater-Aquarium-Cooling-FS-604/dp/B00DGR5RQ6 and I found that it worked well if you only need to drop the temperature slightly, perhaps a degree or two. Combined with shade, and regular water changes this may be enough in all but the warmest of summers.
I've also floated ice packs in the tank to help.
Eventually I purchased a chiller, which was quite expensive.
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@TopCookie there’s a pic of the fan under the topic ‘New Lighting AI Hydra 26 HD’ you can see it behind the lighting unit. It’s fairly small but it works for me.
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I’m considering buying an in-line fan for hydroponics use. They are high output and I could probably work out a way of putting a hose above the surface of the pond to blow air over the surface. I can mount the fan in a waterproof enclosure.
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That sounds interesting. Let me know how that goes as I may need something for my river tank that is cheaper than a chiller. Obviously as my tank is indoors things are a lot easier for me, so I'm going with fans & water changes at the moment. :)
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That looks alright Dave... :) Definitely the sort of thing I'd consider... I have seen some purpose built fans on one of the websites, geared up for tank cooling, but for much smaller tanks though...
I like the look of those in Donna's link too... :)
Not too bad, temperature wise, at the moment, but obviously things are gonna be warming up from now...
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Latest Readings from the Seneye in the Pond (attached). You can see the temperature is creeping up. The pH had been fluctuating a bit but I managed to curb that by covering the Pond with a sheet of the mirrored insulation during the peak sunlight hours (13:00 - 17:00). Today its gone up because I ran the water feature. Probably drove the O2 level up.
There are also a few more pics of the setup (bit Heath Robinson) but it works. There are 2 showing the cover. I place a couple of rocks on it to stop it blowing away !!. There is another of the filter with the insulation wrapped around it and 1 of the working water pump feature.
I am going to construct a rustic looking box to cover the filter although its tucked away and not really noticeable. I will also do something more permanent for the cover.
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I have used fans previously to cool my axolotl tank, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tropical-Freshwater-Aquarium-Cooling-FS-604/dp/B00DGR5RQ6 and I found that it worked well if you only need to drop the temperature slightly, perhaps a degree or two. Combined with shade, and regular water changes this may be enough in all but the warmest of summers.
I've also floated ice packs in the tank to help.
Eventually I purchased a chiller, which was quite expensive.
Sorry about being off topic here for a mo Dave...
The Amazon fans there, looking at the feedback, one person had a simple but brilliant idea:
3 of the fans stopped working after approximately 6 weeks cheap rubbish You better off putting a household fan in front of the tank works much better"
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Back on topic now: love that vintage water pump set up - that looks fantastic...!!! :D
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Great set up. :)
Glad to hear that your insulation is helping to keep the pond cool.
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I did consider the standard "PC" fans in a case, which I have on top of my tank (see pic). However, I think the Hydroponic / Bathroom inline one would be ideal, there much more powerful. I could simply cut a hole in the cover attach a 100mm hose to it via a standard fitting and then attach this to the fan.
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Update on the Golden Barbs. They have settled in nicely and are now swimming around with the Shiners and the WCMM. I assumed they’d pretty much keep to themselves but this isn’t the case. They are there with the rest of them at feeding time.
I also now have 4 Hillstream loaches. I didn’t get the Sewellia’s in the end. There was, however, a mixture of Gastromyzon Loaches under the general moniker of Hillstream Loaches. I noticed one of them has blue veined fins and looked quite attractive. There is plenty of algae on the pond liner for them, and the pebbles are starting to go green in places.
I have had them a few days and can see them occasionally attached to pebbles on the bottom.
Shrimp are also doing well, they are practically full size now and I can see them on the Java Moss and wandering over the pebbles.
I’ll see if I can take some pictures using the waterproof camera I used for the Video.
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Great to hear that all your fish have settled in and are doing well. 8)
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All sounds great :))
Can wait to see those photos! :fishy1:
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Latest video of the pond inhabitants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgcp9Cjsdro (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgcp9Cjsdro)
Barbs are coming along nicely.
As you can see the Hornwort is growing well and to the right of the picture is the Aponogeton henkelianus.
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Pond residents looking good there Dave... :)
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Fantastic. 8)
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I love the video and especially the rainbow shiners which I've never actually seen in real life / the LFS. 8)
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Nice one @daveyng, im going to have to give this a go myself!
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Latest Pond Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa4BJNUVGRk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa4BJNUVGRk)
This one shows how the plants are coming along. The Hornwort is certainly growing well in the background. The Aponogeton's are also coming along nicely.
The fish are visible towards the bottom of the screen. You can see the neon blue on the Shiners quite well and the Golden Barbs are also looking good.
Temperature got up to 26 C at one stage but I managed to bring it down by having the pump running.
I am currently more concerned with the pH at the moment it got up to 8.08 at one point.
I have taken to shading the pond for most of the afternoon now which stabilises the pH and keeps the temperature at a reasonable level.
The fish seem to be Ok but I don't want the pH climbing to these extremes.
The only explanation for the pH swings I have currently is Photosynthesis of the plants and algae. This is based on Pond Forums and other literature regarding aquaculture.
It seems that a Ponds normal pH range is usually between 7.5 and 8.5.
I would prefer mine not to go much above 7.5.
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Looking better & better Dave... (http://www.cdv-forum.com/Smileys/default/thumbs.gif)
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I keep wondering, @daveyng how do you film your temperate pond? Do you have a waterproof camera?
Looking good btw.
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Yes, I do have a waterproof camera. It’s one of those budget sports cameras (Campark ACT74) from an online retailer. It’s perfectly OK for this sort of job. You can also use it as a dashcam.
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Your plants are flourishing 8)
Great to see you pond doing well.
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I agree - pond and inhabitants (plants and fish) seem to be doing very well. :cheers:
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I have just finished my DIY cooler (see attached). Now I'm just waiting for the hot weather to come back !!
I did test it yesterday and it appears to do it's job. If it works OK on a hot day I will get a temperature/cooler controller to run it.
The cooler is just a standard bathroom fan sealed in a weatherproof box. Inlet/outlet were sealed with aquarium sealant and also around the power lead inlet.
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That's a fantastic DIY project @daveyng :vcross:
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By any chance Dave, do you follow the young Paul Cuffaro on YouTube...? He's a tremendously confident young pup who is heavily into both aquariums and outdoor ponds - especially ponds - and is great fun to watch...
www.youtube.com/channel/UCKFtfFitaK83yBc0rlg9m1A/videos
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Run the cooler for a day to see how it fared. It seems to be performing well. I will post some graphs showing the reduction in temperature over the last few days.
@Matt I hope I may of ‘fueled’ your interest in having a go at a ‘minipond’. It’ll be good to compare notes.
Had a brief look at the link posted by @TopCookie, looks very interesting. I will have more of a perusal later.
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I've been running the cooler now for about a week and it sort of coped with this latest hot spell OK (see attached readings).
I'm using an Inkbird Temperature Controller to manage the DIY cooler. The temperature is set to 22 C with the cooler set to cut in at +1C above this. I have nothing currently attached to the heating circuit although I might plug one of the 300 watt heaters into this one to allow for failures. I can change the temperature to match the other controller in this case.
As an aside I will probably do a review of the Inkbird controllers as I now have 3 of them (2 different models).
I am still covering the pond during peak sunlight periods to prevent the pH from soaring. This also has the added benefit of stemming algae growth.
All pond inhabitants are doing well. The Amano's are now almost full size. I will probably get another 6 to boost the numbers to 18.
I will also look at purchasing the Odessa Barbs I mentioned previously.
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Genius :cheers:
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Couple of videos of the fish and plants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpP8GykchXc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpP8GykchXc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6_AKLM5Y-0 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6_AKLM5Y-0)
I purchased a small lily and planted it with the hornwort, which I had to seriously thin out as it had completely covered the water surface.
The Aponogeton are growing nicely. I am hoping they might attempt to flower soon.
As you can see the Red Shiners are quite a bit larger than the Rainbow Shiners. The Golden Barbs and WCMM are also doing well.
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Your plants are doing very well, and your fish are looking active & perky.
Great stuff. ;D
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I agree - both fish and plants look great. 8)
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It does look lovely. And inspiring.
I really like that it is a bit different to the usual aquarium set up. And it is really nice to see the fish from a different perspective.
Is the aponogeton the lacy leaves? They are pretty.
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Yes Helen it’s a lacy leaf version Aponogeton Henkelianus. I think the leaves are slightly smaller than the Aponogeton Madagascariensis.
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The Aponogetons I have the Pond have started to flower. I have attached a couple of pictures. The flowerheads look quite attractive.
I have managed to keep the water temperature below 25 C by using the home made fan and shielding the surface during the hottest parts of the day. Its averaging out at about 23 C at the moment.
Fish seem happy enough though.
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Glad to hear that your pond fish are doing well, and those flowers are stunning. :cheers:
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That flower is going to be quite something when it's in full bloom... keep us posted!
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Latest video of the Pond inhabitants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itRP2z_wWEQ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itRP2z_wWEQ). The Aponogeton are doing well and the stemof the flowering plant can be clearly seen. I have also attached the latest pics of the flowerhead itself. I have removed a lot of Java Moss as it was taking over the bottom of the Pond.
You will also be able to make out the form of one of the Hillstream Loaches clinging to the liner at the rear on the left.
I have also included a graph of the long term temperature of the Pond from its inception last October to the beginning of June. As you can see the temperature was pretty stable until the weather started to warm up.
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Pond is looking really good now Dave... Great job dude...!!! :D
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Stunning. :afro
I had to give a cheer when I spotted the loach. ;D
Your fish and plants are looking great, well done. :cheers:
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Latest video of the pond https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F91Y5TWODO0 (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F91Y5TWODO0) taken at feeding time.
You’ll be able to catch a few glimpses of my latest additions (8 Odessa Barbs) which I recently acquired. Pond is now complete in terms of fish. I will be putting more Amano’s in, when I can obtain them.
Plants are still growing well and I removed quite a bit of Hornwort and Elodea prior to shooting the video.
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;D
Lovely :cheers:
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Pond is looking super vibrant and colourful Dave... Always manages to look even better with each newly uploaded video clip... Great job sir...!!! :D
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Absolutely great - I love the different colours of the fish as they move. :cheers:
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Hi All
Latest update for the Pond which is coming up to a year old.
Firstly the sad news I lost a couple of the fish recently (1 Odessa Barb and 1 Red Shiner). Others are fine though as you can see in my latest video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba3drVdXEto (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba3drVdXEto).
I have also included a few pics of the latest apontogen flower and the lily which has recently bloomed.
The few cold nights recently has "fired" up the heater on occasions.
I will be posting some of the recent data from the Seneye so you can see how the Pond has fared recently.
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Thanks for sharing. I love your pond and fish, and the pond flowers are beautiful too.
8)
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Sorry to hear that you lost a barb and a shiner from your pond.
The rest of the fish and plants are amazing. :afro
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I couldn't believe the photos... then I remembered about the heater! Great looking plants. :cheers:
Sorry to hear about the fish losses... glad the rest of your crew are doing well :D
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Gave the filter a flush through using the inbuilt “cleaning” mode. A plate compresses the sponges using water pressure through a separate outlet. I’ve always wondered where this idea came from. I have never seen this option on external canister filters for aquariums (too messy for indoor use I suppose).
The filter can also be easily dismantled if a thorough clean is required.
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That's quite an awesome function on your filter. Very useful. 8)
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My pond filter has that too... it is very useful. I also heard Juris talk about getter filters that are more all-in-one so to speak... filter heater co2 etc. A self cleaning type function seems like the logical next step to this!
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The pond is now a year old and doing well. The most problematic period was during the hot spell we had. Finding ways to keep the pond cool without dramatic changes in water parameters (pH mainly).proved challenging. During the cold spell the insulation used and heater wattage (2 x 300w titanium) proved more than sufficient to keep the temperature stable.
I was always concerned about algae growth but have never had any real problems with this as the plants I used have grown profusely keeping algae at bay.
The mainly riverine fish are all doing well as I installed a high turnover pump / filtration system. The pump turnover is about 10 x per hour taking losses into account.
I think that treating the pond more like an “outdoor aquarium” has made the difference (50% water changes weekly). It’s tiny in comparison to standard ponds and thus easier to manage.
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Happy Pond Anniversary/Birthday :cheers:
Thanks for keeping us up-to-date. I've thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your pond, and seeing the pictures. :)
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Hi All have created some still pics from the pond video's I have taken.
The brighter pics were from July and the others from October.
The Rainbow shiners have lost their metallic blue sheen in the October pics.
Rest of the fish are Red Shiners, Odessa Barbs, Golden Barbs and WCMM
Plants are aponogeton henkelianus, Anubias Barteri (nana), Hornwort, Elodea and a couple of lilies
There are a couple of more pics in the next post.
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Last couple of pics attached.
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Great shots! :)
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Looks great. ;D
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Oh, I do love your photos. Stunning fish! 8)
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Great pics of your pond & fish. 8)
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Latest set of readings from the Pond (last 7 days).
As you can see the cold spell has "kicked" the heating into life.
pH and Ammonia (NH3) are stable.
I have also added the Kelvin reading from the Seneye for info.
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Had a report from the Seneye to say the Web Interface wasn't available. Found that the RCD on the Pond had tripped. I subsequently found out that one of the Heaters had failed. I have ordered another one, but I have others I can utilise if required.
Currently I'm just using the 1 300w heater which appears to be coping extremely well (see graph).
Temperature dropped to about 17.3 C, however, the Seneye is reading about 0.6 C below the actual Pond temperature (measured using a mercury thermometer). I could trim the Seneye but I don't as it gives me some leeway.
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Got that wrong 17.1 (From Seneye) :vcross:
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After a thorough check I found that the heater I thought was suspect is fine (I now have a spare). I think the RCD may be the problem. I am running on 1 heater currently which I now believe is more than capable of sustaining the pond temperature on it’s own (based on the heating gradients I’m getting from the Seneye). I have increased the Temperature to 22 C with a drop of 1 C before the heating cuts in again. I will monitor this closely to see how much more power consumption I’m getting as the weather turns colder. I think the increase will provide more of a safety net if I have a failure again.
I have left the 2 heaters in situ and will utilise both by swapping them over on a weekly basis.
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Latest Seneye readings from the Pond. I'm still running on 1 x 300W heater at the moment and it's coping fine with this current cold spell.
I'll be doing another Video soon to check the status of the inhabitants. Will post some stills when I do.
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Hi All, just a quick update on the pond.
I just had to take a picture of a the lily that started flowering last week. The bud appeared about 2 weeks ago and I just presumed it would die off because of the cold.
Bad news is that I lost one of the Red Shiners. I think they are nearing the end of their lifespan. I will probably buy another couple each of Red / Rainbow Shiners in order to keep the numbers at a reasonable level.
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Temperature/pH and NH3 / NH4 graphs for the last 72 hours.
Currently the Heaters on coming on about 3 times a day for approximately 1 hour. Temperature here is about 8 C during the day dropping to around 3 C overnight.
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Great to see the beautiful lily that has bloomed on your pond.
Sorry to hear that you lost a shiner, and I hope that the rest of your gang are all doing well.
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Really interesting temperature graph... I'm assuming that you thought the heater would be on more often?... I certainly would have done!
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I must admit I thought that maintaining water temperature in winter would be more energy consuming than it is. I think the 25mm of insulation plus the thickness of the wood (100 mm) works well. I have to be more concerned during summer with the escalating temperatures.
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Although the outside temperature only got up to about 10 C a bit of sunlight on the pond has kept the temperature up.
Heating has only come on once in the last 24 hours. The pH increases slightly as well.
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It looks like you did a great job with the insulation when building the pond. :cheers:
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That lily is beautiful.
What volume of water have you got in your pond? Also, it strikes me as quite square, so perhaps it is also a really good shape for minimising heat loss.
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Pond holds 300 litres of water approx. ( including filter). It’s rectangular (950 x 550 x 575) actual internal dimension.
I am going to push up the temperature to 22 C and modify the heating to include another temperature controller as a ‘failsafe’. I have found that 1 of the 300 W heaters is perfectly capable of heating and maintaining the temperature even during the recent cold spells. I can run one of the controllers at the same temperature setting (22 C) with a slightly increased heating / cooling differential (say 1.5 C). If the main heating circuit fails the backup will take over.
I can change them round occasionally to allow each heating circuit to operate.
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Latest video of the pond inhabitants https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIGiTqJSE7k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIGiTqJSE7k)
Looks like I have mainly female Rainbow Shiners. Have to pick up more males if I can.
I think I'll also add a few more WCMM as well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIGiTqJSE7k (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIGiTqJSE7k)
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I had stopped for a coffee after cleaning the tank that contains my rainbow shiners, and watching your gang in your pond made me chuckle with joy. They all look so perky, and with great colours. Your plants look lovely too.
Well done. :cheers:
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Just started slowly "cranking up" the temperature in the Pond (see pic of last 7 days).
Its on 23 C at the moment. The Sunny weather were having is helping enormously.
I will probably start transferring a few of my 270 litre tank inhabitants next week.
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Temperature is now set to 24 C. A bit of Sun on the pond yesterday and the temperature crept up to 25.1 C (red warning on the graph). I had the high temperature warning limit set to 25 C so I set it to 26 C to cater for the increase.
I might have to get the fan out sooner than I thought.
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Firstly apologies I haven’t been around recently so will need to catch up with everything that’s going on with the Forum.
Here is the latest video of the mini pond, now in its 2nd year. https://youtu.be/ohq1xGNmH4Y/ (https://youtu.be/ohq1xGNmH4Y/)
I have now decanted the fish from my Eheim 270 in order to strip it down and thoroughly clean it.
Had to turn the temperature up to cater for them and they appear to be loving it in their new environment.
I will try to get some stills from the video and add them later.
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Hi @daveyng great to see more of your pond! :cheers:
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Your fish are looking great. 8)
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Here's the latest on the Pond which is now in it's fourth year.
Current inhabitants are mainly Barbs (Golden, 5 Banded and Odessa) with some Diamond Tetras, White Clouds ,Swordtails and a few male Endlers. There are also a few Rainbow Shiner left from my original shoal.
There are also Amano shrimp and Cherry shrimp as well.
I keep the pond covered in Winter and place a fine plastic mesh over it during the Summer which keeps the temperature down to a reasonable level. Currently the average temperature is around 24 C.
I have 2 x 300 W Titanium Heaters on Separate controllers in case of failure.
The Pond is monitored with a Seneye device.
I have attached a few pictures from a video I produced recently(I'll add a link to that soon).
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Here’s the latest video #Invalid YouTube Link include https#
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Have to remember how I added the videos. I’ll try again later.
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Latest video of the Pond inhabitants at feeding time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbMzHWliiE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVbMzHWliiE)
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One thing I have noticed is the difference in behaviour of the fish in the pond in comparison to aquarium residents. They tend to be more ‘lively’ and aware of their environment than their indoor counterparts.
They seem to grow more rapidly and their colours are more intense.
Probably due to the extra live food (insects etc.) they have available to them.
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Few more 'Stills' from the video.
You can see one of the Golden Barbs and a few of the Odessa Barbs in one of the Shots. There is also a female Shiner in view.
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Have to remember how I added the videos. I’ll try again later.
I usually find inserting a third / after the https: sorts out the problem (think @Robert advised that long ago), but glad you've somehow managed to upload it.
Great to read of the pond updates and to see how lively the fish are - wow! :fishy1: :fishy1: :fishy1:
How do the titanium heaters work ie do you have a power supply somehow connected?
I imagine the extra space in the pond (.v. an aquarium) likely helps the fishes' growth. I once spotted an x-ray tetra in a LFS which was a lot larger than any of mine ever reached - I suspect it had lived in a comparatively large tank but had been brought into the LFS for rehoming.
Thanks for sharing the video and the 'stills'. :cheers:
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The titanium heaters I have are made by aqua medic. They are used with a thermostatic controller. I use a D-D controller which has both heating and cooling output. The heaters are more efficient than the glass alternatives.
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Your gang are very active in the video. Great to see them all doing so well. :cheers:
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Latest pictures of the Pond inhabitants. The Plants are starting to grow rapidly with the increased sunlight hours. I have to prune them on a weekly basis.
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Thanks for the pics and update on your pond.
Great to know that everything is going well and looking good. :afro
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Fantastic photos, and beautiful fish in a great environment. 8)
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Here are the latest pictures of the Pond inhabitants. These are snapshots from a video I created on 25th March 2022. One of the pictures shows the Java Moss 'creeping' across the woodwork above the waterline.
Pond contains mainly Swordtails and Guppies which have done well in this environment. There is also a thriving colony of Cherry Shrimp.
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Few more pictures of the pond. Ran out of upload space on the previous post.
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:) Looks like the fish population has grown considerably
I find myself looking at doing something temperate in my main tank (indoors) thanks to the rise in energy costs!
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The problem I’ve always had is keeping the temperature at a reasonable level in summer. I gave up with the fan and now uncover the pond (using a mesh) during hot spells. The overnight cooling of the water prevents the temperature from ‘ramping’ up during the day.
I must admit I didn’t realise that the success rate for the fry would be so high. Luckily I have a few relatives with aquaria I can pass on some of my surplus Swordtails/Guppies.
The Cherry shrimp are also breeding well.
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Thanks for the update and lovely photos, @daveyng :cheers: