Tiny Tank Challenge

One of my Tweeps recently posted a Tiny Tank Challenge. The idea was that participants would spend less than $100 and set up a tank that would hold at most 5 gallons.

Wait. I can hear you say (hi, Mom!), but this is a GARDENING BLOG. Well, you wait! This does involved plants!

So I decided to go along with the challenge because, while I love my 125 gallon display tank I am always thinking of other aquarium things to do. Sadly both they "cozy" layout of our house and The Husband keep me from setting up another good sized tank.

I considered a lot of different options and ended up choosing a combination of stuff I have experience with and new stuff.

Here is my current tank:

A good number of fish, lots of live plants, but not "landscaped." 

Now go Google "Planted Aquariums." Go ahead, I'll wait. 

Wow, right? Those images are spectacular. And don't really look like the chaotic, life filled tank I look at every time I'm at my computer desk.

THAT is what I'm going to try to do with the Tiny Tank. I bought a 5 gallon aquarium, ordered a filter (the local pet store didn't have what I wanted) and when it comes in I'll get started setting it up. A nice, landscaped plant tank.

With Shrimp.

Because I like to watch tiny freshwater shrimp but the fish in my big tank aren't compatible.

[it takes a while for the bacteria to establish in a new tank so it will take a while before it's ready - you can check out the Tiny Tank Challenge at Parlour Oceans.]

Biology Day Problems

Today is Biology Day here at The Edge.  This is the day where I take care of all living things that live under my roof and are not primates (that rules out The Husband.  He can fend for himself).  The major chores involve house plant maintenance and indoor water garden (nee aquarium) maintenance. 

I will water all of the houseplants, fertilize those that need it, repot as needed, prune out dead as needed.  This week the problem is with the hanging baskets.  See, when I water I let the water flow all the way through the pot.  With my non-hanging plants this is not a problem since I use over-sized saucers and can stop watering as soon as the water appears in the saucer.  Hanging baskets either have small, close fitting saucers or none at all.  Normally I haul them into the main floor bathroom, set them in the tub and water like I do everything else.

This is what the main floor bathroom tub area looks like today. 

If I tried to water the hanging baskets the overflow would drip between the boards and into the basement.  Not exactly how I want to do things.

So I'm improvising.  The hanging baskets are going into the kitchen sink one by one.  It's a much slower process.

Hmmm, what did you ask?  Yes, yes, I do have another shower, upstairs, but it is TINY and would require hauling the hanging baskets upstairs, watering them (and only one or maybe two would fit in the shower at a time.  It's THAT tiny).  [I don't smell THAT bad today, do I?  So bad you can smell me over the internet?  I guess I'm better find a stronger deodorant.]

This process of watering hanging baskets should explain the stainless steel rod I'm trying to get installed down the length of the new tub/shower on the main floor.  So I can water my hanging baskets while they are HANGING and not run the risk of damaging foliage.  It makes perfect sense to me, I'm not sure why The Husband is fighting it.  He just has to remember to duck when he uses the shower.

The OTHER big issue is with the indoor water gardens.  I have two large tanks filled with live aquatic plants (and a few fish, too).  One tank is 55 gallons and the other contains 120 gallons.  I change out half the water each week.  This chore is actually not too bad.  I  have a looooong, specialized hose that can run out the window into the gardens ("free" water for the plants that comes with a small nitrogen boost from fish waste).  When we picked out the faucet for the bathroom we made sure to get one that I could connect the hose to so that I can fill the tanks straight from the bathroom sink. 

Guess what else I don't have right now.  

I can still use the hose to drain water from the tanks but the process of refilling them now requires hauling five gallon buckets.  I'm thinking the 120 gallon tank is not going to be cleaned as often as normal.  Hauling 60 gallons of water in buckets is not my idea of fun!

And now for a gratuitous photo of a Panicum virgatum (switchgrass)  'Heavy Metal'

New Garden

I'm been working on a New Garden recently.  It's not your typical garden.  First off it's a water garden.  Yes, I know, lots of gardeners have those.  OK.  Here's the next kicker.  It's indoors.  120 gallons of fantastic indoor water garden (the tank is 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot).

Yes, I confess, I consider my planted aquariums to be indoor water gardens.  I grow live plants, don't I?

Setting up a planted aquarium has some similarities to building a raised bed.  You need to prepare the bed (in this case I refinished the aquarium stand) and pick out what kind of soil you want in the bed.  In the aquarium this is called substrate and, no, standard aquarium gravel won't do.

So I bought six 20-pound bags.  Two different types of substrate.  One the "soil" and the other the "compost."  The bags came pre-seeded with bacteria.  Bacteria are as necessary in the aquarium as they are in the garden soil.

Then I picked out some boulders.  These rocks have to be carefully chosen and carefully cleaned.  Some types of rock can give off substances that harm fish.  And you don't want garden soil in the aquarium.

The good news is that these boulders didn't cost me much money.  Not like going to the rock yard and spending hundreds of dollars for one for the outside garden.  Scale matters.

The hard part was lowering the biggest rock - a good 20 pound rock! - down 24 inches to the gravel while bent over the tank and standing on a step stool.  

Then comes the fun part.  Picking out plants.  Just like in the outside garden you have to landscape the aquarium.  The choices in plant material are not as varied and the information about them is harder to find. You have to consider light levels (artificially supplied), pH (you know, just like you get when you get your soil tested.  You don't get your soil tested?  Come close, let me whisper in your ear - I don't either!),  and water hardness.

Then you get to pick out the animals in the aquarium garden.  I'm moving some of my fish from my existing tank.  These fish will help the aquarium get established.  Eventually I'll move my angelfish over and do something different in the old tank.  

So the really fun part?  Catching fish in a well planted tank.  Here's my existing tank.  

 

The first fish was easy to catch. The second one, not too bad.  The third - I have fish in there?  I'll take my time and catch a few now, a few later, a few tomorrow.

Tomorrow, though.  Outside gardening!  Only a few more weeks to enjoy working in the outside garden.  I'll have all winter to work on the indoor gardens.

Indoor Gardening - Water Garden Edition

Hi, I'm Diana and I'm a Plantaholic. Not only are all my window sills filled with plants but I also grow live plants in my aquarium.

Growing plants indoors allows a great amount of control over conditions such as light, temperature, humidity and fertilizer.  This aquatic garden grows wholly under artificial lights.  The substrate is a special composition that includes a great many nutrients but the primary source of fertilizer is fish waste.

Yes, that's right I keep fish in my aquatic garden.  Of course when I talk to fish people I say I have live plants in my fish tank.  I like to think of it as an artificial ecosystem.  I have more control over it than conditions in my outdoor garden but I still don't have complete control (it's not Bonsai!).

Control is an illusion.  The fish breed, the plants reproduce, invertebrates like snails show up with new plants.  I have to compensate for it all.  Water changes, composting plants, filtration.  It give me the illusion of control over something here on The Edge.

You probably can't tell from the pictures (it's hard to avoid the glare from the windows) but this is my pride and joy.  And it's a great place to play gardener during the winter.  Plus it at least looks nice and tropical compared to the white wonderland outside today.  Is it Spring yet?