Project sunken garden

[ranmasatome]

i'm looking forward to it..

[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.

[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.

[blackghost]

gosh...

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

[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.

[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.

[ranmasatome]

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

[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
Wish I had an opportunity to visit & see your place

[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


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.

[joydiv]

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

[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.

[joydiv]

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

[morta_skuld]

very nice project!

[medicineman]

@joydiv,
Check PM

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 ....

[virgoriangur]

wow it looks wonderfull Thumb ups

[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...

[eddyq]

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

[Aeon]

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

[Betta Almighty]

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

[medicineman]

Thanks for the admirations!

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

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.