108 Litre "Puddle Garden" Outdoor Balcony Pond

[Urban Aquaria]

Not sure if this qualifies as aquascaping, if it isn't... moderators kindly move it to the relevant section.

Anyways, this is my latest balcony water garden project which was started a few weeks ago...



Its basically made from a re-purposed fiberglass tank and wrapped with artificial grass to make it abit more "garden" like. Though compared to actual ponds, this is more like a puddle... hence the project name.

The concept is to cultivate pond/marginal plants and allow them to grow above the water with emersed leaves and flowers, while at the same time creating a self-sustaining aquatic ecosystem in the water.

For this particular setup, there is no substrate used and the plants are not potted in soil, they are all simply tied to pieces of wood, this makes it easy to move them around anytime without creating a mess. All the plants used were chosen based on their fast growth characteristics and ability to grow without soil. When such plants are grown in a soil-less hydro-culture method, the plant roots adapt to drawing nutrients directly from the water column, thereby cleaning the water more efficiently than if they were potted in soil.

There is no filter as i don't have an electrical point at the balcony area, so i'll have to rely on a higher plant density to perform the bulk of the natural filtration. I also decided to use a solar powered pump with a fountain head to provide abit of circulation and surface agitation during daylight hours.

Due to the filter-less setup, i maintained a very low bio-load by just adding a few Boraras Brigittae to help eat up any mosquito larvae or bugs that may breed in the water, and a group of Neocaridina Heteropoda as plant cleaning/algae management crew.

During this initial period before the water garden's ecosystem is fully established, the fauna are fed very lightly twice a week to maintain a balance in water quality and nutrients for the plants. Once the ecosystem is mature, there will be much less feedings required.

[Urban Aquaria]

Here are the water garden stats:

Tank Size: L90cm x D60cm x H20cm (Fiberglass Tank)
Substrate: None

Filter System: None
Filter Media: None
Water Feature: Solar Pump
Temperature: 29-30°C (Day) / 25-26°C (Night)

Lighting: Natural Sunlight (Shaded Balcony)
Co2: None
Fertilizer: None
Fan/Chiller: None

Water Change Regime: 20% Weekly

Water Parameters:
Tested using API Freshwater Master Test Kit
pH = 6.8
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 0-5 ppm

Flora:
Hygrophila Difformis
Bacopa Caroliniana
Ludwigia Repens
Cyperus Haspan
Limnobium Laevigatum

Fauna:
Boraras Brigittae
Neocaridina Heteropoda

[Urban Aquaria]

I'm currently trying out a small solar powered pump which operates when there is sunlight (there is no battery storage capability in this model, but i may upgrade it soon).

As this solar panel didn't come with a mount, i just used an acrylic A4 stand to prop it up at the right angle to catch the sunlight, along with some clips to help secure the attached cord to the pump.



The solar pump is rated at 180 l/ph, but in reality the actual flow rate depends on the amount of sunlight that the solar panel receives. As the balcony is somewhat shaded, it only gets partial sunlight so the flow tends to be more of a trickle. Its still good enough to provide some gentle surface agitation and abit of ripple effect though, which helps reduce the buildup of surface film.

Here is an example of how it works in an overcast afternoon:



I've tried placing the solar panel under direct sunlight on a clear bright sunny day and the pump flows faster with more water height, but due to my balcony placement i can't mount it that far outside, so i'll just have to work with the lower water flow.

One factor that i noticed in an outdoor balcony pond setup is the much wider fluctuations in water temperature (compared to indoor tanks), in the day the water temperature averages around 29-30°C... but at night it can drop to as low as 25-26°C, which i guess is due to the direct exposure to much cooler outdoor temperatures.

[Urban Aquaria]

Plant-wise, i was expecting slow growth since there isn't any fertilization or Co2 injection... but it seems the combination of naturally fast growing pond/marginal plants and natural sunlight was enough to encourage surprisingly fast and healthy growth. An example is the Ludwigia Repens that i added recently, it took less than a week for the bunches to grow up and above the water line.



Here is a photo of Cyperus Haspan, most aquarium keepers buy these from shops and add them into their tanks because they like the unique look of it, but its actually a pond/marginal plant. These plants will naturally grow long stalks up to 3ft above the water and sprout emersed leaves and flowers.



Some of them have already begun to send up stalks in the above photo.

I'll probably add more varieties of plants in the water garden, and hopefully see them grow emersed forms and flower soon.

[Kiang]

Look great.

Any plans in case of heavy rain?


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[Urban Aquaria]

Look great.

Any plans in case of heavy rain?

Thanks!

The balcony is covered so it only gets exposed to abit of rain droplets/mist that happen to blow in... i monitored it over the few days when it was raining almost non-stop day and night, and the water level wasn't affected noticeably, i still had to top up water due to evaporation. I guess not filling it to the brim helps create abit of safety buffer too.

I guess if it was fully exposed to direct rainfall, then it would definitely be a good idea to have a small hole drilled under the top lip to act as an overflow outlet (probably have to cover it with fine mesh to prevent fishes and shrimps from finding their way out too).

[Kiang]

A very detail planning. 👍




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[AQMS]

UA,you can actually convert the solar pump to solar filter with a little bit of DIY.

[wongce]

UA, nice setup...but the pump looks funny...haha.. maybe you can mount the solar panel at the direction of the sun? It looks underpowered... good effort... maybe can keep some koi platy...hehe

[Suzerolt]

Very nice!

Do you anticipate algae issues?

[felix_fx2]

UA,you can actually convert the solar pump to solar filter with a little bit of DIY.

solar panels degrade and the output will drop.

I'm using the same unit outside. around 6 months feel the output degrade, its the panel cover getting old.

@urban, you can look at integrating riparium style into fgt planted on one of the side... You can recycle a plastic and just use a light to apply some heat to bend, much easier to bend then acrylic. Can consider using PVC bulkheads if your going to make a hole, easier to attach to pipe or direct water direction.

@wongce, it's confirm not catching enough solar energy.


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[AQMS]

solar panels degrade and the output will drop.

I'm using the same unit outside. around 6 months feel the output degrade, its the panel cover getting old.

I see, i think i have the same one but i use rechargeable Li-on lithium battrery pack to power it up
as a filter.

[bennyc]

Looks it is on wooden deck so i suggest as felix mention a pvc bulkhead connect is to a hose as a overflow insurance with the hose leading to a drain in your balcony. Wet wooden deck may cause problems in the future.

[thebaldingaquarist]

Very nice.. very nice.. I wish i had space for FGT now...

In the write up it mentions no substrate.. then the plants are just weighted down? it grows so well with it being weighted down?

one comment.. instead of a pump, can it just be rewired to an air pump and use it to power a foam filter (air pump powered).

[Urban Aquaria]

UA,you can actually convert the solar pump to solar filter with a little bit of DIY.

That a good idea... i checked out some examples of DIY ones made using just a plastic container with holes on the sides and the pump placed in the middle, then the rest of the space filled with sponge and bio-media. Not sure if its effective if the pump only works intermittently (based on daylight), but i guess some filtration is better than none. Looks quite simple to do anyways, so i might give it a try too.

UA, nice setup...but the pump looks funny...haha.. maybe you can mount the solar panel at the direction of the sun? It looks underpowered... good effort... maybe can keep some koi platy...hehe

Yeah, the pump is not operating at optimal power as the balcony area is shaded and at its current position the solar panel doesn't get much sun exposure (its also facing the north so only gets indirect sun)... i will need to mount the solar panel on a 6ft pole to stick it all the way out of the balcony in order to catch full sun light, which will most likely instantly get complaints from the other residents and the building management.

Koi platy fishes look really nice for container ponds, i was also tempted to get a few too... but at this moment with an unfiltered setup, i guess their bio-load would just add too much extra waste, so probably not adding them unless i have a good working filter to manage the extra bio-load.

Very nice!

Do you anticipate algae issues?

Definitely, an unfiltered pond setup is a super magnet for algae... so i'm hoping to reduce the growth of algae by situating it in a shaded area that only gets partial sunlight (not under direct sunlight as that will confirm grow algae very fast), filling it with fast growing plants so that they can soak up all the nutrients (without much circulation the entire tank needs to be packed full of plants to avoid pockets of accumulated excess nutrients, so i'm still in the on-going process of adding more plants), and making sure the bio-load is kept as low as possible (only a few tiny fishes to manage mosquito larvae and some shrimps to help clean the plants).

solar panels degrade and the output will drop.

I'm using the same unit outside. around 6 months feel the output degrade, its the panel cover getting old.

@urban, you can look at integrating riparium style into fgt planted on one of the side... You can recycle a plastic and just use a light to apply some heat to bend, much easier to bend then acrylic. Can consider using PVC bulkheads if your going to make a hole, easier to attach to pipe or direct water direction.

@wongce, it's confirm not catching enough solar energy.

Yeah, i'm expecting the solar panel to degrade over time too, hopefully it can at least last for a few months, luckily this model was relatively cheap at around S$14+ from eBay, so it doesn't cost too much to order another one to replace it if necessary. Might eventually order the more powerful versions to try out too.

Adding terrestrial plants using riparium-style containers is a good idea, i have a few suitable plastic shower cups with suction mounts which could be used to give it a try. I've seen some terrestrial plants at the plant nurseries which are labelled as "hydro-compatible", so good chance those could be used with LECA/Hydroton pellets in the mounted plastic cups too.

Looks it is on wooden deck so i suggest as felix mention a pvc bulkhead connect is to a hose as a overflow insurance with the hose leading to a drain in your balcony. Wet wooden deck may cause problems in the future.

True... although the outdoor balcony wooden decks are resistant to water, its better to mount a hose to channel water directly into the drain.

Very nice.. very nice.. I wish i had space for FGT now...

In the write up it mentions no substrate.. then the plants are just weighted down? it grows so well with it being weighted down?

one comment.. instead of a pump, can it just be rewired to an air pump and use it to power a foam filter (air pump powered).

Yes, the plants are just tied to wood pieces which acts as a natural base to weigh them down. Those plants that i use are all able to be grown without soil, they will adapt and grow different roots which take nutrients directly from the water column.

Interesting idea on re-wiring the solar panel to power an air pump instead, though i'll have to read up on how to DIY that. I've seen some solar powered air pumps available online too (usually designed for fishermen to keep their bait or catch alive in insulated boxes), might also order one to try out.

[AQMS]

That a good idea... i checked out some examples of DIY ones made using just a plastic container with holes on the sides and the pump placed in the middle, then the rest of the space filled with sponge and bio-media. Not sure if its effective if the pump only works intermittently (based on daylight), but i guess some filtration is better than none. Looks quite simple to do anyways, so i might give it a try too.

yes it is not effective but at least there is a filter. I have mine running for 6 hour daily on lithium battery.
here it is, hope this will give you some ideas for the filter.

[Aventador]

Tried a tank for spare plants at balcony to try. Algae bloom like crazy, despite situated at the least sunlight direct spot. Guppies and amano shrimp surviving well though.

[Suzerolt]

Think a 5W UV sterilizer might help mitigate the algae bloom.

[Urban Aquaria]

yes it is not effective but at least there is a filter. I have mine running for 6 hour daily on lithium battery.
here it is, hope this will give you some ideas for the filter.

Interesting design, is it positioned so that the pump draws water from the top and pushes it down through the sponges and bio-media, and then exit below?

Just curious, are you also using a solar panel to recharge your lithium battery? Or manually recharging the batteries separately?

Tried a tank for spare plants at balcony to try. Algae bloom like crazy, despite situated at the least sunlight direct spot. Guppies and amano shrimp surviving well though.

Our local sunlight is indeed powerful... did you use a glass tank or a tub tank for your balcony setup?

[felix_fx2]

Tried a tank for spare plants at balcony to try. Algae bloom like crazy, despite situated at the least sunlight direct spot. Guppies and amano shrimp surviving well though.

the key to solving is controlling how much sun gets thru.

via usage of floating plants, mesh net covers or oyama to restrict exposure to sun.

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