Hanging Gardens

[Sirkus]

Hey everyone, been a while since ive been on but my ideas havent stopped.

Not so long ago, i moved my tank and decided that i didnt want the water level quite so high, so its now about less than 2/3 full, just above my current eye level where im sitting now.

With all the space above the water i felt i needed to make use of it, so i built up the wood work and plants and started to grow my anubias out of the water. this still wasnt enough though, the tank looked so bare. on a parents recent trip to a good old swedish furniture company, my mam had some hessian satchels about the size of those little brown bags you used to get fruit in, and they seemed ideal for hangin in the tank. cutting out the rest of the boring bits of tinkering away at where to put em and what to fill em with i decided to get some moss which i stuffed in and poked some Bacopa through which had already been growing aerially in another tank and hey presto, hanging gardens!

ATM its only been setup less than a fortnight but its looking good, with the bags just dipping into the water the moss absorbs so much, even the moss near the top is quite moist!

Il have pics up soon to show what i mean, unfortunately though, i only have a current pic.

Kris

[Matt]

Sounds very cool Kris. I’m just in the process of making some water-tight containers to go in my mudskipper tank. I fancy I’ll be able to grow some bog plants in there if I can keep the salty water out

#304217

[Sirkus]

I came back yesterday after being in Yorkshire for a party and found that the hessian had fallen apart, i didnt expect it to last too long but thought that it would last alot longer than 2 weeks! im now trying to think of another material to make the mesh, i can only think of either the plastic for oranges or prawn netting. while the hessian bags were in the tank, they looked really good i just wish i had taken a decent photo, il have a look through my photos just in case i did though.

[Matt]

I used to use old tights to hold peat and similar, that might work mate

#304219

[Sirkus]

Aye that might work, the only problem is, with tights, the holes are too small, with the sera thing, the same but i think theyr also white? i can get a hold of shrimp netting either from down the fish quay/dove marine lab cullercoats or on ebay so it shouldnt be too bad. i think if i manage to do it well then it could look like discarded netting in a river or something, weel see though.

Just a quick observation on the hessian before i put moss in it, i noticed that there were babies hiding in the mess so i think i may make a bit where its got no plants in or is without moss so that they can hide. oooo im all excited again now!

[dunc]

Kris this sounds immense man, get some pics up ASAP!

#304221

[Sirkus]

Its not that big, just a couple of small sections of prawn netting fashioned into a cradle or something, hopefully it will look alright. il keep you all upto date with what happens.

[Sirkus]

Hey all,

Ive managed to get some pics of the hanging gardens now, i have no idea what on of the plants is, its grown from the moss that was there, theres indian fern and bacopa in the hamocs. i think i need more filling media to bulk out the hamocs, it needs to be absorbant and bulky, i tried moss but it just rots down quickly, and soil wont work, any suggestions.

Kris

Attached files

[Author]

Posts