My Little Water Garden

[Amathos]

how did you get the moss to get on the pot.

[ermah]

@Amathos, the trick to this is that the pot is actually lined with many tiny fine cracks so that water is constantly leaking out onto the surface. This creates a great environment for moss to grow. Unfortunately, the cracks grew too large and after I sealed them the lack of water on the surface caused the moss to go away.

[Amathos]

@ermah Oh i c- so constant moisture is needed and a crack on the pot lol. got it. thanks.

[WhiteWillowSage]

that is...just lovely however i wish you did a step by step one.

[hauntee]

liked your video layout..it made me laugh at the dead fish part ;) good job!

[Suzieqpel]

Its just lovely, I also made a small pond and garden in my back patio... very relaxing

[hongster76]

i love ur pot with moss, its wonderful.

wish u'd hide the hose where the water flows out.

if u can get ur hands on a old granite grinding stone with a spout (for grinding things into paste), it will fit perfectly where ur spout is

[ermah]

@hongster76, thanks for the tip. The plants have grown so much now though, you can hardly see the spout.

[N8mont4]

can the water plants be planted in soil or do they need to be in water?

[ermah]

The plants I have in the container can be planted in soil and actually do very well in the dirt. In the water, their roots just grow out in thick mats which makes for a good filtration system to remove nitrates from the water.

[N8mont4]

thanks a lot! i'll plant them around my pond.

[kickflipinyaface]

@ermah how did you get into making little ecosystems?

[hongster76]

depends, most need earth. all need earth to thrive

[rabrough2]

Beautiful.. you have a natural talent!! I have tried several times to do this.. but it always looks like someone just threw rocks and stuff together. Yours melds..blends and looks natural. Have you thought of lettuce.. this is a natural hydroponics setup!

[ermah]

Thanks for the compliment. In all honesty, nature is to get credit for any "natural" look because I really did nothing in terms of shaping this. Actually, I think it came together nicely precisely because I hardly intervene. Aside for feeding the fish and pruning the plants back every three or four months, I just let it grow and develop naturally. Good luck on your water garden. Next time, try letting things run it's own course. You might be surprised at how things turn out!

[emforty2]

thats awesome man!

[ermah]

Thanks. The plants have grown wild and it looks more like a jungle than a water garden. :-)

[ci6n1]

Beautiful container pond. I love the moss. I got some moss growing on my pond but nothing like that. Great job!

[ravenyikimy9911]

An amazing find with that pot with the moss! I wounder how I could encourage the moss to grow on a few terracotta pots I have... Off to google it!

[ermah]

The pot originally did not have all that moss on it. About a month after I made the fountain, it seemed like I had to keep refilling the pot with water about once a week whereas before once a month would do. I later discovered a bunch of hairline fractures in the pot. I think having a bunch of moisture leaking out lead to the tremendous growth in moss.

[Escagedo3rd]

Awesome work, I love it!

[thesoundinwind]

you are good!

[sussiline]

A very nice arrangement with plants and fish! Do you move your fish indoors for winter or you live in warmer climate where you can keep them outside year round? I definitely want to arrange something like what you have there next spring.

[ermah]

I keep the fish outdoors year round. I live in Taipei, so it doesn't get below freezing though it can dip into high 40s sometimes in winter. Aside from feeding the fish every day and adding water when it gets low, I do very little maintenance on the fountain. Nature finds a balance after a time and things (plant growth, fish waste) balance themselves out. Thanks for the comment and good luck with your own fountain.

[8stepsifu]

well done. I've done the same thing, minus the fountain. The fish barely need to be fed and are growing quickly. Must be eating something I can't see. have your lilies bloomed?

[AuronWarrior]

I love it.

[tonyluvsplanes]

good job, the fish are looking good, pretty nice

[pavaqlco]

Great!! so cosy! I would like to be one of those fishes..

[FatJan]

Creative! I love it!

[ur4ever1]

I love your water garden! You did an awesome job, now if you could just mail it to me...hehe. :P

Thanks for sharing!

[zvapaila]

Wonderful, good job!Thank you Ermah!

[nhocazn]

lol that is cool really awesome, how big is that i mean how much gallon it contains? Those goldfish right? just be sure to give it plenty of space. It's nic and very beautiful. "bravo!" and your voice sound cute hahahahahaa

[ermah]

I didn't measure the amount of water that went into this, but I'd estimate that there is around 10-15 gallons of water in it. I'm not exactly sure what kind of fish they are. I just bought the cheapest fish at a local fish store. I think they're breed to feed other fish though. =-| They were pretty small to begin with but have gotten pretty huge.

[nhocazn]

that look bigger than 15 gallon but not sure, if you say feeder goldfish and by the way they look it's most likely goldfish.

[aznfoodyumm]

hey! cool! u inspired me to make one myself! how much did the water pump cost? was it hard to install? and where did u get it at?

[ermah]

Thanks for the comment. Glad you liked it. I bought an aquarium water pump at a pet store for under US$10. It pumps something like 600L/hr. I have more detailed write up of this project on my website under the "projects" section if you want to read more about it.

[rherb27]

Really nice!

[parkguy505]

Cool!

[fetteclan]

Excellent! Very beautiful. Yet, I find the sound makes me need to go to the restroom!

[antoruiz2006]

Great Job!

[jasonacevedo00]

how big is that?

[ermah]

The lower urn is about two feet in diameter and about nine inches deep, while the mid-level container is about 1 1/2 feet in diameter and also about nine inches deep. Not too big.