Bonsai tank attempt?

[shihr]

ok, so i had this outside tank setup months ago..

since it was an experiment tank, i did some experiments :P added redjasper substrate with underlaying garden soil..no lights, no ferts, no filter, no heater..

all i had in there was JAVA moss that i had no place for and some javafern on wood that i didn know what to do as well..some snails snuck over during the move.. weird how they survived joburg winter.. anyways.. i didnt know what to do with this tank.. so i just left it to do its own thing..

then recently, my bonsai of 3yrs died on me during winter :'( was actually neglect on my part..

anyways, since the tree was all dried out for months now, i decided to let it live on in some other way :P

i put it in my pond and it sank to the bottom.. so i left it there for about 3 wks..

well this is what i did.. i dont know what will happen to this wood.. only time will tell..

anyways, tell me what u think..

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_BTL79kYryqc/TISkD_DVB1I/AAAAAAAAAOc/P2DsGj58ur4/s640/040920102281.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_BTL79kYryqc/TISkDB2ts1I/AAAAAAAAAOY/le4KDRScTB8/s512/040920102284.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_BTL79kYryqc/TISkAzqYb7I/AAAAAAAAAOM/FSaC6FOmg_g/s640/050920102293.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_BTL79kYryqc/TISkAKOp6iI/AAAAAAAAAOI/Xe9Mopy9w4g/s640/050920102296.jpg

also, the water is pretty clear untill i move anything around, do a water change.. etc..

u guys think i should put in a mini filter and remove the sludge? or let it be? also, i got a small glosso in there to see if it'll do anything.. if not, ima try some star grass etc..if the ground cover takes over, im sure it'll 'burry the mud'?

[TroyFish]

Its a good idea. Nice way to 'revive' your bonsai:bigsmile:

[shihr]

ok so after a few months, its starting to clear a bit..
rem, it has no heater, filter or lights..
has some inverts..

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_BTL79kYryqc/TM1wczefpOI/AAAAAAAAAZk/_qugms4BWhQ/s800/301020102367.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_BTL79kYryqc/TM1whC6xbVI/AAAAAAAAAZo/R137eUY6mxY/s800/301020102368.jpg

wish i could take a better photo.. the water still too merky.. but my bonsai actually looks really good! java fern not so much though as i read from reading up some comments, java fern needs adequite flow arround the leaves..

i also added some stargrass and glosso which are both spreading:)

[Donny]

Looks interesting :) ... good going. Put a corner box filter in just a for a day or two to clear the water to get some decent pics.

[f-fish]

Like the idea - I agree with donno some sort of filtration just to remove the haze ... if you have a small HOB with loads of filter floss that should clear it in no time. I am starting to believe that the natural sun thing for a tank is way better than all the synthetic light we try adding all the time esp a heavily planted tank. Now what would be cool is a rotating tank .. so that the plants grown all around and not just toward the window / sun. I can picture it now .. putting Lucky 13 a 4ft on a turntable.

Later Ferdie

[shihr]

wel, this tank gets sun infront in the morn and at the back at sun set..its siting on my patio..had a algae out brk a while ago (expected), but the plants and inverts balanced things out..i wanted to wait it out to see if the merkiness wil clear itself out but ya,i think i'll clear it out nex time..

[Whipme]

The Java Tree is looking very cool, but I'm interested in your temperatures in the tank. Have you monitored them at all?

[shihr]

The Java Tree is looking very cool, but I'm interested in your temperatures in the tank. Have you monitored them at all?

nope.. but im guessin it rarely drops below 18 degs since its summer.. i'll take some measurements during this wk.. but the java moss seems to be doing well as its much cooler outside without a heater compared to in my tank where its a constant 24ish degs..