Atypical aquarium- Penjing (beautiful but deadly)
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- Today we take a look at my penjing which was installed in August of 2019. It uses an Ultum Nature System 60s, Titan 1 light, sera anthracite gravel and the sculpture is made of featherstone. It is currently planted with scraps of stuff I have collected, as well as ficus salicifolia.
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#aquarium #aquascaping #penjing 
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This tank has been the bane of my existence, but is suddenly doing ok! It is my partner's favorite, so I have labored on to make it something that is great in the fishroom. The mystery of why everything dies continues, but regardless, it is worthwhile to keep as a piece of art. What do you think?
Hey Rachel, just posting a comment that your hair looks awesome! Two thumbs up!
Thanks! I decided to go natural and have been cutting it myself lol. It has good days and not so good days, just like the rest of us
@@RachelOLeary Great Job!
👍😎 That’s cool, thought so when n he made it. I’m not the person for plant advice. What about in or on the pump. Glue, grease, funky plastic I don’t know, something along the water’s travel? … It looks good now, “if it works, don’t 🖖
I do love the tank!
There's always that one tank that kills everything it touches, maybe it's something the stone itself was exposed to along its journey from nature to the tank, maybe something like heavy metals or car exhaust, maybe something that got inside it during carving.
It does look exceptional though 👌
That rock could have contaminants. I've seen eruptions where the composition and thickness changed over time.
Loving that you have added the ferns, love the texture of their leaves, definitely looking great.
Makes me super happy to see you looking happy in your fish room again. 😊
It was an uphill climb!
If you have a bonsai shop near you, I definitely recommend putting a Port Jackson Fig on the rock. They take really well to the “root over rock” technique that you are doing with the Ficus, and would really suit the Asian theme of Penjing. There was many of these setups with fish and no filtration when I was travelling Vietnam and they were unlike anything I had ever seen before!
North American resurrection fern, walking fern, and black stemmed maiden hair fern. The ficus wants muck to grow better. Muck is a clay sphagnum moss mix used by bonsai artists creating rock mounts. Plant the muck in a drier area of the rock and water once the top surface dries slightly. Or scrap the ficus and try begonias. You can attach all these plants with JB weld and a thin piece of stainless steel wire or a zip tie. Azaleas can be bonsai on a rock too.
my first impression was that salts are seeping out of the rock and in to the water... but the plants seem to be doing okay. the other thought would be lead or arsenic, so i wouldn't taste the water for saltiness. hehe
it's looking great, though! love how the moss creeps into the cracks.
love it
What a stunning piece of living art. Most things that are worth a damn' require a lot of love and attention. Look what you made happen by continuing to see its worth and beauty while putting in the work! So cool
You LOOK AMAZING! You seemed to almost give up at some point
.. so glad you didnt. It looks amazing
It has been the hardest few years of life. Ended marriage, covid, kids going to college. Just getting back into my groove
@@RachelOLeary the universe moves in waves.. up and down and up and down.. it's all about enduring the down,and enjoy every moment of the up.
@@DRaquascapes agreed! Ans knowing when to not fight the tide
@@RachelOLeary it sais you no longer accept friend requests on fb... I tried anyway lol
YAY ! Your back ! and looking great !! I can't believe its been 2 years since you got the penjing .
Man, I remember when you first got this! And those little crabs! What a wild ride it's been.
You could try using a willow as the bonsai. They love water and they root pretty easily from cuttings
I am new to the hobby and like all your informative videos on fishkeeping. Just wondering if you are okay, because I haven't seen new posts for a while. Hope you are doing good! I appreciate you!
Maybe the pumice stone is allowing for many of the heavy minerals attach to the inside and build up inside of the pumice. Making it like a big mineral stone to leach the mineral back into the water as it flows over.
The way you deliver your knowledge and experience is like no other Rachel.
Oh no the ficus! Hope they turn around before you take them off! What an incredible piece of art.
I remember when you got it, and even though you had issues, it's come through being a beautiful piece.
So beautiful!
I have been building fountains out of feather rock for about eighteen years and most plants and even mosses eventually die. I believe the reason for this is the high silica content in the stone. If you run water over the rock for any length of time you get heavy silica deposits. By Soaking the rock in water for a few months and doing water changes help significantly. That may be why your penjing is finally doing better
So I am puzzled over the inability to keep livestock in the aquarium. So I watched and thought, my gears turning. The one thing that I focused on was the Ficus plants. Now not knowing the species of the ficus plant used, Going back to my Emergency Veterinarian Clinic days ( the night shift ) we would often see cats that had eaten ornamental plants and flowers, like Lily plants and cat poisoning. My best guess here after some thought, was the only thing that stuck out in my mind was the FICUS tree.
Ficus is toxic to cats, and so that got me thinking...what is happening with this Penjing. I am not saying that this is the answer...but it might give you a clue.
Ficus trees contain Ficin which is an enzyme present in the sap of the plant. This may be the cause of the deaths of the inverts and fish that were put into the aquarium. If you are NOT attached to the ficus trees within that display...
I would...and just a suggestion. Pull out the Ficus trees, 100% water change, add your favorite product - PolyFilter, activated carbon might remove the enzymes...not sure...then perhaps try some "pest snails" and see what happens, after a given period of time and the frequent water changes. But I am sure with it being exposed like it is the evaporation, especially this time of year is pretty significant...I wouldn't just top off I would water change it.
RUclips truncated my message... LOL... anyway, after a month of two of frequent water changes, and upon removal of the ficus tree(s), add some snails and see what happens.
Its a thought! They are salicifolia. Something to research, thanks!
Yeah this is an interesting proposition, a lot of terrestrial and epiphitic plants have these kinds of properties
I can't believe its been two years already! It looks great! I hope this comment doesn't annoy you, and I know you have talked in other videos about how little of a F you give about pronunciation, but just in case you're interested, in Chinese it's pronounced more like pen-jiung than pen jang....Im not 100% sure about the intonation off the top of my head. But I think it's: pen, first tone (flat), jing fourth tone (down). Anyway, I married into a Chinese family and lived there for years. I love Penjing and thought I'd share. Much love!
I appreciate it!
well i happy she know about penjing , which is the original inspiration to bonsai
I try!! I never had heard it pronounced and Google only goes so far. I always appreciate such helpful constructive advice presented in a manner that is truly useful
It’s stunning.
Very nice miniature nature to stare at specially nowadays.
I love that you kept at it. Was so excited to see this vid is an update on the pinjang.
It has matured so nicely!! 👍
I've done Similar work as tabletop fountains, some with caves, some Asian influence, but a fun project to do. Feather stone is an interesting rock to work with and it does take time to get it right. I've never used sphagnum moss with any of the units I've done. Sometimes rock yards do spray for pest control I learned over time. Plus I always used R/O water or distilled with my units, and recommend it's use for those I've built them for, plants and critters seem to do better. Thanks for the informative update Rachel, glad to have you back on more often. 🎄☃️
Hi Rachel, haven't seen you in months since I'm not fooling around my pond in the colder weather. I like your new hairdo. You look great and I'm glad you're doing well. BTW, the penjing is beautiful. Never heard of them.
Wooow looks so great now!
Such a unique piece to have at home. Thank you so much for sharing!
So beautiful 😍
It looks really good. Always love the fishroom updates
A beautiful changing, evolving art piece 💚💚💙💙
Happy to see you again! It looks beautiful... Specially the mosses.
May I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and Thankyou for all your videos over the past year... xxx
It is just such a unique piece of aquatic art. I hope you figure out what plants will thrive on it. It looks so amazing. I was really drop jawed when you first got it, and I'm just as drop jawed today.
👍❤👍
Glad to see you doing well. Keep living your best life. We'll be here for you as always. Blessings.
i have seen pictures of some sweet tiny orchids that might do well on that rock
There are many types of miniature and compact orchids that would work, but need to use R/O water or distilled.
you look gorgeous these days OMG. so happy for you. welcome back!!
Love that Penjing, not sure I'll ever make one but wow it's beautiful 😍
Great video. I appreciate the things that go wrong, and what you did about them, even if they haven't been resolved yet. I find such things far more educational and interesting and, dare I say it, more valuable as content.
Use floating plants in the aquarium part, for some reason those are my easy fix for things i don’t understand in my aquariums. By the way you’re looking great now, keep doing what you’re doing!
Charming 👍
Very nice 👍🏽
The tank looks VERY nice! YOU look GREAT too!!!
Thanks!
Wow I didn't recognize you, you're looking great! Hope all is well with you and yours. Happy holidays 😁
I’d love to see club moss, we saw some fan club moss while hiking in southern Ohio and it was gorgeous. I was surprised to find out it was a moss when we identified it.
I love this project, I thought it would be an easy environment to maintain other than keeping it moist enough for the plants. I have terrariums and use a misting system. In one of my terrariums I have a pumice stone background and plants love to grow on it. This terrarium is designed for dart frogs and many people use pumice stone also know as featherlite with no problems. The only reason I mentioned this is that frogs are extremely sensitive to many chemicals since they absorb water through their skin. I was really interested in seeing your test results. Great video !!! Love your content
I wish I could get a stone this big. It looks amazing and I would love to do something similar. I remember this project from one of your older videos. Always wondered how it was developing. Well now I know.
Thank you so much for this I enjoyed listening to you I think your voice is absolutely fantastic it’s nice to listen to. I have to say that that is a very unique piece of art as well as being a living thing.
I wonder why nothing will live in the water? I’m sure eventually you will figure it out. Have a nice day Rachel it was good seeing you again
Rachael, you should try a micro orchid on it. Not sure if it would be too damp for those but worth a try.
Great!!!!!
The penjing is hanging in there, glad to see you are too. The ferns & moss looks great and more natural than some of the others plants did. As the saying goes (kind of), sometimes life gives you lemons, sometimes it dumps a whole grove on you. Things will come back together in time. The fishroom is looking good. I like the openness of it; it makes it more peaceful and relaxing.
"Partner or boyfriend or whatever you wanna call him" LOL I feel like if he heard that, he would just turn and stare at you.
Most likely lol. Let's stick with partner in crime
@@RachelOLeary I feel he'd be cool with that... he knows how awesome you are.
What an interesting update on this unique tank! I think all your hard work has paid off, it looks better now than it ever did. I am curious as to why nothing is able to live in the tank part though. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for the new video.
You look great. ❤️
You’re the only person I know that regularly uses the word “bonkers” 😆
Love your hair! The colors are great, but I also love the waves!
Thanks. It's the first time it's been fully natural in my adult life lol
@@RachelOLeary the aquarium is also awesome, and something to aspire to. I currently have a toddler, so pretty much everything else in life is on hold...
Thanks for the update, it looks great but what a mystery with the fact that nothing can liv in it... hope you get to the bottom of it!
Nice to see you back but as always make sure real life comes first, stay safe and healthy!
nice
Thanks for the update, this penjing is really quite fabulous.
Invertebrates can be just really weird sometimes. I have a little 2.5 gallon that I used to have a nice healthy scud colony in, but then they all died off for no discernable reason and I couldn't keep ANY inverts alive in there for awhile, not even bladder snails.
Recently though I tried re-adding the snails and they're just doing great, so I'm stumped. Maybe you might have better luck with shrimp again now that its had time to stabilize?
For additions to the penjing, you could try some smaller species of cloud forest orchids. I have a pleurothalis growing emersed in several spots in my tanks that do really well in the perpetual high humidity environment created by emersed mosses.
Looks amazing!!! I think a selaginella like selaginella uncinata, hymenasplenium obscurum, Blechnum Obtusatum, Bolbitis, biophytum sensitivum, and that tissue culture bromeliad that you can get from petco may fare well and look good.
The scape looks great! That does sound like a lot of work though. I've got a Plumosa asparagus fern and an arrowhead plant (Syngonium podophyllum) growing immersed out of shallow bowl. They seem to do pretty good there and might also do well on that rock. I would especially condsider the Plumosa fern, or any other micro fern, they keep the small scale of the scape making it appear like a mountain.
Iv never heard of this. I'm ganna have to do some research because iv had an idea bouncing around in my tiny brain just like this but I couldn't fully visualize it till now. Thank you
Tag me if you make something similar!
Since featherstone is vulcanic it could be sulphur. I would send a sample to a lab for a detailed analysis.
Btw heavy metals usually cause neurological symptoms like shaking and twitching.
Woah weird. Wonder what’s going on… still great design by Kevin though. Thanks for the update!
any Marcgravia would work and look good, very common is vivarium so you should have an easy time gettin them
What was the rock glued with and to? I wonder if some sort of padding or filler was added around the base, maybe some mineral enriched rock was blended as a filler for the glued base, or maybe it is bolted with some type of galvanized metal or something. It is pretty without creatures in it though!
Big fan of your personality from pakistan 😍😍😍
One plant which may do well on the stone is _Utricularia sandersonii,_ a type of bladderwort. It would nestle in among the moss and flower with cute little "bunny head" flowers. :-) Be aware, though, that once introduced they're very hard to get rid of short of scrubbing the rock clean. Another (carnivorous) plant which comes to mind is _Pinguicula_ species. Many of them grow in "seep zones" where the groundwater is flowing down a cliff face so they seem like a good fit for the penjing.
I don't understand to much about this, but it looks great, and I think that your going to get there if you don't give up, keep going and good luck, make another video later for us.
Josh's frog have great dealson mixed fern packs of 5 different types of ferns. grab threr four of them to add 14-20 new different ferns.
Isopods and springtails being added continually may help. Throw on some oak leaf creeping fig. Have you tried reaching out to Tanner? I feel like he'd know exactly what would fit. I'm so
Would eventually love a tank by tank walkthrough of the fish room, showing each tank and why you chose to keep it or it’s inhabitants, and why. Glad to see you. If I lived closer, I’d inquire about emperor tetras, white clouds and Thai micro crabs. Sadly, WA state is a bit too far 😕
It really looks beautiful. What a pity that nothing lives in it. I'm especially surprised that the endlers don't survive either, those critters are so strong. Did you notice anything special about them before they passed away? Since you have so much experience, I assume that it is not a standard problem with water quality. The most logical seems to me that it is something with the stone. I know that lava rock is considered safe but there are always exceptions to the rule and aquariums normally do not have the rock to water ratio that this aquarium has. The fact that the TDS is so high also indicates that something in the aquarium is releasing something into the water. Perhaps the stone was treated with something before it came to you or was accidentally exposed to something (exhaust fumes or located in polluted water perhaps?). It is also possible that the lava has encased another rock that is now in the lava rock and may be harmful. One thing that came to my mind is the fact that volcanoes emit a lot of arsenic. You may be unlucky that this rock contains a lot of arsenic (or minerals that contain a lot of arsenic that ends up in the water due to weathering of these minerals). Arsenic you can test, there are test kits for sale online. I'm afraid that the only other way to find out is to have your water professionally tested for a variety of chemicals. I would be careful with the water just to be safe and not throw it over your vegetable garden or let your cat drink from your bucket for example. Better safe than sorry if all the animals don't survive contact with this water.
The Ficus may be struggling because they are not adapted to having their roots constantly in water. If you pot them and place them among your other house plants, they might do much better.
yea, i have a ficus bonsai my daughter made about 5 years ago. I think I am going to pull these to do that with as well.
I wonder if you can find some miniature orchids for the penjing. They would give you bloom color and since there is so much warm water in the room your humidity level should be pretty high. I get mine from Andy's Orchids. Most of the miniatures flower in a subtle natural way.
Looks beautiful at this point. Congrats in this amazing living artwork! I would lose the Ficus. I was going to suggest a plant but can't remember the name, oh well, getting old.
Orchids sometimes like these "living rocks" you can try a cheaper one from Josh's Frogs. Although they typically like a lower tds
The cuttings from my orchids I sent Rachel will adapt to growing on rock. 👍
The dowel holding the stone upright might have been treated, causing harmful toxins to be released. Either that or it could be the plaster/epoxy that he used as the base.
The sculpture is really interesting that is for sure.R.,don't you have one of those water testing disc thingys?Yeah ,I know really teckie speak,huh.I am mainly a salt so I do not have that kind of a testing device.Thought I saw you use one in Montana/Wyoming?There must be plants that can filter the chemicals out? Great video.Merry Christmas out to all. Doc BC
This is refreshing to see, I’ve missed seeing your videos! If anyone can figure out what’s going on with this setup, you will! Do you think some forest fern would do well on the stone? Or some lichens? No idea what it can do with the water, but it would look very forest like. Stay safe Rachel! ❤️❤️❤️
You too!
There was ORBT shrimp too!
Yea. Nothing has survived it
Is it possible for the feather stone to have pockets of sediment in it? The way dragon stone sometimes has dirt trapped in it?
Yeah somethin weird is going on with that rock, pretty as the rock may be. It's a real mystery for sure!!!
Soleirolia soleirolii would be pretty
Great video again! From an older video,,, How much is the water testing machine cost and where can I get one? Great knowledge and learning experience with you.
👍
I'm wondering if possibly the rock was contaminated with something thats caused a lot of the issues.
This idea probably won’t fit in with the concept, but what about adding floating plants for a while? You didn’t mention any other test results like pH, KH, etc. that would be an interesting follow up. Glad to see you healthy and happy!
What about sulphur? If the stone is volcanic in nature, might it not contain at least small amounts of sulphur, chlorine, and fluorine?
Just a thought.
Great content as always!
could the plaster weilding process, plate or tube installed be causing the TDS to increase?
hmmm dont pull the branch , tied some air plants to it , never heard of featherstone , but if crabs/shrimp die , could be the water has high ph? leeching limestone , maybe shellies do well in it, a penjing has ornaments figurine to add , dont forget the iconic long beard chinese fishing man , lol
i suggest begonias/bulbophyllums
One time I was not so smart and decided to sanitize some lava rock with a bleach water or maybe white vinegar (can't remember it was so long ago). I thoroughly rinsed the rock after. But I added it to a tank of mosses I was trying to farm and the trace amounts of bleach or vinegar that was left behind completely killed off the mosses. Just shows how porous rock can and will absorb anything. Thats why I don't like the idea of those stone dish drying "mats" or stone bath mats.
What did you say the feather stone was attached to for support?
Could that be the cause?
Its a plastic dowel. I am suspicious of thr cement used but I know it's been in a lot of other projects without issue
Could it be the rebar used for stability causing some weird issue? Doubtful but might it be degrading already, that would raise your tds I would think.
It was a plastic dowel, I am more suspicious of the cement used to weld the plastics
I'm suspicious of the stone leaching as the plants and water eroding channels and pits into it
Loooove your hair.
Grey is the new blonde 🤣
@@RachelOLeary Woohoo, I'm now a Blonde!!! 🤣 🎄
Salvina Minima for the tank section? Would help drop the TDS
Because I'm so far behind, I guess I can ask, now that two weeks have passed since you posted this, have you made any headway on determining why the count was so high?
I havent. I had a major car accident 2 days after Xmas and was in the hospital. Home now but it's slow going
@@RachelOLeary Oh my!!! Bumps and bruises, or more serious than that? I'm guessing more serious if you were admitted into the hospital. Very scary! I'm glad you're home though. Positive vibes and healing thoughts for steady progress on your way to a full recovery 🙏
I would be curious how PH is doing over time. The inhabitants may have been victims of a PH crashing effect .
I love this and might try it with a dragon stone .
Check out serpadesign sure ull get an idea what plants to use
Tanner and I swap plants from time to time. Well aware of his work.
@@RachelOLeary thats awesome his skill is crazy lol I call it patience 😉 wish I could find someone in Ontario that does it..but fish ant that big here especially were iam
@@RachelOLeary thats awesome his skill is crazy lol I call it patience 😉 wish I could find someone in Ontario that does it..but fish ant that big here especially were iam
Watching this video, ruling out the stone, the “cement” MUST be the problem child! Leachants from the central post cement….
I think the ficus may be toxic
I can see the ficus possibly secreting acids to break down the rock, but.. to get 100 ppm in a few hours, that’s like a 3 gram addition of powdered egg shell in that volume of water, it is perplexing to say the least..
@@njvikings1 if your topping off all your doing is leaving the heavy metals behind. Then when fresh water is added it’s more tds. Ro water should be mixed in on water top offs if you want to keep the tds low. I’m sure Rachel has probably already taken this into account but if your tds is rising like
@@tentyme1 I had to watch 2X, I don’t recall here taking water out, but “if” she had (or does on a regular basis) then tds would be relatively stable or close to her tap water solids. I myself trim plants, and use the plants as my “toxic sponge”.
@@njvikings1 even if it’s just water changes there is still evaporation and over time will still just build up. My tds is over 700 so I have to battle it all the time. She also said she was on a well and it’s possible that her normal tds is in that 80-100 range but maybe her well got on a lil lower side where more of the heavy metals sit and thus is just a one off thing.