Please refer to Page 1 for the Table of Contents for this entire blog.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Edited October 15, 20188 yr by kstoh

On 3/27/2018 at 9:48 AM, kstoh said:

For some reason, I lost the ability to edit the TABLE OF CONTENTS page on page 1. So, I am going to start a second part here.

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A

TABLE OF CONTENTS PART B

 

Thank you for your generous sharing! I am still learning lots from going through your blog. Just a question, how are your two ponds doing? What kind of maintenance work do you need for these two ponds?

On 29/03/2018 at 1:34 PM, EastHomer88 said:

Thank you for your generous sharing! I am still learning lots from going through your blog. Just a question, how are your two ponds doing? What kind of maintenance work do you need for these two ponds?

5 years on, my two ponds are still doing fine. The inner pond has been clear from day one. The outer pond had some bad days in the beginning but these days it is ok. Just some days not so clear but it will become clear after a while.

Every 1 to 2 weeks, I add some bio enzyme to keep the "good bacteria" in the under gravel filtration working. Every half a year or so, when I remember, I will flush out the dirty water under the gravel. There is a discharge pipe outlet. I just connect a water pump to this outlet and pump out the dirty water. But the water usually appears to be not dirty.

Other than the above, no maintenance is required. I think easier than maintaining a fish tank.

 

8 hours ago, kstoh said:

5 years on, my two ponds are still doing fine. The inner pond has been clear from day one. The outer pond had some bad days in the beginning but these days it is ok. Just some days not so clear but it will become clear after a while.

Every 1 to 2 weeks, I add some bio enzyme to keep the "good bacteria" in the under gravel filtration working. Every half a year or so, when I remember, I will flush out the dirty water under the gravel. There is a discharge pipe outlet. I just connect a water pump to this outlet and pump out the dirty water. But the water usually appears to be not dirty.

Other than the above, no maintenance is required. I think easier than maintaining a fish tank.

 

Thank you for sharing! May I know who is your koi pond contractor?

The company that did my koi ponds were Phyto Water Arts but they seem to have closed down. So much for their warranty that the water will be "lifetime" crystal clear. But I still have the contact number of the sales guy. He says can call him. I will PM you his number.

At one time when I redid my front pond, the contractor that came was from ZL 22 Pool Pte Ltd. Maybe they are the subcontractor. I will also PM you their number.

Thank you!

So I mentioned earlier that I was going to DIY a Vertical Garden myself. I finally did it. Not under 10% of the quoted cost but still not too bad, under 15% of the quoted cost.

Instead of posting lots of pictures, I will post a video.

P.S. After this video was shot, I added a U shaped drain at the bottom to drain away the water to the left. I used an aircon duct casing, spray painted it black and inverted it!

Edited October 8, 20188 yr by kstoh

Amazing blog and journey, I hope to learn more and use it on my own journey. Thumbs up and I hope you keep updating it..

Will you have done anything differently?

You said it's mainly reno, so no permits needed or did you touch the roof (might have missed that)? 

Nice info on the ladders, internet in the home and how to deal with contractors and workers  

8 hours ago, petetherock said:

Amazing blog and journey, I hope to learn more and use it on my own journey. Thumbs up and I hope you keep updating it..

Will you have done anything differently?

You said it's mainly reno, so no permits needed or did you touch the roof (might have missed that)? 

Nice info on the ladders, internet in the home and how to deal with contractors and workers  

Thanks for dropping by. I have not been updating this blog for some time.

Some things I am very happy with, like my vertical gardens and koi ponds. Some others like my Silestone counter-tops, they have all turned off white. I also wished I had more than one network point to each room, and more water points everywhere. I did only A&A, never touched anything structural. My roof is an open roof terrace. I merely changed some of the timber decking. There is a small roof where the staircase goes up, but I never touched that roof.

p.s. I am surprised that the photos on my first few pages are still showing. I thought Photobucket already pulled the plug because I refused to pay?

Edited October 8, 20188 yr by kstoh

*Deleted because duplicate post*

Edited October 14, 20188 yr by kstoh

BTW did you solve your algae issue?
I use a Ehiem 3400 pump (two actually) and the water has been clear in my 1.5 X 2m pond..

Oh, not sure if I solved the problem but for the past 2 years, I have not been hit by the same problem. Not sure if it is because I put bio-enzyme every two weeks or so. Or because I managed to grow some duckweed on top. But this is referring to my smaller front pond. It is very clear in the morning but gets a little cloudy in the afternoon. My bigger pond inside - has been very clear from day one. No problem at all. Never changed water. But that pond receives rain water and run off water from my vertical garden. So, in a way, the water is circulated a little.

Edited October 14, 20188 yr by kstoh

Xiaomi Roborock (Mi Robot Generation 2)

Few months back, I came home from a run to find my Mi Robot (Generation 1) overboard in the water!

The robot has drop sensors and should never go off the edge, so I have no idea how it happened. For some reason, security camera at the vicinity failed to record the event. However, a suspect, the iRobot Braava 380t robot mop was spotted nearby stranded at the edge of my pond. My helper had set both the Mi Robot vacuum and iRobot Braava 380t mop to work at the same and it seems they may have collided. Or could it have been the work of the iRobot? I sent the robot to the RobotCare Centre but due to water damage, it was beyond repair.

Which meant I had to buy another robot vacuum. By this time, Xiaomi has already released their Generation 2 robot, the Roborock, which has both vacuum and mop function. It is really, really good. I highly recommend it.

 

The following information for anyone interested in the Xiaomi Robot Vacuum Cleaner & Mop. The best is the Roborock, which is Generation 2.

4 Versions of Xiaomi Robot Vaccum Cleaners & Mop

1. Mi Robot (Mijia)
Highly rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner with Laser Mapping & Intelligent Route Planning. No Mopping. This is my original robot which had an accident.

2. Roborock (S50)
Improved Mi Robot with Mopping function. Higher suction power & slightly bigger dust bin. This is my current robot, featured in my video above. This should be the flagship model.

3. Xiaowa Lite (C102)
Budget Mi Robot. Smaller battery, reduced suction power and cleaning area. But big dust bin. No mapping or route planning, recharge & resume. Not advised to buy this unless your budget requires it.

4. Xiaowa Route Planning (E202 & E352)
Improved versions of Xiaowa Lite. Slightly improved suction power. With mapping (not laser) and mop function.

BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

Edited October 21, 20188 yr by kstoh