Gallery

8' Glass Observation Pond.

The newest addition to the 491 Gallery Community Garden Project is the Wildlife & Pondlife Observation Tank.

Articles: sjb / James

This huge 8ft glass tank was once a fish tank in one of hm prissons in south east England.
And then it became a Terapin tank in a south east english farm.

It was aquiard for the 491 Gallery by a community member to house some of the 491 reptilian family (we have many!!) and came with a lrg stand.
It took 6 of us to pick it up and move it in & out of the van!

After its stint in being a public reptile house for NPS community workshop days, it was the obvious step to take :)

Now filled with a medley of aquatic life, this is a great addition to the garden.

The water had been left to settle for a few days, plants were the first addition to the tank to oxygenate the water, & then nature took care of the beginnings of the first springs of life in the form of algae which provides the food base for most marine food chains.

Daphnia, midge larvae, mosquito larave, tadpoles, dragonfly nymphs, water beetles, water snails & the endangered smooth newt (much to our delight) were the next quick inhabitants of the tank!

The observation tank is already a huge success amongst the Nature Protection Service kids, & their parents, at the most recent Nature Protection Service event they spent an afternoon playing "Can you spot all these creatures in the tank".

We are delighted to have this new eco-system thriving in our garden & containing both rare & endangered species of aquatic animal.

We welcome you on your next visit to come & see if you can spot these animals!

Pond #5.

Another great addition to the 491 Gallery Community Garden Project.

A fifth pond has now been added to the 491 gardens.

Using a donated fiberglass pond that has sat in our "use one day" pile, community members dug down into the rubble filled earth that mainly makes up the ground of the 491 garden, and laid the 5th water feature we have now, into its final resting place in the garden.