u/Medaka-Westland

I’ve noticed that a few of my Kohaku Komachi fry are almost completely black at the moment. Is this a normal stage of their color development?
Another thing I’ve noticed is that these darker fry seem to be growing noticeably faster than their lighter siblings. It could just be coincidence, but I’m curious if anyone else has observed the same.
I’d love to hear your experiences with Kohaku or other medaka lines that change color as they grow.

I’ve been trying to create a small natural landscape around my Acer ‘Moonrise’ rather than a perfectly maintained planter.
This week, dozens of tiny mushrooms suddenly appeared beneath the tree after some wet weather. They only lasted a short time, but they made the whole scene feel like a miniature forest.
I love these unexpected moments. Instead of trying to control every detail, I prefer creating the conditions and letting nature surprise me.
Previous updates of this miniature landscape:

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapaneseMaples/s/f3Fvku0vtz

The miniature landscape keeps changing faster than I expected.

The thyme has exploded into bloom, the blue star creeper has filled in beautifully, and everything is starting to blend together into one natural-looking landscape.

It’s amazing how quickly a few tiny plants can transform a shallow container.
Previous update for comparison:

https://www.reddit.com/r/JapaneseGardens/s/EWKpJBSO6P

A few months ago this was just a newly planted container pond.

Now it’s turned into a proper medaka jungle. 🌿🐟

The fish seem to love weaving through the plants, and every day I notice something new growing. I’m pretty sure there are more fry hiding in there than I’ve managed to spot so far.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed several of my female medaka carrying eggs and hoped at least a few would make it in the pond.

Tonight I was checking the pond with a flashlight and finally spotted my first fry hiding in the vegetation! 😊

I wasn’t collecting eggs or hatching them indoors. This one appears to have hatched and survived completely on its own in the pond ecosystem.

The pond is heavily planted with a dwarf water lily, creeping Jenny, water forget-me-not, corkscrew rush and driftwood, so there are plenty of places for tiny fry to hide.

Honestly, I probably would have missed it without the flashlight. It was tucked away at the back of the pond and was only visible for a few seconds.

Now I’m wondering how many more are out there that I haven’t seen yet. 😄

For those keeping medaka in planted container ponds: do you find that most naturally hatched fry stay hidden for the first few weeks?

🐟🌱💧

The females in the first photos were carrying eggs about two weeks ago, so the timing seems about right.

And the last photo is a little “Where’s Waldo?” challenge — the fry is in there somewhere. See if you can spot it! 🔍😄

My dwarf water lily (Nymphaea ‘Pygmaea Alba’) is starting to establish very quickly in my 75 cm container pond.

Over the last 3 weeks I’ve been removing about 2 leaves per week to keep some open water visible, but the lily is producing roughly 2 new leaves every day.

How much surface coverage would you typically allow before thinning leaves?

I’m trying to balance flowering, fish cover, and maintaining open water for aesthetics.

At what point do you start removing leaves?

Quick question for the medaka breeders here. 😊

This is my indoor fry tub with Kohaku Komachi, Lecris and Tricolor fry.

The oldest fry are about 3.5 weeks older than the youngest ones. So far they seem to be doing fine together, but I’m curious what other breeders do.

Can different age groups be raised together long term, or is there a point where separation becomes necessary?

I’d love to hear your experiences.

Three weeks ago this was mostly rocks, soil and a few tiny plants.

I wanted to create a miniature landscape inspired by the mountain scenery I enjoy during hikes. Everything is planted in a shallow container on my rooftop terrace in the Netherlands.

All plants were selected for year-round outdoor growing and winter hardiness. I’m especially enjoying how the different textures are starting to blend together and make the landscape feel more natural every day.

The last photos show some of my favorite details.

Started with an empty patio corner and slowly built a Japanese-inspired container garden around a small pond and an Acer shirasawanum ‘Moonrise’.
A real Japanese garden isn’t exactly possible on a rooftop terrace, so I tried to capture some of the same feeling using containers, water, stone and moss.

Six months ago this was just an empty paved corner next to my outdoor kitchen.

I slowly turned it into a container garden built around a small pond and an Acer shirasawanum ‘Moonrise’. Inspired by Japanse gardens.

What surprised me most was the small pond. I originally added it as a garden feature, but it completely changed the feel of the space and quickly became a hobby of its own.

The photos show the progression from an empty corner to the current setup. The first photo is how it looks today.

It’s still evolving, but it has become my favorite spot in the garden.

This 75 cm container pond is home to medaka, ramshorn snails, a dwarf water lily and various marginal plants. I filmed above and below the surface to reveal the hidden ecosystem thriving in a small space.

Music from #Uppbeat
https://uppbeat.io/t/future-forests/flow
License code: OX6OW3XHY5V4BMB7

I’ve been trying to create a miniature landscape using containers on my terrace. The pond is home to medaka, and the plants are finally starting to fill in and connect the different elements together.

Located in the Netherlands.

What the heck is this little guy doing?

We live in an apartment in the Netherlands and don’t have a traditional garden, so I’ve been slowly transforming our rooftop terrace into an urban container garden.

The space now includes a Japanese maple landscape planter, a small pond with medaka fish, ornamental grasses, climbing plants and several container plantings.

Everything is grown in pots or containers. The pond is only a few months old and has become my favorite part of the terrace.

Still a work in progress, but I’m happy with how it’s evolving.

This Acer shirasawanum ‘Moonrise’ is growing in a 90 cm container on my rooftop terrace in the Netherlands.

I wanted to create a natural miniature landscape around it, using rocks, moss and companion plants rather than a traditional ornamental container planting.

Next to it is a 75 cm wildlife pond with a water lily, creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia), corkscrew rush (Juncus effusus ‘Spiralis’), variegated sweet flag (Acorus gramineus), marsh pennywort (Hydrocotyle vulgaris), medaka ricefish, fire shrimp and ramshorn snails.

The Moonrise has become the centerpiece of the terrace, especially with the fresh red spring growth contrasting against the yellow-green foliage.

Thanks for looking!

What started as a simple patio water garden has gradually evolved into a miniature pond ecosystem with medaka, cherry shrimp, ramshorn snails, a hardy water lily, creeping jenny, corkscrew rush, horsetail, Hydrocotyle and moss-covered driftwood beneath a Japanese maple.

The goal was to create a small, natural-looking habitat that feels more like a real pond than a traditional container water garden.

Swipe for some detail shots of the fish, plants and shoreline.

Any suggestions for future additions or improvements?

I started building this pond container in early April. At the time, I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to approach it, but I had a clear vision in mind. Most of my inspiration came from Pinterest and YouTube.

The container holds about 180 liters of water and measures 65 cm in height and 75 cm in diameter. I built up the interior using lava rock and created different levels with pieces of ceramic and old bathroom tiles. To give it the appearance of an aged miniature landscape, I added driftwood and several creeping plants around the edges.

One challenge I ran into was that the plants growing over the rim had nowhere to root, since the container itself is made of plastic. I wanted the vegetation to naturally spill over the edge, so I started thinking about whether I could use some kind of coconut fiber material.

In the end, I attached a coconut fiber mat to the rim by drilling a few small holes near the top and securing it with cable ties. I then covered the mat with a layer of moss. Because the mat extends about 2 cm below the water surface, capillary action keeps the moss constantly moist.

At first, I planned to leave the moss as it was, but I felt it would look even more natural if it became covered with vegetation. So I planted small pieces of New Zealand pennywort (Hydrocotyle novae-zelandiae) throughout the moss. My hope is that it will gradually spread and form a dense green carpet that flows naturally over the rim of the container.

I only started this hobby about two months ago, so this is still very much a learning experience. At the moment, the container is home to twelve medaka and around twenty fire shrimp. The fire shrimp are not winter hardy, but during the warmer months they do very well in the Dutch climate. I use them as part of the clean-up crew to help process organic waste.

There are also four ramshorn snails in the container, which help maintain the natural balance of the ecosystem. A clean-up crew is especially important because there is no filtration system in the traditional sense. Instead, water quality is maintained primarily by the oxygenating aquatic plants throughout the container.

I have added a small circulation pump to keep the water moving and prevent stagnant areas from developing. On the bottom and on several of the terraces, I placed pond substrate to provide additional surface area for beneficial bacteria. During the initial setup, I also added bacterial cultures to help establish a healthy biological balance from the start.

It has been fascinating to watch the ecosystem develop over the past weeks, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the plants mature and blend together into a more natural-looking landscape over time.

Ever since I moved into an apartment with my wife, I no longer had the opportunity to build a pond like I had at my old house. Back then, I had a garden with a koi pond, but after moving, that was no longer possible.

Later, I discovered medaka fish and learned that, in a way, they resemble koi — very colorful fish that are especially beautiful to view from above. After that, I discovered container ponds, and I immediately became addicted to this hobby.

I only started this hobby two months ago, and the pond shown in the photo is also just two months old. It currently contains around twenty cherry shrimp and about twelve medaka fish. I never expected that it would be possible to create such a beautiful little pond on such a small scale.

This patio pond is 180 liters. How many Medaka can I keep in here?

This is my Medaka pot. I’m here for the first time and I like to learn more about medaka.
I have just started this hobby 2 months ago.
I hope to get more inspiration on this channel. Greetings from the Netherlands.