On 13 Aug 2005 03:35:07 -0700, "devil dog"
wrote:


Ann505 wrote:
Well not too many people posted to my last question, but thank you to
the three who did

I'm sorry you didn't get what you were looking for on the first try,
but how you post a quoted message? It looked old to me and I usually
ignore such messages. It would help if you limit the number of
questions in a message too. Put new subjects in new messages because
people tend to overlook the parts they don't address and it becomes
lost as the thread changes.

However I'm still confused, I went to look for pond
plants at Walmart and home depot as someone suggested, and I now
realize that the plants are not in "water", but soil So can I just
take these plants and shake all the soil off then put in my pond? It
seems they would die? I did find a list of plants to try. Also what can
I use as "soil", pond soil is very exspensive, 6.47 for a small bag?

Depends on the plant as to how well it will adapt to "wet feet".
Some don't, canna is tough and you can shake the dirt off and tie it
to a rock or put it in a bucket/net/ bag of rocks and place it in
water to a depth just over the root. Other plants require more TLC
and some like water hyacinths are floaters and just tossed into the
water. I like parrot feather as a filter plant because it grows year
round for me and I start it by placing a few cuttings in a 10" flower
pot filled with river pebbles and put the pot on the bottom of the
tank. I start a new pot in the fall and by spring the 4x8 pond is
covered.

Soil in my pond usually comes from one of my flower beds, but a pond
planting medium depends on who you want to listen to. Everything
from kitty litter to stone is used by different people. Some swear
by clay for lilies and others tie lilies to a rock and toss them in.
(Fish will eat the new shoots so don't do this in a pond with fish.)

I also have just a few questions about my filter, what else might a
place like home depot call a Bulkhead fitting? I just couldn't find it,
maybe this is the wrong kind of store?? The person I asked said that he
hadn't heard of it?? And I didn't see anything there like the online
picture.

I bought my bulkhead fittings online because my local building supply
houses didn't carry them either. Do a Google search for bulkhead
fittings and you can probably save some money, but here is a place
that has most anything you need for ponds. I went to the bulkhead
search:
http://aquaticeco.master.com/texis/m...ch/mysite.html

Since bulkhead fittings are so expensive some use NPT (national pipe
taper) threaded fittings and GE Silicone sealant on smaller pipe
sizes. I have 4" PVC and spent the money for bulkhead fittings.
No regrets.

About the lava rock, I got a bag of this today and it's very
small like gravel, and very heavy? It's the only one they had, but I'm
not sure how this would stay out of the sediment area of the filter?


Sounds like you may have gravel. Lava rock is very porous with air
spaces in the rock and is light for it's size compared to gravel or
stone. A 5 gal bucket of gravel or river rocks will weigh around 80
pounds. You won't be able to get 80 pounds of lava rock into a 5
gallon bucket.

Lava rock although providing a lot of area for helpful filter
bacteria to attach, has a couple downsides that plastics don't. It
sheds, and it is more difficult to clean. I avoided it and perhaps
someone who uses it will answer your questions if you start a new
header something like "Lava rock questions" and try to explain how you
are using it.

Sorry for the confusion, but I'm very new to this and have no clue when
it comes to pond plants. Ouida

Most of us here are open to new ideas about plants and there are many
that benefit the pond. My lilies are grown in large pots with garden
soil and stones covering the soil to keep the fish from vacuuming
through the soil looking for edible delicacies. I fertilize them and
doubt they reduce the pond nutrient load, but they do cover a large
area and provide shade for the fish and help keep the water
temperature down during summer. There are other potted plants that
some find beneficial, but I think of them as shade or decoration.

Floating plants are probably the most beneficial nutrient removers
because of their fast growth and nutrient requirements to support
growth. They grow and absorb nutrients produced by fish waste and we
toss them out when they become too numerous thereby removing nutrients
from the pond.

There are also the so called "oxygenators" plants that live underwater
and contribute to the reduction of nutrients and produce oxygen. (My
favorite is anacharis.) All plants produce oxygen when they
manufacture food using sunlight, but when the sun goes down they use
oxygen and produce more carbon dioxide. Since they grow more slowly
than floaters and don't do as well with floater since the sunlight is
reduced by the floaters above them, I favor the floaters. I still
keep a 10' pot of stones to anchor a few anacharis, simply because I
enjoy looking at the plant and especially their tiny bloom, that pops
up on top of the water.

Regards,

Hal