Plants' soil makes water dirty

I've just finished an L shaped concrete pond about 20mts in length, 1m wide
and 1m deep. It's tiled with black ceramic tiles . I filled it about a month
ago to let the filter work and test the 3 outlets from the pump to make the
water flow around. There are 3 outlets around the L. The water was lovely
and clear as you would expect.
I recently introduced 5 small Carp ( about 6 inches long each ) and also
some water lilies and reeds which came in pots with soil . I just stuck
these pots into the water and surprise surprise, the water now is no longer
clear. I guess the movement of the water pushed out the soil from the pots
..What is the best way to allow the plants to exist in the pond yet keep the
water clear. I can take them out and turn off the pump and then when the
soil etc has gone the bottom, take it out but the same thing is going to
happen when I put them back.

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 13:57:39 +0700, "-keevill-"
wrote:

I've just finished an L shaped concrete pond about 20mts in length, 1m wide
and 1m deep. It's tiled with black ceramic tiles . I filled it about a month
ago to let the filter work and test the 3 outlets from the pump to make the
water flow around. There are 3 outlets around the L. The water was lovely
and clear as you would expect.
I recently introduced 5 small Carp ( about 6 inches long each ) and also
some water lilies and reeds which came in pots with soil . I just stuck
these pots into the water and surprise surprise, the water now is no longer
clear. I guess the movement of the water pushed out the soil from the pots
.What is the best way to allow the plants to exist in the pond yet keep the
water clear. I can take them out and turn off the pump and then when the
soil etc has gone the bottom, take it out but the same thing is going to
happen when I put them back.



Put rocks on top of the dirt, that will keep most of it in, as well as
keeping the carp out. Carp love to dig in the dirt. A lot of the
dirt will settle out over time. If you have living things in the
water, it won't be crystal clear, you will have algae blooms, plant
debris, all sort of things. Part of the world of ponds.

just a few rocks should do the trick ? What about putting the 'root ball' of
the plants inside a plastic bag or something like that ? I don't want the
water crystal clear but right now we cannot even see the fish.

Put rocks on top of the dirt, that will keep most of it in, as well as
keeping the carp out. Carp love to dig in the dirt. A lot of the
dirt will settle out over time. If you have living things in the
water, it won't be crystal clear, you will have algae blooms, plant
debris, all sort of things. Part of the world of ponds.

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:47:06 +0700, "-keevill-"
wrote:

just a few rocks should do the trick ? What about putting the 'root ball' of
the plants inside a plastic bag or something like that ? I don't want the
water crystal clear but right now we cannot even see the fish.

Put rocks on top of the dirt, that will keep most of it in, as well as
keeping the carp out. Carp love to dig in the dirt. A lot of the
dirt will settle out over time. If you have living things in the
water, it won't be crystal clear, you will have algae blooms, plant
debris, all sort of things. Part of the world of ponds.



enough rocks to cover the surface of the dirt. there needs to be
circulation around the roots, not a lot, but I think plastic bags
would cut off too much. the roots are carrying out metabolism, they
need nutrients, and they generate waste products, so you can't cut
them off completely. The water should clear on its own accord once
new dirt stops getting into the water column, one of the harder things
to do is just watch and wait.

enough rocks to cover the surface of the dirt. there needs to be
circulation around the roots, not a lot, but I think plastic bags
would cut off too much. the roots are carrying out metabolism, they
need nutrients, and they generate waste products, so you can't cut
them off completely. The water should clear on its own accord once
new dirt stops getting into the water column, one of the harder things
to do is just watch and wait.

OK Charles I am going to do as you suggest. Thx for your kind help.
-keevill-

A few observations from experience. At first I used large marble sized
rocks on the top but found that is you use a lot of them they become
like cement because of them settling and the plant roots. This makes
it very, very hard to fertilize and to split the plants to propagate
them when the over grow the pot in a few years. I switched to using a
light covering of pea gravel. If you have pond lillies then this will
be a issue because pond lilies are fertilizer NEEDY - a minimum of
twice a year plus they will outgrow the pot and will need to be divided
a few years down the line. For my newer plants I have used a mix of
cheap unscented cat litter (it's just clay, from walmart) and a small
amount of 'clean' yard dirt. (where there are no pesticides). I
mix this up in the pot and top it with pea gravel after I potted the
plant in it. Add a few fertilizer tabs and it worked so far. For
other shallow plants I have just used pea gravel mixed with a little
cat litter.

"-keevill-" wrote in message
...
.What is the best way to allow the plants to exist in the pond yet keep
the water clear. I can take them out and turn off the pump and then when
the soil etc has gone the bottom, take it out but the same thing is going
to happen when I put them back.
======================
My pond plants (except water lilies) do well planted in a small gravel from
Lowe's at $3 to $4 per 50 lb bag. Get the smallest gravel you can find.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On Thu, 30 Mar 2006 14:47:06 +0700, "-keevill-" wrote:

just a few rocks should do the trick ? What about putting the 'root ball' of
the plants inside a plastic bag or something like that ? I don't want the
water crystal clear but right now we cannot even see the fish.

I use both 8" X 15" $1 baskets and the fancier black pond mesh baskets. I
line them with weed fabric. Fill with dirt batter (very sandy in my
location) add tomato spikes with plant. Take strips of weed fabric and lay
across top of dirt batter (sandy, or clay, soil + water, mixed to the
consistence of brownie batter) add, sm.chicken egg size, river rock. Fabric
keeps soil in, rocks from sinking thru dirt batter. Strips allow openings
to add more tabs. I've used this method for many years now. ~ jan

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Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
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