Plants For My Pond?

[whistleblower]

Hi can anyone recommend some good plants for my pond? My pond is about 14 meters long and about 2 meters wide. Some hints on planting/upkeep etc would also be very welcome.

Thanks

[pigeonjake]

what fish are you going to be putting in it,?

if kois then they will eat most of them you would have to plant in cages,

just looked at your pics, i see you have bare blocks just under your waterfall, you will have to clean your water for a while before you put fish in, them blocks can poisen your fish, let the water settle for a while before fish,

jake

Edited September 21, 2012 by pigeonjake

[whistleblower]

what fish are you going to be putting in it,?

if kois then they will eat most of them you would have to plant in cages,

just looked at your pics, i see you have bare blocks just under your waterfall, you will have to clean your water for a while before you put fish in, them blocks can poisen your fish, let the water settle for a while before fish,

jake

Thanks for your reply Jake.

Im not really into aquariums etc, but a friend who knows a bit about fish recommended a couple of Guorami fish, some Chokkers? and plenty of little ones. I have also been recommended to fill the pond and leave it for 10 days before putiing fish in it.

Do you have any fish recommendations? Also im told that with a pond this size there is noo need for a permant pump to ariate it. Does this sound right to you?

Thanks

[Lizarrdo]

I don't know about little fish because I have an oscar myself (in an aquarium though) If you go to JJ mall, you'll see a lot of cool monster fish including alligator gar and snakehead. I think that would be cool in your pond... Maybe one gar and you can feed it fish every day. Always wanted a monster fish haha

[pigeonjake]

snakeheads will eat everything,

ide go for kois, plenty of colour and allways busy,

the water will find its own balance in time, you will need some oxygenating weed, and if i was you ide have a pump just a small submersable and pump water up to your waterfall, that will give enough oxygen,

or if you havnt got a waterfall on that big mound just have the water pipe pumping strait back into the pond so it splashes back in, dont have to have it running all the time if you want to sit and look at your fish,

tyou will find in time that you will be able to hand feed your kois, as i did in england,

and they grow well in thailand with the hot climate,

good luck with it all,, jake

[whistleblower]

snakeheads will eat everything,

ide go for kois, plenty of colour and allways busy,

the water will find its own balance in time, you will need some oxygenating weed, and if i was you ide have a pump just a small submersable and pump water up to your waterfall, that will give enough oxygen,

or if you havnt got a waterfall on that big mound just have the water pipe pumping strait back into the pond so it splashes back in, dont have to have it running all the time if you want to sit and look at your fish,

tyou will find in time that you will be able to hand feed your kois, as i did in england,

and they grow well in thailand with the hot climate,

good luck with it all,, jake

Thanks for the tips. The waterfall has its own pump to get the water to the top and also has its own resevoir at the back. I have been told that if i switch on the water fall every couple of days and put some oxygenating plants in the pond, I wont need an additional pump to oxygenate the water. Does this sound right?

[stevef]

if your keeping koi you need hard stemmed plants they will leave them alone soft stemmed plants lillies etc will last about a day it is an advantage to keep plants in some sort of basket covered with stones fish like to dig and will make your water dirty also i would put your pump on a timer once or twice a day for a few hours you have to remember shallow pools get hot and loose oxygen quickly result dead fish also a pump with a few airstones does not cost much more than a light bulb to run and helps with oxygen levels also what type of filter system are you going to run ??? mechanical or biological filters need consant water going through them or the bacteria will die also the waterfall will also create oxygen as the water drops aiding fish life does not have to be run like niagra just gentle turbulence i would fill your pond add your plants and circulate for at least a week to ten days then add fish a few at a time as your filter has to become used to more extreme loads of fish waste then you can continue adding more also remember that carniverous fish also create more waste .

[whistleblower]

if your keeping koi you need hard stemmed plants they will leave them alone soft stemmed plants lillies etc will last about a day it is an advantage to keep plants in some sort of basket covered with stones fish like to dig and will make your water dirty also i would put your pump on a timer once or twice a day for a few hours you have to remember shallow pools get hot and loose oxygen quickly result dead fish also a pump with a few airstones does not cost much more than a light bulb to run and helps with oxygen levels also what type of filter system are you going to run ??? mechanical or biological filters need consant water going through them or the bacteria will die also the waterfall will also create oxygen as the water drops aiding fish life does not have to be run like niagra just gentle turbulence i would fill your pond add your plants and circulate for at least a week to ten days then add fish a few at a time as your filter has to become used to more extreme loads of fish waste then you can continue adding more also remember that carniverous fish also create more waste .

Thank you every one for your comments and tips. However not one of you, not bloody one of you had the vision to remind the idiot posting this thread to ensure the draining caps are on and closed!

for 2 hours I watched as my pond filled up, then drain away! I have never felt so stupid ever. Still Drainage plugs now in place and closed.....Round 2 here I come.

[pigeonjake]

_{well at least you washed it out,,lol}

_{are you using strait tap water? or do you have a well and pump?}

[Mosha]

if your keeping koi you need hard stemmed plants they will leave them alone soft stemmed plants lillies etc will last about a day it is an advantage to keep plants in some sort of basket covered with stones fish like to dig and will make your water dirty also i would put your pump on a timer once or twice a day for a few hours you have to remember shallow pools get hot and loose oxygen quickly result dead fish also a pump with a few airstones does not cost much more than a light bulb to run and helps with oxygen levels also what type of filter system are you going to run ??? mechanical or biological filters need consant water going through them or the bacteria will die also the waterfall will also create oxygen as the water drops aiding fish life does not have to be run like niagra just gentle turbulence i would fill your pond add your plants and circulate for at least a week to ten days then add fish a few at a time as your filter has to become used to more extreme loads of fish waste then you can continue adding more also remember that carniverous fish also create more waste .

Thank you every one for your comments and tips. However not one of you, not bloody one of you had the vision to remind the idiot posting this thread to ensure the draining caps are on and closed!

for 2 hours I watched as my pond filled up, then drain away! I have never felt so stupid ever. Still Drainage plugs now in place and closed.....Round 2 here I come.

We had to put a heavy stone in front of our drain plug. The bloody dog pulled it off, and I lost about 15 koi.

[Naam]

Thank you every one for your comments and tips. However not one of you, not bloody one of you had the vision to remind the idiot posting this thread to ensure the draining caps are on and closed!

for 2 hours I watched as my pond filled up, then drain away! I have never felt so stupid ever. Still Drainage plugs now in place and closed.....Round 2 here I come.

relax, shit happens below my pond six years ago with a couple of hundred thousand worth plants and Kois. today i'm ashamed to post a recent picture

[pigeonjake]

naam, you mean to say you let your swiming pool go wild,,lol,

looks very nice mate,

i had 2 beautiful ponds when i was in the uk, the top pond never had fish just lots of weed acted as my second filter, used to pump water from the main pond through my uv and main filter then into top pond, then over the waterfall back inot bottom pond worked really well, jajke

[Naam]

i had a beautiful pond Jake. the beauty lasted several months. then the algae took over.

spend a fortune on pumps, filters, electricity, chemicals and what not. Kois all dead,

instead now frogs and toads galore, a few plants left but the birds are still enjoying the

water fall.

[pigeonjake]

if i was you i would try some fish agin now my mate,

the water will of found its own ph level, i bet it dosnt go green now?

sometimes you have to wait a long time to get things to get together,ive seen ponds in the uk without any filtration,

just lots of weed, and the fish were a joy to look at,

give it a try, ill put money on that they,ll be ok now,

jake

[whistleblower]

_{well at least you washed it out,,lol}

_{are you using strait tap water? or do you have a well and pump?}

There are 2 taps plumbed into the pond so at least I didnt have to hold the garden hose for 2 hours LOL. I think the water comes from the main waterline.

Will post some pics when full.

Jake, was just looking in the local fish shop at the weekend and the shop owner agreed about leaving the pond for 10 days before adding big fish but also said that I should add some of the small ones after a few days as they will eat any algae starting to form and also mosquito larvae. Is this right or was he trying to dupe me into buying some fish?

[pigeonjake]

hi,

to be honest i would just buy the small ones anyway, 20bht upto 50bht, that all you need, in thailand they will be 6inch long within the first year,

dont waist your money on going and buying the 1ft long fish, look at the small ones and pick the ones with nice shape to them and colour,

you will want plants in first to get them going good, but dont forget to put the in baskets,

i had some old co op baskets in the uk but like one of the other posters say youll have to put some big stones on top to

stop the fish rooting out your plants, get your plants going first and let the pond settle,

but ill say it again i wouldnt go for the big fish, disheartening if the die too, go the the little ones, the shop owner will try and sell you the

big ones,,lol, you should have a mrkt near you, there is allways a fish stall there as the thais love fish, buy from them very cheap,

you could allways buy some guppys and platies the ones you see in the thais little ponds near there house, they will eat the mozzie larvie, and you can leave them in there

they will do no harm,

jake

[whistleblower]

Thanks for the info Jake and all others. It will take a while i'm sure but its getting there! It looks lovely at night with the underwater lights on. Will leave it now as recommended by all for a week or so before I put in the fish.

Jake

Can you buy the baskets in any good fish suppliers? at the moment the plants are just in pots?

[pigeonjake]

yes mate, they are black in colour, get the bigest ones, saves having to replant at a later date, and dont forget to put large bricks boulders on top

to stop the fish rooting up the plants,

koi can be and are very distructive fish but very beautiful,

koi look good, ive seen ponds with just the same colour kois, say the just go for showas or some other colour,

i myself in england went for all different colours, they do get very tame, i went to a place in pattaya years ago

were you could feed the koi with a baby bottle with a liquid in it was great if you were into fish like me,,lol,

youll get there, if i can help in anyway you know were i am, not saying im an expert or anything just trying to help

jake

[pigeonjake]

you can take them lillys of them blocks they can just go on the bottom of the pond, but would be better in bigger baskets, they

want to be a foot bellow the water level at least you get a better spred of the leaves,

jake

[pigeonjake]

^{can i just add one thing, i dont want to steel your tred or people think im an expert im}

^{just going by what i did in the uk, i had kois for years,}

^{if anyone is going to build a pond, i would say have one end deeper then the other, like}

^{a swiming pool, as the water here will get hot, so the deeper end would allow the fish somewere to go to cool down,}

^{might sound daft but its true, have some over hanging bushes to give shade,}

^{i had a pagoda over mine in the uk, with grape vines growing so that in the summer the vine was in full}

^{leaf and grapes,,but in a winter when i wanted more light it was bare and trimed,}

^{this please understand is only what i did,}

^{like i keep saying i dont want people to think im a bloody know it all,,lol}

^jake

[whistleblower]

^{can i just add one thing, i dont want to steel your tred or people think im an expert im}

^{just going by what i did in the uk, i had kois for years,}

^{if anyone is going to build a pond, i would say have one end deeper then the other, like}

^{a swiming pool, as the water here will get hot, so the deeper end would allow the fish somewere to go to cool down,}

^{might sound daft but its true, have some over hanging bushes to give shade,}

^{i had a pagoda over mine in the uk, with grape vines growing so that in the summer the vine was in full}

^{leaf and grapes,,but in a winter when i wanted more light it was bare and trimed,}

^{this please understand is only what i did,}

^{like i keep saying i dont want people to think im a bloody know it all,,lol}

^jake

Well you certainly know a heap load more than me, I was the one who was filling my pond for hours with the drainage taps open LOL. Thanks for all the info, I have only just got into this so I really am a newbie. The 'bowl' end of my pond is deeper than the straight end. I do plan to put more plants in there as time goes by but I dont want to obstruct the wayterfall as it looks nice when on. I am sure I will be coming back for more advice soon. Thanks all

[whistleblower]

Jake

How many plants do you think I should put in the pond?

Went shopping on Sunday and these are the newest additions.

[pigeonjake]

hi, looking good,

to be honest itlooks like you can put another 6inch of water in there,

do you have an overflow pipe?

fill it to the hight you can get,

as for plants, you must put some oxyginating plants in there too not just the pritty ones,

if i was you i would let the plants youve got get asablished first, then you can see how big they are going to spead,

no good putting loads in and having to trow some away,

little steps my friend,,lol,

i would buy a fewsmall fish from the mrkt about now,

but please top the pond up first,

jake

[whistleblower]

Hi Jake thanks for the comments.

Have topped it up as much as possible. But I might have to make the overflow pipe a bit higher. The depth of the water in above pics are to the level of overflow pipes. I bought oxygenating plants on Sun and they are already in the pond under water. I also bought small fish at the weekend and they are in the water and enjoying the freedom!!

These are the plants that are under the water.

Cheers

[pigeonjake]

yep mate well done,

i was just looking and it just looks as you can fill it up another 6in, is your lilly on a block, if it is take it off,

your lilly will send the pads up to the top of the water, dont worry about that and be stronger,

what fish did you buy, some little koi and guppys?

it will look good when your plants take hold,

the oxygenating weed on the left looks like canadian pond weed, very good, does spred well, just pull some out when you have to much

jake

[whistleblower]

mate thanks a lot for your help. I really am a newbie at this. havent got any 'big' fish yet gonna let the little ones settle in first. Looking at getting a few Gouramis and maybe a medium turtle!