Water Lilies in the Pond

[Featherbaby]

Well, N. Florida is hotter than the third circle of Hell right now. It's in the 90's in the daytime and only cools to high 70's at night. Sure is early in the season to be this hot. My poor 'furry' silkie chickens are panting, oh my! They look at me as if to say, "Gee, I wish I could take my feathers off like she does...."

I just got 5 waterlilies for my pond and I'm going to pot and set them in it tomorrow. Even though the water looks like 'cream of primordial soup' at least I'll be cool from the waist down while I'm working in there. My EX-husband used to call me the "Creature from the black lagoon" and "the slime queen" when I'd get in to work on the pump or lilies. (Notice, he's not here anymore, muuuooooohhhhhhaaaa). I have the most breathtaking lilies when in bloom. Some 8" across, tropicals (bright pink/purple/yellow/blue and peach) and heavenly fragrant! I have several large bullfrogs who sing bass in accompaniment to the soprano tree frog chorus every night. Just another day in paradise.

Does anyone else here have a lily pond?

 

[Carol Dee]

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Not a lily pond actually. But we do have a few lilies in the koi pond. We love them. So do the toads that are a courting these nights. (Loudly under our BR window!)

 

[Carol Dee]

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Oops forgot to show the koi!

 

[Greenthumb18]

Beautiful pond carol dee!! Those waterlilies are so pretty and the koi fish are amazing!!
I wish I still had my pond had to get rid of because of raccoons. I hope to one day get another pond, I miss my first pond.

 

[journey11]

Gorgeous pics! I don't have one, but my inlaws do. My FIL always said it was the lilies that help keep the water clear for the fish.

 

[Carol Dee]

Gorgeous pics! I don't have one, but my inlaws do. My FIL always said it was the lilies that help keep the water clear for the fish.

Yes they use the nutrients that would other wise be used by algea to grow rapidly. And thanks for the compliments journey11 and greenthumb18.

 

[Featherbaby]

Carol dee what a fabulous pond/lily/koi set up you have!!!! I'm impressed! Do you have problems with the koi eating the new growth on the lilies....that's what everyone tells me. Looks like you are making the combo work. What's your secret?

What kind of filtration do you use?

 

[Jared77]

The biggest thing is keeping the nitrates down if you want to avoid green water. Fish waste is broken down into ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Water plants with their aquatic root systems can pull nitrogen out of the water in all 3 forms but the easiest for them is nitrate. By placing the water plants in your pond you are able to outcompete the algae by shading the water from their large leaves AND they take up a lot of nitrates vs the amount algae can take up.

Green water is a free floating type of algae that actually lives suspended in the water vs on the surface of things inside the pond. The algae is what makes it green. The muck you see on the bottom of the pond is organic waste material. Again VERY rich in bacteria. Unless its truly an issue, leave it alone.

You can also help by adding some bog plants that sit just at the surface of the water keeping their roots in the water to take up nutrients but they rise high above the surface. Catttails, and many ornamental grasses are great for this. They sit right on the very edge of the pond. If you don't have a ledge like that, drop in a milkcrate or 2 and place the pot on top of the millkcrate. If its a black milkcrate you'll never see it unless your on top of it and even then a few well placed stones will hide it completely.

Water flow is important but its even more important to have some surface disruption either from a waterfall or a pump. The surface disruption will help gas exchange and help aerate the pond. The bacteria that breakdown fish waste into the chemicals listed above are aerobic (using O2 in metabolism) so its important to the overall health of the pond to have some water movement and surface disruption.

Most ponds use some form of filter media. Crushed lava rock, a fiberous sponge material, any of those things when placed in a filter where water passes through will house billions of aerobic bacteria that are needed to breakdown fish waste. The idea here is to increase the surface area in a very high flow area where water passes over the bacteria and they can take advantage of the available O2 and organic waste to break it down.

My Koi would graze on my lilly leaves but feeding them well and supplimenting them can help too. Something as simple as a few handfuls of duckweed will help curb their appetite as it floats on the surface of the water and they can easily take a mouthful of it. Zucchini slices cut fairly thing and the length of the zucchini give the fish a nice alternative too. Place them in an area where they can graze on the long slices but are still submerged. Whatever's left remove after 24hrs or it will begin to rot. Blanched leafy greens can help too, things like romaine, endive, etc given a simple blanch can help give your Koi and other goldfish something to graze on. Blanching it makes it easier to eat so they are more tempted by the easy meal rather than the tender new shoots on your lilies.

Supplimenting them with these offerings a few times a week should help reduce the damage done to new shoots, and they will look better because of it too.

Another option would be to have a different type of goldfish instead of Koi. Look at Sarassa comets which are a beautiful red and white fish with long graceful fins and the Shubunkins which are calico colored fish same body shape and long graceful fins. Its really a difference between red and white or calico. They both get about the same size eat well, transfer fine and will coexist without issue. You may have to look a little harder for them at some pet stores because everybody wants Koi. These guys are not as well known but I prefer them. Due to their smaller size than Koi are not as destructive or messy as their bigger cousins the Koi can be. I like both species for ponds because you can have more of them in the same size pond than you could Koi because they are smaller fish as adults. I have even kept solid white Sarassas and they REALLY stand out because its such a contrast against the dark water in your pond.

One thing to remember when looking to buy fish for your pond is you will be viewing them from the top down. So a fish that may appear very flashy from the side might be very blah when looking down on them. Or a fish that looks blah on the side might have a really wild pattern when looking down on them. Thats why the serious stores who sell Koi for your ponds will display them in tanks so you can see them from the top down. Just something to be aware of. Its also why I chose the pics I did to show you what they'd look like in your pond. What you'd see when look down at them.

To help keep give them the best chance to thrive and get truly majestic and avoid things like kingfishers and raccoons, drop an empty strawberry pot or 2 on its side in the deepest part of your pond. This will give the fish a safe place to hide when predators approach. You might lose a few, but the smart ones will survive and grow.

In Japan in their Koi ponds people have trained the Koi when to eat. My mom visited Japan and told me this and I tried it in my pond and it does work. You clap your hands and the fish will come to the surface of the water looking for food. They can feel the vibration from the sound wave and know its time to eat. Just like Pavlov's dogs. Start out by clapping your hands a few times and immediately toss in food. Keep doing this and they will quickly learn when they feel the vibration its time to eat. Great trick to show off to your friends and family who come by to admire your pond. They'll think your some kind of Aquaman of Goldfish and really throw them for a loop.

Sorry to go on like this Im a self professed pond and aquarium nerd. Just ask my wife. We've since moved and obviously couldn't take my pond with me but it was a major selling point to the people who reside at my former property. I plan on getting one dug here also just haven't had the time to get the equipment to make it a reality.

Hope this helps

 

[Carol Dee]

Carol dee what a fabulous pond/lily/koi set up you have!!!! I'm impressed! Do you have problems with the koi eating the new growth on the lilies....that's what everyone tells me. Looks like you are making the combo work. What's your secret?

What kind of filtration do you use?

Hmmm, I have never had a problem with the Koi snacking on the lillies! We feed them plenty, though The filter is a reg. pond filter/pump we got at Menards. Nothing fancy. We have to clean it out when ever the water flow slows as it is plugging up. DH has it set in the furthest end of the pond. Pumps it back up into a wiskey barrel on the deck. There is a spill pipe out the side near the top. It cascades into the upper pond. In that are we have pots of elephant ears and sometimes some other pond plants as a kind of bio-filter. Then in falls over the rocks into the lower pond. I think he said we have about 500 gallons of water. Works for us.

 

[Featherbaby]

Thanks Carol Dee...I think your success is largely due to the bio filtration you have set up. Nature always knows best. I congratulate you on the well done pond and ecosystem. Now if I can just make my bigger one work better, I'll be happy. Bigger isn't always better. I'm using a 'sludge digester' (doesn't that sound perfectly gross?) to help clear the detritus at the bottom (decayed algae and fallen leaves from last fall, mostly) which will give the algae less to eat. Once the lily pad coverage is better it will starve the algae of light. I'm going to wait about fish until I can get it balanced right. The last time I had large goldfish the Ospreys fished them all out, to my horror!

Funny true story: 15 Years ago when I was still married, I was losing fish to the ospreys and hawks every day. I happened to see a hawk pick up the last of the fish and begin to fly away with it. I ran through the house to get my rifle. My husband caught me and said, "what do you think you're doing??? That bird is an endangered species, you can't shoot him!" . Angrily I said, "You bet your A$$ he's ENDANGERED, just LET ME GO!". Obviously, he delayed me long enough that the bird and my fish were long gone. I didn't speak to him for a week. I haven't had the heart to put fish in the pond ever since.

But I've had some lily blooms that were 8" across!!!!!!! WOO HOO!

Lest I leave you with the wrong impression, I love birds of all kinds. My action was in the heat of the moment. I wouldn't really shoot one.