Biofalls filter with plants

[Oaklandopen]

What kind of plants are good to place on top of a biofalls setup? I'm wondering about good plants that will add to the overall health of the pond and fish within. Also something potted so it can be easily removed for winter for zone 6-7

I could either go either way with the setup either DIY or brand name

Right now my pump is feeding into a filter then a cheap Lowe's waterfall feature, but I think it could be better. I don't really need extra filtration which is why I could probably just make one myself that has a simple shelf to hold plants. It's only about a 300-350 gallon preformed pond

 

[Lisak1]

I've seen a variety of approaches to planting a bio falls - floating plants work well (hyacinths and water lettuce) or I've seen people drop a potted canna lily, taro, or papyrus in the top. I've also seen bio falls planted with impatiens around the rim. Any plants will add to the biofiltration in your pond as long as the roots are in contact with the water in some fashion - there are no "magic plants". It's a rather small area so it's not likely going to make a huge difference, but it is also a way to disguise the bio falls and add more plant beauty to your pond!

 

[Oaklandopen]

I have a papyrus now and it's flourishing in the pond. Would oxygenators work before the water falls into the pond or are they better left inside the pond with the fish? I want to add those but I guess I would have to bundle them inside of a net so they don't get eaten

 

[Lisak1]

They grow underwater - I don't see how they could work in the waterfall.

 

[cas]

I have used water hyacinths (not potted) and yellow flag iris (potted) in my bio-falls. Both ended up putting their roots into the media that I used in the bio-falls and were a pain to remove. I ended up replacing the media that I use in the bio-falls and am no longer putting plants in it. Here are some old pictures showing the hyacinths and yellow flag.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I've had the same experience as cas mentioned above. Many years ago we tried putting a potted Umbrella Palm in the biofall. It looked beautiful & grew wonderfully all during the summer, but the following spring when we tried to remove it (not hardy in the location we lived at the time) we physically couldn't lift it out. (???!!!???) Hired some burly young men to help - when they managed to wrangle that thing out of the biofall the roots had gone out of the container, through the mesh bag of media (lava rock was what we were using at that time) and also through both large filter mats, effectively tying **everything** together in one, huge, HEAVY, matted bundle. We had to toss everything & replace all media, the bag & mats. Never again have we put any plants in our biofalls.

 

[Jhn]

Same as cas and bkhpondcritters, I put plants ( parrots feather and something else but can’t remember now) in there and found that they had rooted into filter pads and media bags. I ended up removing both the mats and bags of lava rock a couple years ago, and just leave the falls empty, so I can plant various plants in there each year.

Besides, the filter pads and media were one more thing I had to clean, and at that point with the pond around 7-8 years old it had enough plants and surface area for bacteria to grow on whether I have media in the falls or not. So I wasn’t having any benefit to having the media in there, it was probably counterproductive as it would be a gunky mess in there, by the end of summer.

 

[Lisak1]

I love these perspectives - lots of experience here with planting bio falls... so 1. plant it and take your chances 2. leave it empty 3. take out the filter media and plant away! Although I think something big like a papyrus may still grow to gargantuan proportions and give you trouble trying to get it out. I know I have to practically pick axe them out of my big flower pots when I plant them in soil. Those things grow FAST in a short period of time!

 

[Oaklandopen]

Thanks for the replies, although I'm in a bit of a pickle with my entire setup at this point so I'm squashing the waterfall for now

 

[MajorDan]

This conversation makes me wonder if just filling the waterfall box with pea gravel wouldn’t work to let you have more plants and get the benefit of a bit more bog.

 

[Oaklandopen]

Right now it's just post- filtered water going through it. My water quality is perfect, but I'm worried about the o2 content because there are more fish (babies) and not a ton of water movement at the outlet. It's a combination of it being far from my pump and my utilizing a post- pump fountain for added movement

I've never had an issue with algae, and about 70% of the surface has plants

I'd like to cut out the fountain but the wife wants the water feature of course. But since it's unfiltered it clogs like every 4 days

Next season if I don't build a new pond I'll get the falls closer to the pump or get one with more head pressure. It's a 600gph pump and a 2,000 gallon filter

 

[Oaklandopen]

This is why I asked about maybe submerged oxygen adders in the bio falls. It's just a plastic container, I didn't know if the plants would add more o2 into the falls. I don't want to keep them in with the fish because I guess the fish eat them