Let's see you bottoms (of your pond of course)

[Lisak1]

That video made your pond look like it was miles long!

 

[Lisak1]

I would be very careful when introducing hornwart & anachris into your pond. I love plants and my pond is chalk full of them. Ill take an updated picture this evening. However, this year I have had to remove buckets of anahris and a fair amount of hornwart as it simply filled up the 2.5 foot water column and gave a place for sting algae to hold onto. I would suggest planing grasses in the bottom or lilies bare rooted. Of course you will need a gravel bottom for this if you dont already have one.

Get some big fish - they’ll take care of mowing down your underwater plants. I don’t know if any grasses that will grow from the bottom of the pond - that would be interesting though. And if you want a pond full of plants, unleash your water lilies and watch them take over.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

That video made your pond look like it was miles long!

Maybe all the rocks make it look bigger

 

[ROW FISH]

Here is one of my major shelves on my pond. I call it my underwater lawn. The grass can get a solid foot high but my larger goldfish keep it mowed down for me. I like it because it is more interesting than a simple rock bottom and houses all sorts of different animals. Also gives a good food source for my larger goldfish.

 

[Mmathis]

@ROW FISH I like that idea — sort of a shallow beach. But wonder if it would put the fish at any greater danger from predators?

 

[Panzer13]

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

Here is one of my major shelves on my pond. I call it my underwater lawn. The grass can get a solid foot high but my larger goldfish keep it mowed down for me. I like it because it is more interesting than a simple rock bottom and houses all sorts of different animals. Also gives a good food source for my larger goldfish.

That's just wicked kool! I absolutely love it! Now I'll be totally looking into this for our pond! How long did this take to establish Row Fish, and what substrate was used to anchor it?

 

[ROW FISH]

That's just wicked kool! I absolutely love it! Now I'll be totally looking into this for our pond! How long did this take to establish Row Fish, and what substrate was used to anchor it?

My pond is 3 years old and that shelf was completely grown in last year after planting 3 small clumps of it along the wall. As far as predators go, it is deeper than it looks, about a foot deep along the entire shelf. Not that it is deep enough for them to be completely safe but they have a big fish cave and lots of plant cover to hide in.

Substrate used is 1/4" - 3/4" mixed pea gravel.

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

My pond is 3 years old and that shelf was completely grown in last year after planting 3 small clumps of it along the wall. As far as predators go, it is deeper than it looks, about a foot deep along the entire shelf. Not that it is deep enough for them to be completely safe but they have a big fish cave and lots of plant cover to hide in.

Substrate used is 1/4" - 3/4" mixed pea gravel.

Thanks for that Row Fish. I did a bit of research on it and discovered it would do well in my zone and lighting. One more question though if you don't mind... Does the old growth eventually fizzle out and cause any muck issues?

 

[addy1]

I would be very careful when introducing hornwart & anachris into your pond

I have a forest of it in my pond, only in the deep end. Zero string algae. I think it sucks out the nutrients the algae needs.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have had just about every aquatic plant in the planted aquarium, Anacharis is about the easiest and fastest plant to keep and it multiplies by root by clipping and if I'm not mistaken it even goes to seed. In other words it grows and is very hard to eradicate down the road if you decide you no longer want to fight with it. the same with fox glove it to can become unmanageable and is a fast grower. Now vallisneria or more commonly know as twisted or spiral val is an easy plant to grow but it never was unmanageable it could be cut with sheers and the cuttings would not get stuck somewhere and start a new shoot. creping jenny is as far as i'm concerned a great aquatic plant the color the shape and if you stay on it can be easily managed. to add a little intrest to the bottom try finding some flat rocks and turning them side ways so they look like big boulders and maybe even a piece of wood / tree stump etc. Some people will say you can't have a tree stump it will give off to much organics in the water. well I had a tree stump in my aquarium avatar shows the stump and I never had an issue and it was a heck of a lot larger per gallon then anything you could find for the pond

 

[Telion]

Here is one of my major shelves on my pond. I call it my underwater lawn. The grass can get a solid foot high but my larger goldfish keep it mowed down for me. I like it because it is more interesting than a simple rock bottom and houses all sorts of different animals. Also gives a good food source for my larger goldfish.

Mission accomplished this is what I need .willing to sell me some?

 

[ROW FISH]

Thanks for that Row Fish. I did a bit of research on it and discovered it would do well in my zone and lighting. One more question though if you don't mind... Does the old growth eventually fizzle out and cause any muck issues?

I have yet to have to deal with old or dead growth as either the fish or the snails eat it up before that point. In my zone it also does not die back in the winter either just stunts in growth.

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

I have yet to have to deal with old or dead growth as either the fish or the snails eat it up before that point. In my zone it also does not die back in the winter either just stunts in growth.

Thank you for the info and sharing your lovely pond picture

 

[Jetta]

Like you I located my fish tunnel at the base of my falls the bigger black opening is the exit point there is an opening at the base of where the fall will be.View attachment 112765

They like it, and I feel safe they can hide in the tunnel and escape under the falls