I have water hyanceth and water lettuce and the perimeter leafs are black and the roots are no longer thick but spiny, are my koi or goldies eating them? I have hard water and high alkalinity but my no3 and no4 are good, ph 8, thx for any help offered.
plants
- Thread starter jwindit
- Start date
Koi will definitely chew at the hanging roots. You can buy a ring/net for your plants, or just wrap the roots in netting for a lot less money. Either will keep the fish away from the roots. I am not sure how the water chemistry may affect your plants, but I'm sure someone here knows!
make sure you take all the black and dead stuff off the hyanceth and water lettuce.
iam sure the fish are feeding on them but thats what is not makeing them black
and die. i started off with 7 hyanceth in the spring i now have close to 20.
they grow fast and they keep the water clean and fresh
iam sure the fish are feeding on them but thats what is not makeing them black
and die. i started off with 7 hyanceth in the spring i now have close to 20.
they grow fast and they keep the water clean and fresh
my fish do the same thing to floaters. A guy at work would give me big healthy looking plants with huge roots and in a month they would look like yours. The whole time they are in there they look like fishing bobbers while the fish are nibbling on them
So, if the consensus is that the fish eat them, is the black edges because they are dead or they just need to be trimmed off?
I've had blackened or yellowing edges, and i just trim them off with scissors.The plants don't mind at all, but if the black edges keep recurring, there may be a problem I haven't dealt with! Somebody else?
Every time I put fresh hyacynth in my water, they look exactly how you describe after only a couple of days. My fish love to maul the roots. The ones in my falls filter do so well though I just take some out and throw them in the pond every now and then.
Big Red
What do you mean falls filter, I have a filter but its in the falls "box"?
What do you mean falls filter, I have a filter but its in the falls "box"?
Sorry.
Mine is a box as well, but I set it up skippy style. The water enters from the bottom and, circlulates. It then rises through furnace screening, scrubbers (in mesh bags), through the water hyacynths and out the weir and down to the pond.
Prior to the falls filter, the water is pumped out of the pond by a submerged pump located in a skimmer box ( mechanical filtration insides prior to water entering pump) out to the UV and then into the falls/ filter.
My string algae issue actually went away when I removed some scrubbers, leaving more room for hyacynth to take over. Amazing how crystal clear the pond became after that.
BR
Mine is a box as well, but I set it up skippy style. The water enters from the bottom and, circlulates. It then rises through furnace screening, scrubbers (in mesh bags), through the water hyacynths and out the weir and down to the pond.
Prior to the falls filter, the water is pumped out of the pond by a submerged pump located in a skimmer box ( mechanical filtration insides prior to water entering pump) out to the UV and then into the falls/ filter.
My string algae issue actually went away when I removed some scrubbers, leaving more room for hyacynth to take over. Amazing how crystal clear the pond became after that.
BR
String algae has a lifespan, it naturally goes away after it has run it's course. I have it every year for about 3 months.
jethro13
jethro13
DrDave is right about the life span of string algae. I have dealt with the stuff every year until this year. This year I placed two barley straw bails in my skimmer box and one in the top of my biofall box and it has made my string algae almost non existant, I am sold on the use of barley straw. Check out my pond pictures that I have in Pond photography and imagine my stream covered in string algae. Not any more. As for your plants you may want to check your ph and are the getting enough full sun light.
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
it serves its purpose and passes.....about 3 to 4 weeks in my case.
jethro13
my ph is 8, myalkalinity is hi and my water is hard (from natural spring)
my ph is 8, myalkalinity is hi and my water is hard (from natural spring)
jethro13
jethro13
that seems o.k. That leaves sun light and fish. I know my plants seem to do best in full sun. I have fancy gold fish, no koi so I have no problem with fish
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,938
- Reaction score
- 29,955
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
jethro13 said:
The barley is working for my pond in arizona, no string algae at all this year. Yeah My pond guy is using barley pellets.