Pond Safe Paints....

[j.w]

Real nice looking pond and fishes. What the tip you got for saving the Water Hyacinth over winter?
I think I have that same pretty lily in my pond.

 

[jagan314]

Hi DrDave.. YES that is she and he! They are loving it.. and cruise around the whole pond. Initially she let out some eggs but has stopped since.. And the fish don't chace her anymore.. Does that mean she won't lay out eggs anymore? My filter is pretty strong.. so whatever she lets out would be sucked up pretty fast.. within a few hours and I may not even notice. Also with the other fish in there, they gobble em up! My kids have named her BIG MAMA... I'll try and get a better shot of them all. Many thanks again Dave!

 

[jagan314]

I've never been able to save the waterhyacinth that I get. I'm reluctant to get the plants because I have to put them through a quaranteen because they could carry "things" parasites what not...

I'm told that when winter starts... grab a number of clumps of the water hyacinth and place in water INSIDE the house by the window for light. Use the water you have from your pond. There's a fertilizer you can give them once in a while in very light dosages.. since you won't have fish you can use any fertilizer you want.

These plants stop growing at 40 and die out at 32 degrees. I think much sooner actually.. 50 degrees slows them down and they eventually die back from my past experience. Frost is bad for them it shocks them and they die.

Here's an excellent site that talks about all of this and it has pictures too!

http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Pond, Water Hyacinth.htm

I'm going to try this come winter...

 

[DrDave]

For all the trouble and since Water Lettuce is only a buck each, you are better off just buying fresh each spring. It is usually the end of May before the Water lettuce is ready for sale. As for water hyacinth, I stopped messing with that 2 years ago, never again.

The female laid eggs due to the water change. I had hoped she would dump all of them, but then again, she may just be a fat momma. A few may suvive if they got fetilized.

I may have one or 2 more adult Koi to thin out soon. I have a juvinille in my upper pond I want to move down to the breeding stock.

 

[jagan314]

Hey DrDave, Is the water lettuce a better plant at clarifying water than the water hyacinth? I heard the water hyacinth was the better "clarifying" plant... that and the fact that it has beautiful blooms is why I went with the water hyacinth. I hear what your sayin though.

 

[DrDave]

It's the water hyacinth's decay on the bulbs and flowers that makes keeping a pond clean harder. Especially towards the end of summer. If you pinch off the bulbs that are brown and mushy, the plant is lop sided and will not float level.
If there is any difference in the plants ability to clean the water, that is taken away at the end of the year when it pollutes the pond.