duck weed-should I??

[happypond]

H, this is my first pond and have been able to figure most of my problems out by researching on this site, great site by the way, and other sites on the net.
But, Im having a little problem with this question--
I just recieved some duck weed that I purchased off of e-bay and , I'm not real sure I want to put it in my pond.
I think I've finally gotten the algae under control but I dont want to create further problems by introducing duck weed-however, I do need more oxgenating plants, hence the reason I thought I wanted it in the first place.

I have 2 comet and 2 shrubankins (sp)?) about 3 inches long, a couple of snails and a few plants, my pond is approx. 200 gl. and about 3 months old. It gets full sun, Texas sun (102 degrees today!!)no less, most of the day.

Any advice would be greatly apperciated!!

Oh yeah-this is probably a dumb question but I kep reading about herons eating fish..are there herons in Tx? or any other birds I need to worry about in Tx?

 

[DrCase]

we have herons all over around here ,,,they no not to come into town...i guess if you had them you would know,,,try water lilys to shade your pond

 

[Bonibelle]

I buy duckweed pretty often because my fish love to eat it. I don't think duckweed is really an oxygenating plant since it just floats on the top, but I could be wrong. You might want to try some parrot feather, I have great luck with that. To be honest, I doubt that putting the duckweed in your pond would cause an algae problem.

As far as herons, I have had some of my most beautiful fish devoured by Great Blue Herons in the past. They are protected so you can only scare them away. I think Herons live along the east coast and throughout the Gulf.

 

[pondlady]

duckweed is a very good shading plant and it will help keep algae down.
having said that, it is also a fast grower so it needs to be thinned often.
I have a lot of it koi eat it, kept in check it a great plant for the pond.

 

[Bonibelle]

Pondlady how do you keep it growing? My fish seem to just eat it up so fast. I even put it in the low area of the pond and it disappears over night. I love how it looks.

 

[pondlady]

My QT tank has a ready supply all year. I just keep adding it when it gets low. My Koi are so used to having it that they don't eat it as fast as they once did.