I feel like Im going in the wrong direction.....

[anthony21078]

in addition to the rocks that I already have, I have this rather large 30" flat stone and this red rock that I don't really know what it is. I'd like to incorporate them both into the waterfall area. I was thinking the flat one would be best to somehow position over the top of the waterfall or in front of it. I'm not really sure where to put this Red Rock. Any ideas

 

[addy1]

Like gbbudd says move a few of the shelf rocks, put some plants in among them. You still have a plant shelf just need to plant differently. Most water plants will grow just fine without a pot. They will send roots down into the rocks. So plant what you want to stay there unless, down the road, you are ready to move rocks to get the roots yanked out. I have free plants in my pond they do just fine. I do keep them in check by removing some now and then.

The red rock, find a good focal spot for it.

Personally I would not line the entire pond with rocks, it removes a lot of water room for the fish. The liner gets coated where you can hardly tell it is a liner. You can see the bottom here, naked liner. Well not naked any longer.

 

[cas]

Perhaphs floating plants and deep water plants will work for me?

That is what I thought too, but I kept having trouble with green water (suspended algae). What I ended up doing was removing some of the rock on the edge to place a pot, planted plants bare root between the rocks, and made a shelf in the pond by adding large rocks to place pots on.

 

[anthony21078]

@cas that picture really helps explain what I need to do.

As with all this pond related building, I am learning as I go. I have read that people sometimes have to remove certain plants for the winter and take them inside. Are there plants that can be utilized for a pond that could be left in the pond year-round and survive winter freezing temps? Or maybe not thrive in the winter but rather come back to life in the spring?

 

[cas]

Most marginal pond plants can be left in the pond. I don't know your planting zone so can't say for sure, but the only plants I needed to worry about were tropical water lilies and taro. Too much work so I don't have either now. The list of hardy water lilies and marginal pond plants is huge. I have yellow flag iris, blue flag iris, aquatic mint, forget-me-nots, and blue rush currently which all handle the winter well.

 

[poconojoe]

Most marginal pond plants can be left in the pond. I don't know your planting zone so can't say for sure, but the only plants I needed to worry about were tropical water lilies and taro. Too much work so I don't have either now. The list of hardy water lilies and marginal pond plants is huge. I have yellow flag iris, blue flag iris, aquatic mint, forget-me-nots, and blue rush currently which all handle the winter well.

I'm in zone 6b (northeastern PA) and also have most of the same plants. I will add Lizard Tail and Marsh Marigold to the list. They all come back in the spring, even after they freeze solid. Creeping Jenny will come back if it's planted in the surrounding soil.
In the Fall I cut everything down to about an inch or two. You dont want the dead rotting leaves and stems to pollute your water.

 

[addy1]

I tried to save tropicals, non hardy plants gave up years ago, not worth the effort.

Check here https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/bog-building.6894/ a huge list of plants and zones they are good for.

 

[anthony21078]

waterfall area coming together

 

[anthony21078]

Water has been circulating for almost a week. Added aquascape starter bacteria from the start. Common goldfish were added today to help with the ammonia. Still need to add plants and I found a water garden center close by so I need to get there asap. Waterfall top section still needs some work to hide the actual bucket. Connected a water meter when I filled and it came to almost 1000 gallons. All the online calculators said 1500-1900. Huge difference

 

[SherrysPond]

Looks really good! I love the waterfall and rocks.....my pond is that "style". Wait untill your plants start growing!! It will be so pretty!

 

[j.w]

Nice and clear and looks great! Love the sound of the waterfall. Plants will really perk it up! I can see the fish in the still photo's.

 

[cas]

Looks very nice!

 

[anthony21078]

It is very nice to have the water so clear. Hope I can make it stay that way.

I noticed that the fish have a tendency to stay near the bottom all the time. I turned off the waterfall and fountain and within minutes almost all the fish were near the top. I'm guessing they dont like the moving water? Do larger fish tend to do better so to speak in ponds with a lot of water movement?

I have the API test kit that I've used for previous tanks. Any tips/advice that a pond novice like myself could benefit from in regards to overall pond maintence?

 

[Lisak1]

Hope I can make it stay that way.

Your water can stay clear, but you should be expecting - and hoping for - a good growth of algae on your rocks. You may already know this, so ignore me if that's the case, but lots of people get all worked up when their pond starts to grow the good green stuff.

 

[j.w]

@anthony21078 I think your fish just need time to adjust to the water movement. All my different sized, from small to large goldfish don't mind the giant bubbling aerator and the pounding falls. They even play and zoom through it all and go back for more!