Pond cleaning

[TimberPond]

Hi, new to the forum here. I am pretty experienced in saltwater aquariums but recently built a garden pond with gold fish and some wild mollies and a couple little tilapia Just to start cycling it and learning before I got too invested.
I also added a couple lotus, some hiacen, a couple duck potato plants and a papyrus. I potted them in planting baskets with small river rock from Home Depot. Everything was doing really well after the pond cycled. The plants flowered and looked healthy. Over time the pond became filthy with detritus and decaying plant matter. so I vacuumed it out recently and now the plants are struggling. They needed the organic compounds from the detritus and decaying plant matter for nutrients I’m assuming. But I’ve seen plenty Of clean ponds with healthy plants.
How do I keep it clean and the plants well fed?
or do I have a different problem you think?
the lotus are mainly what’s struggling. Their leaves a very small now and die off quickly.
should I change the planting media and use fertilizers? Im afraid to use fertilizers with fish present and think it should be unnecessary. The fish should produce enough waste for the plants to live on.

 

[j.w]

@TimberPond
Some plants need fertilize added, others just use the fish poo. Water lilies need added food to their roots. So others who use fert will chime in soon on what plants to fert or not. The only ones I need to fert are my water lilies.

 

[GBBUDD]

lotus are mainly what’s struggling. Their

Lotus must be fertilized they are even bigger demands on fertz than are lilies

 

[mrsclem]

There are fish safe fertilizer. Osmocote is good for lilies. Pond Tabbs are also good, I use them for lotus.

 

[Hound Heaven]

I too use osmocote on the water lilies and the lotus. Every other week on the lotus during the growth season and well, pretty much the same on the lilies now that I think about it. Both are planted in fragrance free clay cat litter and seem to thrive in it. No other chems in the water, just plenty of goldfish poop. I was able to clean out some big clumps of string algae yesterday that had been accumulating and building up all over the place. Water cleared in just a couple of hours and and today everything looks happy again. I'll keep the toilet brush close though because the string will be back...
Good luck. Here's a pic of the lotus blooming from last year just to give you an visual.

 

[WaterGardener]

Plants don't need detritus. As others have said, they need fertilizer.

I fertilize most all the plants in my pond and regularly spray the leaves on some of them with Seachem Flourish iron fertilizer. My pond lacks sufficient iron in the water to prevent leaves from yellowing. Floating plants won't survive without my spraying them and others just look sickly.

 

[GBBUDD]

I too use osmocote on the water lilies and the lotus. Every other week on the lotus during the growth season and well, pretty much the same on the lilies now that I think about it. Both are planted in fragrance free clay cat litter and seem to thrive in it. No other chems in the water, just plenty of goldfish poop. I was able to clean out some big clumps of string algae yesterday that had been accumulating and building up all over the place. Water cleared in just a couple of hours and and today everything looks happy again. I'll keep the toilet brush close though because the string will be back...
Good luck. Here's a pic of the lotus blooming from last year just to give you an visual.

HOW much ozmocote do you add to a lotus pot and how often i was using 5 tabs every three weeks but now looking at ozmocote as a cheaper option but i don't know how much to use in powder/ granules a 1/4 cup ?

 

[Hound Heaven]

HOW much ozmocote do you add to a lotus pot and how often i was using 5 tabs every three weeks but now looking at ozmocote as a cheaper option but i don't know how much to use in powder/ granules a 1/4 cup ?

I have a 20 gallon tub and I shake something close to 1/4 cup in there every couple weeks. They bloomed all summer Please tell me you won't be counting the granules...

 

[GBBUDD]

Oh hell no, it may look like i am compulsive with my pond, but not a chance. I just plant stuff like moss and others that do not need attention. Lillies and now lotus are the only thing that need attention other than yanking out mint that weazeled its way in

 

[Hound Heaven]

Oh hell no, it may look like i am compulsive with my pond, but not a chance. I just plant stuff like moss and others that do not need attention. Lillies and now lotus are the only thing that need attention other than yanking out mint that weazeled its way in

Glad to hear that. No sense overthinking it imho, it's been managing itself for eons without my help.
sorry about the mint...

 

[j.w]

I don't fertilize any plants in my bigger pond. All the plants grow just fine! No lilies or lotus,

 

[TimberPond]

I too use osmocote on the water lilies and the lotus. Every other week on the lotus during the growth season and well, pretty much the same on the lilies now that I think about it. Both are planted in fragrance free clay cat litter and seem to thrive in it. No other chems in the water, just plenty of goldfish poop. I was able to clean out some big clumps of string algae yesterday that had been accumulating and building up all over the place. Water cleared in just a couple of hours and and today everything looks happy again. I'll keep the toilet brush close though because the string will be back...
Good luck. Here's a pic of the lotus blooming from last year just to give you a visual.

Wow, thanks! It makes sense. So I can keep vacuuming my pond and just fertilize the Lillies and Lotus. I’ve been reluctant to plant in pond soil cuz it’s so expensive. Very good to know that cat litter will work. I’ve been trying to think of something better than river rock but have been cautious not wanting to taint the water and kill fish. My PH already stays on the high side.

 

[TimberPond]

how deep in the water can my Lotus be? If I’m using ozmocote granules of fertilizer, how can I fertilize plants in the water? The lotus we started in a pot of soil outside the pond soaked in water. It started doing poorly so we put it in a basket of gravel in the pond roughly 4” deep. It immediately started doing worse. Coukd easily be a fertilizer issue but I wonder if we have it too deep and need to raise it up.

 

[Hound Heaven]

how deep in the water can my Lotus be? If I’m using ozmocote granules of fertilizer, how can I fertilize plants in the water? The lotus we started in a pot of soil outside the pond soaked in water. It started doing poorly so we put it in a basket of gravel in the pond roughly 4” deep. It immediately started doing worse. Coukd easily be a fertilizer issue but I wonder if we have it too deep and need to raise it up.

Experts will chime in, but I think the depth is dependent on your variety. Mine might be 8-12 inches deep but they keep pushing up higher and higher as they expand and grow.
I put a teaspoon (give or take) in a folded up paper towel and stick them under the lily root mass. Paper towels would probably work fine in the grow bag too if you really feel the need, but I don't fertilize anything in the water except the lotus and lily. All the bog plants just get poopy water.