Spring start-up questions..

[shw104]

Hi everyone...

I had a small koi/gold fish pond installed late last spring. My fish made it through the spring and winter and now I'm ready for a new season. I started up my pump and water fall with no issues. My fish are doing well and the water is clear. Now that the water temp is well over 50F, i've started to feed my fish spring food. A few questions though...

1. I had a lilly pad growing last season that the contractor installed with the pond. It died back once the water temperatures fell, will it regrow or should I except that I need to plant a new one? How long should I wait for new growth?

2. My pond gets a good bit of shade once the trees/bushes grow leaves, right now.. it's getting a good bit of direct sun. I am worried about an algae bloom. Is there anything I can do or should do to avoid this? Should I avoid algae chemicals and such? I had a bit of a problem with this last year but it leveled off once the trees grew in and I had a lot of shade. The lily pad also helped which I don't have now.

3. What chemicals should I be using to keep the water clear, etc? I didn't do much last year except some water conditioner when I had to add tap water.

Thank you for all of the advice..

Scott

 

[sissy]

If he put in a cold hardy lily it will come back .Algae products can kill fish .You can use instead liquid barley and you will need a biological additive to get your filter going .Is it a regular filter or pressurized .You also need a water test kit

 

[JBtheExplorer]

1. I had a lilly pad growing last season that the contractor installed with the pond. It died back once the water temperatures fell, will it regrow or should I except that I need to plant a new one? How long should I wait for new growth?

2. My pond gets a good bit of shade once the trees/bushes grow leaves, right now.. it's getting a good bit of direct sun. I am worried about an algae bloom. Is there anything I can do or should do to avoid this? Should I avoid algae chemicals and such? I had a bit of a problem with this last year but it leveled off once the trees grew in and I had a lot of shade. The lily pad also helped which I don't have now.

1. If it was a Hardy Water Lily it will come back. I'm guessing it was, but who knows... If it doesn't come back, buy a hardy one and you wont have to buy one ever again. I don't know how long you'll have to wait to see growth. Mine are already starting, but I once had one that didn't show signs of anything until the end of May.

2. There's not much I can say about this. I've got some growth in my pond as well due to lack of plant growth so far. I really don't plan on doing much to my own as long as I can control it with a net until my plants are growing well. Algae is a plant itself, so if its there it's helping the water by taking in nutrients, even if it looks a little ugly. I won't ever use chemicals in my pond unless theres a dire situation. I've heard people on both sides of the fence but I try to keep mine as natural as possible.

 

[snoozer]

A hardy water lily will come back for you. If you aren't sure hat you have, the hardy have leaves with smooth edges and the flowers close in the late afternoon. The tropicals have kind of serated edges on the leaves and the flowers stay open later into the evening. I tried to keep tropicals over winter but didn't have any sucess.

 

[teeemkay]

If there is some algae in the pond right now, the fish will nibble away at a lot of it on warm days. I've noticed any time we had a warm day (65 degrees or above), my koi would hang around the rocks at the edge of the pond and feed on the algae. I haven't started feeding them regular food yet as the water temperature is still a bit too cold.

While we're on the subject of aquatic plants... do any of you mail order them or do you get them from a brick-and-mortar shop?

 

[snoozer]

I get mine at a place called Windy Oaks Aquatics in Eagle, WI. I don't know if Marilyn does mail order or not.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

While we're on the subject of aquatic plants... do any of you mail order them or do you get them from a brick-and-mortar shop?

I buy at the local garden pond shop as well as online from William Tricker http://www.tricker.com/