Topics

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Pond Chat / How to quarantine plants....and KILL flatworms, snails and copepods...Help!!!

« on: August 30, 2011, 05:57:31 PM »

Ok, so I have a ton of issues in my barrel pond, and attribute most of the problems to adding plants that were not properly dealt with before adding them to the pond.  Yes, there is also decaying matter and algae which is certainly an issue as well.  I typically do a thorough clean out of the pond twice a year, and water changes on a regular basis - but never have I had a flatworm or snail problem until now.  I'm sure this is because of plants I added to the pond.  I had a Japanese Trapdoor snail, which was enough for this pond, I did not want or need all these extra little snails that are in there now, and I'm sure they came in with the plants.  Now there are loads of flatworms and it is so disgusting.  I also have a lot of tadpoles and pollywogs in the pond, as well as frogs in the garden that will start breeding in a few months.  I love having frogs, but the other things (flatworms, snails, copepods) I am not interested in at all and I want to get rid of them.  So I plan on doing a separate quarantine for all the plants, and then separating all the tadpoles into a separate container.  I want to thoroughly clean the pond out and let it dry out for a couple of days, then restock the pond with the plants after treating them, and add the tadpoles back.

I need some sound advice on how to go about this quarantine, so that a full kill of all planaria, snails, parasites, etc is guaranteed.  And then how to guarantee that the plants will be safe to recombine with the tadpoles and frogs.  Help please!!!!

2

Pond Chat / Are my ponds too small to put this many plants?

« on: February 22, 2011, 05:12:05 PM »

In a previous post I asked for suggestions for hardy water lilies for my half barrel pond.  Since then I have ordered some plants but am worried I will be overcrowded.
For the half barrel pond I will put a Perry's baby red but I also wanted to mix it with a water poppy.  I have a feeling this will be too much in such a small space.  Do you agree? 
My other pond which is a little smaller will contain a Helvola which I wanted to mix with a 4 leaf clover plant.  Would that be too many plants for that space?
I am mainly concerned about the mix of Perry's with the water poppy though.  I thought they would look so beautiful together, but if the half barrel is too small to contain both of them I may start another pond for the poppy!  I would love to hear your thoughts!

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Pond Chat / What is a good water lily for my barrel pond?

« on: February 16, 2011, 07:05:11 PM »

Hi everyone,

I have a barrel pond and want to put a nice hardy water lily in there.  I live on the California coast, and the weather here is mild and fairly consistent.  Summers don't get very hot, and winters don't get very cold either.  I have my pond in a sunny location, and would like something beautiful that will bloom as much as possible.  Does anyone have any good recommendations?