I've been helping a friend with the fishy part of her pond. I think I've posted here about some of her questions that I wasn't sure about the answer last year.
She expanded her pond by a lot this spring, from about 150-200 gallons to approximately 1500 gallons!! She currently has 2 comet goldfish and 1 koi (I know, bad mix right?!?). I had told her last year that comet types would be best for her since they would fit in her smaller pond and would be more likely to survive in our Wisconsin winter. She wintered them over in a 29g tank, and she just released them into the new large pond last week.
I know that both koi and goldfish eat plants, but are there any that will be more likely to work? She would like some that can stay in the pond over the winter as well. I suggested that if she wanted duckweed she should have a birdbath-type dish or half-barrel pond thing separate from the actual pond to grow the duckweed and add it to the main pond as it disappears.
There were some hardy water lillies at one of the local stores that seemed a good deal. Would those work? Any other suggestions?
There's a pretty nice huge greenhouse that has an okay selection of pond plants, and I'm definitely willing to buy online. Since I can't have a pond at my house, I've taken a big interest in her pond and would love to help make it beautiful and healthy.
She expanded her pond by a lot this spring, from about 150-200 gallons to approximately 1500 gallons!! She currently has 2 comet goldfish and 1 koi (I know, bad mix right?!?). I had told her last year that comet types would be best for her since they would fit in her smaller pond and would be more likely to survive in our Wisconsin winter. She wintered them over in a 29g tank, and she just released them into the new large pond last week.
I know that both koi and goldfish eat plants, but are there any that will be more likely to work? She would like some that can stay in the pond over the winter as well. I suggested that if she wanted duckweed she should have a birdbath-type dish or half-barrel pond thing separate from the actual pond to grow the duckweed and add it to the main pond as it disappears.
There were some hardy water lillies at one of the local stores that seemed a good deal. Would those work? Any other suggestions?
There's a pretty nice huge greenhouse that has an okay selection of pond plants, and I'm definitely willing to buy online. Since I can't have a pond at my house, I've taken a big interest in her pond and would love to help make it beautiful and healthy.