Aquarium plants for the pond

[Miniandy]

I'm looking to see what trimmings from the aquarium I can make use of in the pond, even if its only for the summer.

The pond is a fish pond with koi, goldfish, etc.. and at around 5,000-6,000 litres. Any input at this stage would be useful as I am looking to setup a water feature on the side which will be around 200 lites and hopefully host a decent amount of plants out of the koi's reach. The intention is to pump pond water into the water feature and let it spill back into the pond.

There maybe a thread already on this kind of topic, but I can't find it.

 

[Myrtle]

I'm kind of experimenting with this at the moment, so far I've just dumped some stems of hygro rosannervig to float and they've not died yet. They've also not really grown either....

 

[tacy k]

Houttonia palustris grows really well in my pond and sends up tall stalks with pale purple flowers.

 

[LondonDragon]

If you use the Plantbase, the filter on the side has a tick for Pond compatible, this is according to Tropica, only 3 on the list confirmed, if you find any that are on our database that work let me know and I can edit the profiles 😉

 

[hypnogogia]

Houttonia palustris grows really well in my pond and sends up tall stalks with pale purple flowers.

According to horticultural society it’s native to the UK.

 

[foxfish]

Koi love soft plants, they pull them up, eat them and generally enjoy messing around with them.

 

[Miniandy]

Thanks for the replies, I will take a look.

I can confirm that Phyllanthus fluitans (red root floaters) and Limnophila sessiliflora are a no.

I do have Houttonia palustris in the tank, but its not growing particularly quickly. I will try it before the summer is out.

 

[kammaroon]

Phyllanthus fluitans

They grew fine in my tub pond and lasted until mid October last year. Same with the Amazon frogbit and other floating plants.

Underneath the lily pads were some Hydrocotyle tripartita and Lobelia cardinalis. They survived the mild London winter. I've removed them now as they're got covered in algae with the lack of floating cover this year.

 

[Miniandy]

They grew fine in my tub pond and lasted until mid October last year. Same with the Amazon frogbit and other floating plants.
View attachment 206869
Underneath the lily pads were some Hydrocotyle tripartita and Lobelia cardinalis. They survived the mild London winter. I've removed them now as they're got covered in algae with the lack of floating cover this year.

Thanks and that's really interesting. The Phyllanthus fluitans went white and faded away very quickly both times I tried. I had presumed it was too cold, but obviously this is not the case. I wonder if it was bleached by the sun🤔

 

[Myrtle]

Thanks and that's really interesting. The Phyllanthus fluitans went white and faded away very quickly both times I tried. I had presumed it was too cold, but obviously this is not the case. I wonder if it was bleached by the sun🤔

I had the same experience with amazon frogbit, faded very quickly even in our current amazon-esque temperatures.

 

[hypnogogia]

I had the same experience with amazon frogbit, faded very quickly even in our current amazon-esque temperatures.

I tried it last year and like yours it faded. I just left it in there and it grew really long roots down I to the sediment and the. Started turning dark green again. The best ones were close to rocks I had in there rather than free floating.

 

[Ehcosbie]

Would moss work?

 

[tam]

What depth is it? Hairgrass will and should overwinter. I actually have a sword plant I stuck outside that survived the winter - although not huge. Vallis will grow. Do you want underwater or things that will grow out?

 

[Miniandy]

What depth is it? Hairgrass will and should overwinter. I actually have a sword plant I stuck outside that survived the winter - although not huge. Vallis will grow. Do you want underwater or things that will grow out?

The shallow end of the pond is circa 12 to 18 inches deep. Both submerged and emersed ideally. The bowl is 18 inches deep.

 

[tam]

I haven't grown it in a tank, but lobelia cardinalis is quite impressive emersed.

What do you have in your tank, we might be able to guess how well it's likely to do outside. I had javafern out over the summer, but I think winter killed it. A lot of things will do summer.

 

[Danlacey1988]

I've managed to grow jungle val ,amazon frogbit (died in september/October time ) same as dwarf water lettuce
Giant val which grew like crazy and over wintered I currently have a amazon sword can't remember which type it died back grew new leafs and is currently loving its life its even grown out of the pond
I used aquatic compost capped with pond gravel from maidenhead
Haven't had much luck with hygrophila it grew a bit but was covered in algae

 

[jwmachon]

Water lettuce are great for filtering nitrates aswell

 

[killi69]

Hi there, great thread! I am really interested in exploring this also and in particular, which plants can survive the winter outside.

I grow the following in my ponds; Sagittaria subulata, Potamogeton gayi, Myriophyllum ' Red Stem', Vallisneria spiralis and giant Vallis. All have overwintered without any problems over several seasons.

The Sagittaria is planted in a basket which sits quite shallow and when water levels drop, its leaves even poke out of the water. It does form a carpet but in my pond, it grows quite slow.

Potamogeton gayi grows well but I am finding that its stems are too brittle and can't cope with the pond maintenance regime very well - large sections of the gayi disappear along with the blanketweed every time I clean the ponds.

Both Vallis species are a bit slow to get going after the winter but by mid summer the giant Vallis in particular has lovely long leaves which soon turn a copper colour in the sun and the plant then starts growing fast producing lots of runners.

Myriophyllum 'Red Stem', looks great in a pond and has lots of potential for underwater aquascaping. It grows so fast, it could be used to create a 'carpet' if you are willing to trim it before the stems reach the surface again. It also goes copper coloured in the sun and provides real depth by drawing the eye right down into the pond.

I lift the pond baskets with the Red Stem every four weeks or so and cut its stems right back. If I would not do so, the plant will start growing above the surface and look completely different. Above water, its leaves are bright green, smaller and solid (second pic below). Although still pretty, the stems will soon spread out across the surface and become a bit of a nuisance. We also have to be careful with this plant in that it does not escape into the wild where it could have the potential to become invasive. Grown either way, 'Red Stem' is a beautiful plant but one which does require some ongoing maintenance to keep it looking good.

 

[Danlacey1988]

I'm currently growing some amazon swords and crypts in my pond along with giant val never attempted the other vals
All the val has made it through winter before but first time with swords and crypt will let you know what happens
If anyone has any suggestions for plants to try next year as I'm really intrested in trying this out the ponds are full of ricefish and shrimps aswell

 

[Mat H]

Cryptocoryne Pontederiifolia is pretty robust for fish that are inclined to eat plants, though I fear it wouldn't do well in low pond temperatures.

It did well in my tropical tanks but was difficult to source in UK so I ended up purchasing it from France.

Generally speaking I find lots of my aquarium plants will survive in a pond environment (excl plant eating fish), though some much better than others and I'd have to report back on overwintering for some.