BenignVanilla wrote:
On the other hand, the just-add-plants mantra I see on the
internet is missing something because I tried it and it didn't work. I'm
hoping that a filter and a lot of plants work.
This is exactly the mantra I have been living by, and so far it has worked.

Which is great. But it works for you and didn't work for me, so
something is missing. It's more than just add plants. For the longest
time I'd buy anacharis, put it in the pond, and watch it die. Now, it's
going crazy. I have no idea why. Matt

Matt, There IS a whole lot more to it than just tossing in more plants. One
possibility: if your pH is too high or too low most plants can't take up
the nutrients. As a pond matures "usually" the pH comes down due to the
breaking down of organics, and thus the plants start taking up more
nutrients, the algae can't compete and clear water results. The filter
coming on line could have just be coincidental, but I'm sure it helped
regardless. Bio-filters have more areas for bacterias that break down
ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate to live on. Without getting to
technical, nitrate is what plants easily feed on.

Do you have a pH test kit?

Have you read these pages?
http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/H2oQual.html

~ jan See my ponds and filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
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