aphids
Think I have sufficent quantity to hose them off and feed 'em to the
fishies??

Don't hose them, worst thing you can do.

I guess Dragonflies don't eat aphids? I've seen my mosquito
fish jump through the air, why don't they grab some as they go over the
pads?? Should I get my kids a bucket of Lady Bugs and see what fun they
could have with them?? So many questions!!!

Now the lady bug idea I like.

Hosing just spreads them around. Aphids on lily pads usually are very
temporary, if you do it right. The best way I have found is to get in the
pond. If they are really thick on a pad, remove that pad entirely and don't
let any of them fall or wash off. If there aren't many, put one hand under
the lily pad with stem between 1st and 2nd fingers, supporting the pad.
With other hand squish the aphids with either fingers or heel of hand. Be
careful not to rip the pad. Remove any pads that are yellow or starting to
turn yellow, they are aphid magnetics. Do again in a week to get those you
missed. Squishing kills the aphid and removes the eggs. Seems I only have
to do this about twice a season and then the aphids don't come back. I'm
assuming the aphids have periodic migrations and just happen upon my lilies
via wind direction, etc. ~ jan

~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~