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Old 03-10-2005, 01:51 AM
Ed
 
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Animator wrote:
I have a 250 gallon pond on my deck.
So winterizing according to zones (6)doesn't actually work since there is no
deep spot that stays "warmer".
I intend on bringing the plants inside as the fish have never had a problem.
What lighting will I need to keep them going in the house?


Last year we took our fish inside for winter, and we saved as many
plants as we had room for (water lettuce and water hyacinth). We put a
few plants in the aquariums, and the rest in a large plastic tub
(filled with water) with a flourescent light fixture over them (two
bulbs, 40 watts each). This worked pretty well, and we didn't have to
buy those again this year. We kept the lights within a few inches of
the plants, and left them on about 14 - 16 hours per day. We just used
cool white bulbs, but you can use 1 cool white, and 1 warm white bulb
if you want a greater variation of light temperature (color, not heat).
We had marginal plants that I just dug a hole in the garden, and put
them in for the winter. They were fine too. The tropicals, we just got
rid of. We're in zone 5.