I live in San Francisco and have a small 500 gallon decorative pond
about 18" deep. Of coure, Spring brings with it a huge algae bloom and
I'd like to put some plants in there to compete with the algae and
wanted some suggestions. Given the landscaping, the plants should grow
to no more than 18" tall, some shorter. Anyd ideas for good plants to
use for this scenario?

BTW, the pond just has a couple gold fish so fish load isn't a problem.

cc's offline to would be appreciated since my
news server is very unreliable.

Thanks, Bill

"William Laven" wrote in message
...
I live in San Francisco and have a small 500 gallon decorative pond
about 18" deep. Of coure, Spring brings with it a huge algae bloom and
I'd like to put some plants in there to compete with the algae and
wanted some suggestions. Given the landscaping, the plants should grow
to no more than 18" tall, some shorter. Anyd ideas for good plants to
use for this scenario?
=========================
It's hard to suggest what would stay under 18" tall - for instance, in one
of my ponds pickerel weed is always lower and smaller than in the other pond
where it's gotten huge. Ditto for arrowheads. I was given something
called variegated Japanese water grass and it's stays about 13" no matter
where I put it.

Avoid water iris and water bamboo, both get very tall.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." :-)
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

William Laven wrote:
I live in San Francisco and have a small 500 gallon decorative pond
about 18" deep. Of coure, Spring brings with it a huge algae bloom and
I'd like to put some plants in there to compete with the algae and
wanted some suggestions. Given the landscaping, the plants should grow
to no more than 18" tall, some shorter. Anyd ideas for good plants to
use for this scenario?

BTW, the pond just has a couple gold fish so fish load isn't a problem.

cc's offline to would be appreciated since my
news server is very unreliable.

Thanks, Bill

Fiber optic grass (Isolepis cernua) and Japanese rush or sweet flag
(Acorus gramineus 'variegatus') are doing well for me. The sweet flag
is about a foot tall, and the fiber optic grass about 8". I have the
water right at the crown of both.

Water lettuce and water hyacinth also come to mind. I usually see 70F
as the temp to set those two out. They both shade the surface to keep
algae from getting as much light as well as compete with the algae.
Water lettuce stays a few inches tall. The water hyacinth is taller, at
maybe 5". I haven't seen the blooms yet to know how tall they are. My
green water finally cleared when I got enough water lettuce and water
hyacinth growing.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Water Poppy, Creeping Jenny and Ruby Runner all grow very well in my pond.
They are more spreading type plants than vertical. HTH
Bill

"Elaine T" wrote in message
...
William Laven wrote:
I live in San Francisco and have a small 500 gallon decorative pond
about 18" deep. Of coure, Spring brings with it a huge algae bloom and
I'd like to put some plants in there to compete with the algae and
wanted some suggestions. Given the landscaping, the plants should grow
to no more than 18" tall, some shorter. Anyd ideas for good plants to
use for this scenario?

BTW, the pond just has a couple gold fish so fish load isn't a problem.

cc's offline to would be appreciated since my
news server is very unreliable.

Thanks, Bill

Fiber optic grass (Isolepis cernua) and Japanese rush or sweet flag
(Acorus gramineus 'variegatus') are doing well for me. The sweet flag is
about a foot tall, and the fiber optic grass about 8". I have the water
right at the crown of both.

Water lettuce and water hyacinth also come to mind. I usually see 70F as
the temp to set those two out. They both shade the surface to keep algae
from getting as much light as well as compete with the algae. Water
lettuce stays a few inches tall. The water hyacinth is taller, at maybe
5". I haven't seen the blooms yet to know how tall they are. My green
water finally cleared when I got enough water lettuce and water hyacinth
growing.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com