pond plants for zone 8 central Texas

[electrikat]

Would appreciate any info on good hardy pond plants for use in zone 8 central Texas area. Need some from each type(marginal, floaters etc). Any help would be appreciated. [acronym:210e6bf017="Thanks in Advance"]TIA[/acronym:210e6bf017]

Well....

Almost anything for Texas (I am in OK)

You will find the hardest floaters to grow is Lettuce and Hyacinth. You need to try them to see if they will grow for you, because for some people they do not grow.

Anyway... As far as hardy fast growing hard to kill...
Anacharis, Hornwort for submerged.
Floating- Pennywort, parrots feather
Marginal- Rushes, Celery, Mint, Pickeral, the list here goes on and on. Most anything you want.

Like I said you can grow almost anything you want in Texas.

[ReefNooB]

In TX a majority of the floating plants such as Hyacinth and Lettuce are illegal to have. I have HEARD that the fine is in the $250 range...so be careful.

One more submergable plant that is really nice in Cabomba, but its likes cooler shady water.

If you are intrested in water lilies tropicals do very well here, but you have to be careful because they can die during the winters here. I work at a pond supply store in San Antonio area and i tell customers that with a pond 3ft deep in ground their tropicals will come back year after year. If you have say a 2ft deep timber pond or water trough pond i would be pretty cautious.

One more thing is to be careful when u buy a plant because most plants labeled as full sun only need partial sun here because the sun is so intense here.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me i will be happy to answer any questions you have.

Cabomba fish eat quicker because its leaves are smaller and easier for them to eat.

TX is a lot like OK, OK has colder wints than TX, and summers are sometimes hotter (Aunt lives down in Dallas)

Trops live fine through the winter here, I have seen them live in 1.5' deep.

You just dont want them to freeze. TX doesnt freeze but a couple inches or so thick on top, and other than that the water is basically all the same temp underneath.

As long as the plant wont turn ito ice you will be fine...

Like I said you can have almost any plant you want to have in this area (Zone

[electrikat]

We have a 5 man hot tub that is 30" at the deepest(feet area) and 20 to 24" deep everywhere else(seats). It is buried in the ground except for the top 12" or so. The buried part is also coated in foam insulation(because it's a hot tub). It's appx 450 to 500 gallons or so. I don't anticipate any complete freezes but will probably stick to the hardy lillies for lilly type plants. The local pond store has all kinds of lillies, cabomba, parrot feather, anacharis, papyrus, some kind of palm, pickerelweed, rush, and several others I can't remember. We have made a filter out of a 5 gallon water cooler. Any ideas on how many of each type of plant I should get? How many koi(if any) and goldfish can it handle with a good bio filter and plenty of oxygenating plants? We are also building a water fall to help oxygenate the water and to help with bio filtering.

[electrikat]

They also have plecos, bullfrog tadpoles, and snails. What are your thoughts on these in a pond. The pleco will definitely be questionable.

maybe a couple smaller koi.

Koi seem to grow and grow no matter what the pond size.

Goldfish tend to grow to the pond size.

Just get what you think looks ok.

Dont overdo it.

There are plenty of rules but use your best judgement is all I can say...

[electrikat]

We had two plain goldfish(leftover feeders from lionfish) that we had in a 5 gallon bucket(fake wishing well in garden) and have put them in to start the cycle. I am assuming that it has to cycle like anything else. Plants in now ? Fish in when? How does the cycle on a pond work ? Any different than a saltwater tank?

Originally Posted by electrikat

They also have plecos, bullfrog tadpoles, and snails. What are your thoughts on these in a pond. The pleco will definitely be questionable.

Plecos woudl be fine but they need to be taken inside during the winter.

Snails sometimes die in the winter but they are cheap enough you can buy new ones again.

Tadpoles will turn into frogs wich live through the winter.

[electrikat]

How do the frogs get into and out of the pond? It is slick sided and 12 inches above the ground level.