# Plant survivability question



## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

I'm about to undergo and put in about a 1000g pond if I can accomplish FW plants. The biggest problem is sunlight. Period. It's on the north side of my house by my front door. Nearly half of the year it doesn't get direct sunlight at all. Tons of indirect though with my house being white. What would be my possibilities for having any plants that would survive with only that indirect sunlight?

My goal is to setup a long term pond in raising Denison barbs, in which I need some dense material for the fry to hide in. 

After that I could use a small hand on wattage for a heater (as I'm in FL it does get cold for about a week here). I was thinking some where around 2 1000w inline heaters. And a pond filter.


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

I hear hornwort grows well in shaded areas of the pond. You're lucky, I wish I would have put my pond in the shade. Your pond shouldn't get green water like mine does.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Another great pond plant is waterpest. Doesn't need a lot of sunlight either.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

java or christmas moss for the bottom along with a bunch of catappa leaves....hornwort for he upper regions....get some plastic kitty litter pans..drill holes in the bottoms and line with nylon or plastic window screen...a little soil and gravel....plant with all kinds of crypts...about 1 every 4 square inches...you could also plant vals and sags like that as well...


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

lohachata said:


> java or christmas moss for the bottom along with a bunch of catappa leaves....hornwort for he upper regions....get some plastic kitty litter pans..drill holes in the bottoms and line with nylon or plastic window screen...a little soil and gravel....plant with all kinds of crypts...about 1 every 4 square inches...you could also plant vals and sags like that as well...


Lend me some clarity Loha. I'm confused with all the plants you named off like I can just throw them all in there. Or can I? Once dug out and lined, it should be roughly 7 foot long, 5-6 feet wide and roughly 22-26 inches deep. So roughly 500-750 gallons. Never did the math, because I never measured until tonight after work.

The kitty litter pans I get, but what I personally was going to do was try and level off the bottom fairly well, line it with a good 1/4" or bigger pond liner and fill the bottom mixing a nutrient rich aquarium soil with gravel for stability roughly 2 inches thick. Of course after I see how the flows are in the pond with just fake plants, don't want to plant something, turn the filter on and WOOSH lol. Would this be acceptable in your eyes, or do I run the risk of the plants really taking over with all of the area covered with soil/gravel?



P.senegalus said:


> I hear hornwort grows well in shaded areas of the pond. You're lucky, I wish I would have put my pond in the shade. Your pond shouldn't get green water like mine does.


Hopefully not, really not in the mood for spending a couple hundred on a UV sterilizer for it. But if it must be done, it will.


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## P.senegalus (Aug 18, 2011)

My previous pond was shaded by trees and the bottom stayed visible, it only got morning sun. I would have left it there but it would fill with leaves incredibly fast. 

Sounds cool how you are planning to plant the bottom. If you go this route, I would leave a few spots bare of soil/plants or get some smooth rocks to walk on so you could maneuver around in the pond without stepping on your plants, just a suggestion.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

great idea ps.....find a stream and gather some large flat rocks about 10-12" diameter and place them around in the pond so you can walk on them...
you can go ahead and plant everything in your substrate..before long you will be harvesting all kinds of plants and selling them here.which is great....the pans were only for controlling growth..you could just pull a pan and thin out the plants more easily...
you could probably even grow some nice swords as well..for filtration you could cut down a couple of 5 gallon buckets(look for black ones so they don't show) to about 10 tall...and set them up like undergravel filters using small (600-800GPH) pumps inside of the buckets..just run tubes up to the surface like fountains....
the mosses are for the spawning of the fish ; refuge and food source for fry...
you could also find a bunch of pieces of driftwood and attach anubias to them...they will thrive and look fantastic..


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## blindkiller85 (Jan 8, 2011)

That's one thing I wish I had that you northern guys do. Streams with rock in it. 

I go to any river that I've ever seen is just filled full of mud.


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