I have been trying to get a little pond started (30 or 40 gal) and am really stressed at the moment. I'm ready to give up or scream or both!
I've had several people work on it and it still leaks but that's not my immediate problem. Due to trying to fix it, it has been cleaned and emptied several times. So, some weeks ago I bought some water plants from someone locally and that was a serious mistake since most have died. Since the pond is not working right, I put the plants in a plastic container and try to keep fresh water in it with mosquito dunks (expensive) I took one pot (of mud) out and it has many little red worms about 1 to 2" - very wiggley - ugh - so I took the plant out and threw away the pot and mud. Of course I accidentally broke off the plant and the tuber (don't remember what it was) has long roots but I think it's a gonner too.
I took a surviving umbrella plant and a tiny lily pad both in 4" pots with their mud and put them back in the pond which was supposed to be working but still leaking. Well, I went to top it off this morning and there were those worms again but this time they're all sized from tiny to huge! I saw three that look like small snakes about 4 or 5" long. Please help! Are they baby snakes? Should I try to kill them? How?
Help! Baby snakes? Worms? Please Help!
Please check out this link. Little red worms are good..meaning your water is healthy!
http://www.ponddoc.com/WhatsUpDoc/FishHealth/RedWorms.html
I was dismayed the first time I saw those in my filters until I found out what they were. If they are really thin and wiggly they are probably blood worms and are a great fish delicacy. BeaHive is correct when she says that it means your water it healthy.
I thought blood worms too, but 5" long? Wow! They usually don't get over an inch do they?
http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Live%20Food,%20Blood%20Worms.htm
Oh, I hope you all are right! I (maybe) exagerrated - I guess the max is 4". Does that sound right? I googled images and that looks like them. I don't have any fish yet. Can't even get the plants to grow.
Yet.
Well, everything IS bigger in Texas isn't it! But the aquatic larvae of Chironomidae "blood worms" only get about an inch long.
The plants are easy to grow-tell me what is going on-and what plants you tried and in how many inches of water and lets see if we can solve some of your plant issues. I may not "get" the raising of koi but I definitely "get" plants!!!!
Thank you so much Mothermole! I've spent the last couple of hours reading threads on this forum and I just love it. You all seem so nice and such beautiful pictures! I'm saving some for inspiration but as I said, I only have a very small pond and we can't seem to find the leak. It's very frustrating. Maybe I should have some kind of liner made (metal)?
Right now my little plants are in a litter box with water but one of the plants - (has arrow shaped leaves) - is in an 8" pot so I can't keep it submerged in the litter box, which is only 4 or 5" deep, but I hate to dig it out because I'm squeemesh about the little worms. Yuck. The others are those (parrot feathers ?) that float and sprout above the water - just a few little ones left. The only hardy looking one is the umbrella plant. I guess they're fool proof. I'm trying to create a water wall on two sides of the corner of my brick courtyard. I want the water to dribble down into the triangular little pond. I'm about to give up, though. I don't see any signs of the water lily. Where do you all buy your plants? Maybe a Petco or Petsmart would work. I have a 120 gal aquarium in my office but plastic plants, so trying aquarium plants is a new hobby for me. Maybe I should just wait till spring.
Texas Water Lilies has plants that are inexpensive and he has a pretty good variety. I have purchased from them in the past and would not hesitate to do so again. Here is a link for you. http://texaswaterlilies.com/
Thank you, that's a wonderful website. I've added it to my favorites and will puruse when I have more time. Will definitely order some when I can figure out how to stop the leak in my pond. Thanks so much.
I doubt petsmart n petco have decent plants- except for indoor aquariums- n some of those do work outdoors. u have arrowroot/ wapato in Indian/ arrow shaped plant, needs
only boggy to a few inches of water above it, the leak, if u have a small waterfall could be evaporation in San Antone, or it can cause a soft spot in the mud under the liner, or an overlapping edge if u have joined pieces of liner. Fish R Us in Conroe I've picked up some decent indoor aquarium plants, expensive, they r online also.com, worms are good, help the bacteria in u pond to make plants healthier. Look for plants like frogbit, dunno real latin name, hornwort, horsetails, etc
oh yeah! I also keep a pot of Hydrillis for the fish - they have pretty little blue flowers on them!
Sorry I haven't responded earlier-I got very busy suddenly. With regards to your plants, all the plants you mentioned are fairly easy to grow. Are the leaves burnt? Are there any signs of bugs eating the leaves or boring holes in the stems? Is there any white fluff growing on them? Consider dumping the container out with the worms and refill with fresh water. If there aren't any fish in the container add a little liquid plant food to the water. Were you ever able to identify the worms? Did you pull any of the plants out of their original containers and look at the root growth? Maybe they need to be freed of the little pots and given more space for their roots.
Regarding plants, I bought some beautiful lillies here online through a davesgarden co-op. They were from Texas water lillies and they were selling them at great prices. The plants were terrific and big! Also, consider posting here that you would consider plants in the mail from other people here like myself who live in a cold climate and some of the higher zone plants will not survive the winter. I would rather they were rehomed the plants then have them die. Fortunately, I have a make shift green house that I will put my tropicals into for the winter but I am sure a lot of other people here would consider sending you some.
I'm trying to post a picture (complete with plastic lily pad- I'm trying to attract a frog) Here goes.
It worked! I haven't posted pictures in a couple of years. I know, weird. Here'a another, I think. I need help if someone knows how to make a water wall NOT leak. The pond doesn't, it's the wall or walls.
