The Balanced Pond (2nd page)

Now that the amount of light and the amount of fish food is balanced, its time to think about plants. There are three types of plants in my pond

Aquatic palnts (Elodea and Algea)
Marginal plants (Callas, Irises,)
Floating Leaved plants (Water Lilies)

How the plant balance works is the Elodea and algea compete for the same nutrients in the water. As the Elodea grows, they comsume the nutrients and reduce the algea population. Algea ranges from the single celled algea that makes the water look like pea-soup in the spring to complex plants like kelp that grows in the oceans. In the middle is a multicelled algea that looks like angel hair. The fish enjoy the angel-hair algea, and use it to spawn in.

If your pond grows the angel-hair variety naturaly you are unlucky, this algea consumes the nutients that the pea-soup algea needs and keeps the water much clearer, but It will clog your filters and pumps and is extremly difficuult to get rid of! Aquatic plants absorb both the nutrients and carbon dioxide from the water; and give back fish food and oxygen to the pond, durring the day, but absorb oxygen at night.