Re: Plant shade for fish

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Re: Plant shade for fish
From: WORKINGSW at aol_com
Date: Thu, 18 Jan 1996 18:33:34 -0500
cc: cath at aligrafix_co.uk

On Wed, 17 Jan 1996 cath at aligrafix_co.uk (Cath Grimshaw) writes:

<<Has anyone got any bright ideas for a plant suitable for shading comets?
Ideally a fairly low lying one with large leaves (which they perhaps won't
uproot!).>>

You might consider floating plants (completely un-uprootable).  If this is
for an outdoor pond, you may wish to consult the newsgroup rec.ponds for
plants that do well in temperate climes... most of the discussion here is
tropical.

<<My local fish store is too small for a huge variety and another
shop told me that fish are not interested in plants they are purely for
aesthetic purposes (the plants not the fish!). Can this be true?>>

Don't believe a word they say.  While plants may not be aesthetically
appreciated by the fish, and while plastic plants or other ornaments may
provide equally useful hiding places/spawning sites etc. for the fish,
consensus is that healthy growing plants have a positive effect on your water
quality.  And fish are definitely "interested" in that!

You may find, once warmer weather rolls around (you're in England, yes?),
that garden centers with a pond section have some floating plants you might
find useful.

Anne 
in blowy rainy foggy seldom-snowy Santa Cruz