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STOCKING THE POND
In the course of time Nature will take the pond
in hand itself and in doing so will elevate it
to a thing of beauty or it will reduce it to an
unsightly puddle. The course taken by Dame
Nature will depend largely on the way the
pond has been designed and stocked in the
first instance.
Plants are of the first importance in the
scheme of things and there is a great variety
from which to choose. They fall naturally
into four main groups : floating plants such
as the water lilies, frogbit, duckweeds, etc. ;
submerged oxygenating plants, to which fall
the task of augmenting the oxygen supply
and providing shelter for fish fry and other
small organisms ; plants that root in the
water but have their foliage and flowers
standing well above the surface-Reed Mace,
Flags, King Cups, Water Mint and so forth ;
finally, plants such as several of the Sagittarias
and the Water Lobelia, that have their leaves
submerged and their flowers standing above
the water.
The pond keeper should endeavour to have
representatives of all four groups in his pool.
A water lily is of paramount importance ;
it is highly decorative, has a slight oxygenating
value and is extremely useful in providing
shade for the fishes. Fishes, it is true, like to
bask in the warm rays of the sun, but there
comes a time when the glare is too much-
it must be remembered that a fish has no
eyelids. Moreover, without the protection of
the large lily leaves the water may become
unduly warm, and thus give rise to a variety
of ailments among the fish.
Frogbit and, in particular, duckweed form
a valuable tonic addition to the fishes' diet,
besides having certain oxygenating qualities.
In the ordinary way the surface of the pond
will absorb oxygen from the air-for this reason
the surface area should be in far greater
proportion than the depth; water at the
bottom of a deep pool contains a low percentage of oxygen, not at all sufficient for the needs
of the fishes. A fish that is doomed to exist
in a tiny bowl of water or in a deep, dark
water-butt soon absorbs all the available
oxygen ; the result is the same as though a
number of human beings were confined in an
airtight compartment.
A few fishes could live in a pool devoid of
vegetation, but the average aquarist usually
taxes the capacity to its limit, consequently
extra oxygen is required. This may be effected
by artificial means-fountains and so forth-
or plants may be brought into service.
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