Hi, Are you only interested in water plants? I have land plants, but newly moved with pond that needs some plants!! Thanks!!

dirtslinger2, I have a man made natural pond that is at the deepest about 6 feet deep (should be at least 10 feet but has years of build up on the bottom) my water level can also drop considerably, but during the summer when we do not get much rain. I have many water lilies in my pond some I added last year some the year before. I would suggest that maybe you could either get a cheap water lily like the ones that you can get at walmart, lowes or home depot. By us these places usually sell water lilies for around $5. The year before last I bought a $5 walmart water lily and it is my favorite. Below I linked a thread from last year about them. Down toward the bottom somewhat you can read what I posted about these water lilies and I also posted a picture of mine. Anyhow if you get one of these you can always experiment without spending or wasting too much money. Another suggestion would be you could always put a water lily in a pot and if the water level drops too far you could move it out deeper, just for the winter. But if you are too do this I would suggest you should get a nice pair of boots for wading in water. I think we have used ours more for the pond than for fishing. I am not sure how deep mine are but I think I may have one that is around 3 or 4 feet deep. So you may be ok if you put one as shallow as possible, but deep enough so that it does not surface in the winter. bradley, Is your water lily in the sun? If it is in shade that may be why it is not blooming for you, most water lilies need sun in order to bloom. In fact the flower on my walmart water lily will close as soon as it is in the shade. I don't think it should hurt it to be 12 inches deep. I have had one bloom when it was around that deep. I do have one that has not bloomed for me yet. I bought it around the same time I got my first walmart lily. I got it from my local garden center. Last year it grew really well with lots of leaves but not one flower. It is right next to my walmart lily so it is not a sun problem. The only thing that I can think of is maybe it is too deep. The one that has not flowered yet is the one that is the deepest in the pond. Here is a link that might be useful: walmart water lily thread

pondmanimal I want to grow the tiny west african dwarfs . Much too small for a pond. Pads max out at two inches. , I just happen to like aquariums as much if not more than ponds . Most WL are far too large and need very intense light. I'd always blamed past failures on light levels. Weathersby Have kept tropical lilies since 1982 . They have experienced down to 26 which is hard freeze Sure it wasn't your water depth. WL are very light demanding ,that's why the floating pads. This year all my fish were wiped out (Swordtails ) for the first time. ever . Not sure why ,only thing I see different is the duration of the cold . Set several record as it stayed below 42 for almost 4 days . 28 was the lowest I recorded but there were several back to back frosts. All the lilies were severly set back but all are recovering even the aquarium plants are recovering.except for those grown in the bog situation . They were above the water line. What kind of lilies did you have ?? Most would be hard pressed in water that deep. gary

For a small pond like you describe I have found the pondmaster 190 kit (part number 2019) to be a good fit. It is a one piece pump and filter. It comes with an optional aquabell attachment that you probably won't use. I have a very small header pool on top of a stream that used to get a lot of sediment in it. I put this pump/filter in there without the attachment and it just discharges under the surface. The turbulence is minimal and it has really helped the water clarity. My $0.02: make the pond as big as you can now, you will never be sorry that it is too big. Here is a link that might be useful: Pondmaster 190