Water Lilies in goldfish pond?

[ScubaChick0121]

Hi!!!!
Sorry for all the questions,
just want to do the best for my first pond!!!!

So i did some research and decided to get water lilies for my 400 gallon pond.
I realized that there are some gorgeous ones in a nearby lake so I took my cast net and walked over.
I live in florida so i used the cast net to throw over the lilies, because i really did not want to become gator bait wading into 3' water with a net!! Lol! (wonder what would happen if i threw it over a gator!!! )
So i picked 8 of the best looking ones and scrubed them off.
Then I put the lilies in the pond anchoring them down with a couple of rocks.

In a couple of days im stocking it with goldfish.

My questions are will the lilies need soil?
And did i make the wrong decision of aquiring them from a lake or should have i tryed to find a live one at the store?
Also will the fish like them and will it help the pond?

So many questions!!!!

 

[sostoudt]

sorry i dont know what the lilies require, i do know most plants in ponds are potted.

as with anything wild you have the possiblity of introducing a disease. so watch you first goldies closely(they will be stressed to as they cycle you pond, only get one at first). i would probably recommend future additions be from a store unless you quarentine them or treat them with something to kill parasites or bacteria(i dont know much about that).

they probably will like them, you should have a shady spot for the fish. they may eat them too.

 

[ScubaChick0121]

thxs!

 

[Muske]

Does the pond have gravel on the bottom and shellves?

The lillies will need substrate to stay anchored.

Did you QT them?

 

[shadowspar]

while theres no fish in there you should use potassium permanganate to sterilize that pond, the lilys from the wild could have introduced bad bacteriam, disease, and parasites. looks it up on google, dose with PP and than a dose of hydrogen peroxide to nuetralize it. better safe than sorry, lilys look great in ponds just make sure you cover the roots with large rocks to prevent them from digging through them. GL

 

[ScubaChick0121]

Yes i did qt them muske and there is gravel on the shelves. And thanks for the advice shadowspar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Muske]

Yes the fish will love the plants and they will help with water clarity and quality.

The lillies do not need soil. Depending on how deep the pond is and if the liner is covered w/rocks and gravel, will determine the best way to plant. You said you anchored them w/rocks. Large rocks like baseball size or better, or pea gravel and golf ball sized gravel? If the bottom is covered w/gravel and rocks, leave them. If you anchored them more as a temp. solution, you can pot them up in aquatic pots with gravel so you can more them or pull them out to fertilize them. Both methods work great, the former looks a little better since the pots wil not be visable.

 

[ScubaChick0121]

I am using golf ball large rocks in a pile to anchor them, and the rest of the pond and shelves have gravel.