Well I just installed my first pond. A 9x9x2. When I installed it I made a boo-boo. I did it on a hill and all the ground here in Florida is sand. Therefore, it is slowly washing away with each rain. I was wondering if anyone could suggest someplants that might look really nice and hold up that drop off. It is not steep but I fear it may be just steep enough.
That brings me to my next topic, inside the pond. I put 2 6-9 inch koi, a 2-4 inch koi and 2 tiny sarassa goldfosh in my pond. My question regarding this is: Is there a rule of thumb for assessing how many fish one can put in a designated body of water? I was also curious to know if plecostomus (plecostomi?) were okay for ponds. If anyone has them in their pond please tell me how thats working. Now I am also curious about turtles, frogs, and whatever else can come along. Are turtles really bad to have in a fish/plant pond or can they live together?
Thank you.
Kris

"Well I just installed my first pond. A 9x9x2. When I installed it I made a boo-boo. I did it on a hill and all the ground here in Florida is sand. Therefore, it is slowly washing away with each rain. I was wondering if anyone could suggest someplants that might look really nice and hold up that drop off. It is not steep but I fear it may be just steep enough."

I live in MD with hard clay soil so I'm not that familiar with sandy soils. Can you install some rail road tie timbers to make a retaining wall to hold the sandy dirt in place? I'm also not familiar with the plants native to Florida but I'm sure your local cooperative extension service or soil conservation office can give you a list of native grasses and shrubs that work best for your area.

"My question regarding this is: Is there a rule of thumb for assessing how many fish one can put in a designated body of water?"

It is really the mass of the fish that matters. Since you really can't weigh all your fish on a regular basis, this doesn't really work as a rule. You will come upon some general sorts of rules such as 20-50 gallons per goldfish, 1000 gallons for an initial koi, and 100-200 gallons for each additional koi. The stocking level of fish depends on so many things: the species, the age of the fish, the capacity of the filtration, aeration, the number of plants, the climate, and the risks you are willing to take.

"I was also curious to know if plecostomus (plecostomi?) were okay for ponds. If anyone has them in their pond please tell me how thats working."

Read my section on this here:
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/algae2.htm#eat under plecostomus in ponds. Plecos may suck on goldfish or koi. Being in Florida, they can stay outside in the pond year-round. A lot of people do keep them in their ponds there.

"Now I am also curious about turtles, frogs, and whatever else can come along. Are turtles really bad to have in a fish/plant pond or can they live together?"

Some turtles will eat small fish or rip the fins off of fish. Others eat plants and other animals. Some do both. It depends on how big your pond is, how big the turtle is, what speciers the turtle is, what else is in the pond, etc. Many people do keep turtles in ponds with fish. If you want turtles, you should be willing to accept an occasional fish being eaten or a prized lily being damaged. Here's my page on turtle ponds:
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/turpond.htm

thank you for the speedy reply. I had another question too...
Is it an indication of disease if plants are putting out leaves that are red and brown or just light in color? i.e. my frogbit is doing this.
And thanks again for your quick informative reply.
Kris

I'm probably not the best person to ask as I kind of have a black thumb! I have frogbit in my 50 gallon tank. In the times that the leaves come up yellow, it is often because they got stuck in a dark area. Light leaves may indicate not enough light, too cold, or too much or too little of certain nutrients and/or heavy metals. For details on what means what, you may be able to find a web site on plant deficiencies for land plants which should be basically the same for those in water. My frogbit has never put up red or brown leaves but old leaves turn yellow and then brown as they die (from age and aphids in my tank).