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Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

Posted by se_tx_gardener 9 (My Page) on
Sun, Mar 28, 10 at 9:21

I have a small 110 gallon stock tank on my porch. I need ideas on making plant shelves I can hang over the sides for my marginals to sit on.


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

You don't say how deep the tank is. I used bricks in a 50 gal tank to put plants on. I had put a few baby fish from the pond in it to keep the mosquito wigglers at bay and they enjoyed swimming under the plant pots. I also put a fish tower on bricks and they actually used it!!

If the tank is deeper, then maybe old cement blocks would work.

Also, what about the pre-made plant frames that are made to hang over railings. I've seen them at places like Home Depot.

Anne

Here is a link that might be useful: Fish Tower Thread


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

I'm only interested in hanging marginals. Stacking blocks and bricks takes up too much floor area as I need the room for all my clams to dig. I may improvise on the floating islands also.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

Keeping clams must be interesting. What do you feed them? What is the hardest part of clam keeping?


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

They are filter feeders and bury themselves in the substrate. They help filter the water by remooving detritus and uneaten food. The end result is reduced nitrate levels and improved water quality.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

I haven't seen shelves, but I have seen posts from people with large above ground ponds that hung individual pots off the sides. I seem to recall that two hangers per pot were needed. I'll try searching for the posts.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

Thanks--I'm still trying to come up with an idea.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

Do you have fish in your pond also, or just clams? We have fresh water clams in my area and I have always been fascinated by them, but never thought of keeping them in a pond. We had mink that lived under our dock and in the morning we'd find piles of clam shells where they had been "dining in the dark"!!


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

If you come up with something, please post. I have an above ground pond as well. It is landscape timbers finished off at the top with a 1x6. I have used black milk crates which at least are can be moved around easily. Where in SE Texas are you?


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

Pashta--No mink around here! Along with clams I stock my ponds with fancy goldfish, no koi.

garden_mama--I'm in Orange, on the TX/LA border.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

h20, I know precisely where that is. I'm in Beaumont. :) I'm curious, do the clams work that well? Where did you get them? I have a huge plecostomus that will be going back outside soon. He helps with algae. I think the handful of koi I have eat any and all leftover food!


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

We were in Beaumont earlier this week! Is there a nursery there that sells pond plants and accessories?

This is my first year with clams and I bought them on eBay.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

No nursery for pond plants that I know of. There used to be one near Kountze but they closed. I think there might be one in Vidor. You might try looking on southeasttexas.com. Anything I have bought in the last year has been on eBay. Although I did gather some in a nearby lake a couple of weeks ago. Lowes has some stuff, but it's usually pretty pathetic. If you are interested in lotuses, the Buddhist temple in Port Arthur has an event (last year in June I think) and you can buy lotuses and bamboo. I bought one last year, have repotted it and am praying it does well.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

I use hanging plant extension hooks to hang pots on the sides of my stock tanks. Drill 2 small holes in the side of a plastic pot about 1"-2" down and about 3"-4" apart(spacing depends on how big the pot is and how deep you want it in the water). Stick the bottom of the 'S' hook into the pot from the outside and hang on the side of the tank. Could also be used with mesh pots.

The hooks are similar to the link below, but I use 4" ones from Ace Hardware or Fleet Farm that cost about $2.

S

Here is a link that might be useful: Plant hooks


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Pot holders

Here's a couple other ideas. I've not tried them but if they were deep enough they may work for garden mama.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pot Holders


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

Thanks for the link, SHEEPCO. Those hangers are what I had in mind.


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RE: Plant shelves for Above Ground Watergarden

I may have to try a couple of those. They look like they might work really well. Thanks!!


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