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Swan mussels

Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
in Wildlife gardening
We have just received a new catalogue from Marshalls where they are selling Swan Mussels - anyone have these in their pond or can recommend them?

Posts

  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 21,228
    No, but a quick Google revealed this rather unsettling aspect of their lifecycle...

    http://www.mankysanke.co.uk/html/swan_mussels.html
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • LynLyn DevonPosts: 21,141
    Yuk! I just have lots and lots of oxygenating plants to keep the water clear. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    Thanks for the link pansyface - I think we will give them a miss - yes oxygenating plants are useful Lyn, but as our PH is still on the high side we are disappointed to find that most of the plants die.
  • ObelixxObelixx Vendée, Western FrancePosts: 28,569
    Try adding a bit of vinegar GD but slowly and check PH afterwards.  I take it you've filled it with hard tap water.   As it gets up with rainwater over the next few months things should improve.   As ever, research before planting and patience afterwards.
    "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." - George Bernard Shaw
  • Guernsey Donkey2Guernsey Donkey2 Posts: 6,713
    Not tried the vinegar Obelixx although it was suggested previously to us last year. We have at least got the PH down from 9.....  to 8.5 in the last year - the aim is to reach 7.5. Patience isn't my strongest point, but we are doing all we can to bring the reading down. There is no tap water in our pond - well and rain water only.  The well water reading is 7.5, so that isn't the problem.
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