What kinds of plants do you like to grow?

I'm not sure. I'm inexperienced, having only done this for one year. I ordered and grew a dwarf water lily, lemon bacopa, anacharis, and arrow aurum. I think those names are right. :)

They did ok, but I think would've done better with more sun,.

Yeah, I'm for sun too. The lilies will love it.

Any negatives to the tank being in the sun? Also, if someone could direct me to an article or information about how to get the new tank set up and going, as far as the water being ready for the fish before I move them into it, that would be appreciated.

More sun will promote more algal growth. If the surface is covered with lily pads that reduces the algae.

Sounded good until I read that fish were involved. 110 gals is actually not a big pond - so youll get more temp fluctuations and it may get quite hot in full sun esp. if its not sunk into the ground - you should monitor water temp with pond thermometer. water over 80 for any length of time is not good for goldfish - they do best around 70-75 or under. Some shade at least in the hottest part of the day would be ideal even if you have to rig up some kind of fence or shade cloth - trellis with something on it might be nice? Some taller shrubs placed in the right spot can provide shade but without dropping a lot of leaves in like a tree would.

We do plan to partially bury it, and put some plants, either potted or in the ground, around it. So maybe some of those could be taller for shade. I have some canna bulbs to plant, and since those get pretty tall, that may help.

What kind of fish?

Wal-Mart goldfish

That's much better than koi in that small stock tank! I had a couple goldfish when I first started with a half-whiskey-barrel pond. A cat got one of them, and the other I brought into the house (aquarium) in the Fall. He/she turned from black to gold, and lived several years and grew to about 9"!

Full sun works well for plants, but 110 gallon stock tank will

get too hot for fish, they'll cook in very hot weather.

The tank is now 1/3 to 1/2 buried in the ground. With having plants and maybe soil and rocks around the part of the tank that's still above ground, will that make it cool enough for my fish?

where are you located? What planting zone?

4 or 5. Probably more a zone 5.

You need to have about 70 percent shade coverage to prevent extreme algae growth. The shade can be either plant leafs or man made or a combination of both.

I doubt that you'll experience issues with the pond becoming too hot in your growing zone. Phoenix, AZ, yes but not in a zone 5 garden.

Hyacinth is our favorite plant for helping to keep our

water clear and healthy. We have it in our biological

pond. Unfortunately, in our pond the fish love to eat it,

so we rotate it back and forth between the pond and the bio pond.

Get you fish used to frequent water exchanges. We don't have to

use de-clor, so we add water practically everyday...we estimate that

the water we add results in a water exchange of a about 35 to

45 percent per week. We just let the hose run in the pond for

about 15 minutes each day...The excess overflowed the sides...

the fish love it and so do all the surrounding plants and flowers.

This is especially helpful in hot, hot weather to cool down the water.

In zone 5, your goldfish should do ok...

again, hyacinth with its long flowing roots and good top coverage will

help your water temp and your fish.

Good luck.

What is a biological pond?

We have a 3500 gallon pond and 18 feet away we have a 200 gallon

biological pond that is loaded with plants/hyacinth/vegetation etc...

After the water leaves the three filter tubs, it travels to the bio pond and it enters the bio pond via underground tubing...the water travels thru the bio pond then back to the main pond. The water flow between ponds is a 24/7 operation.

The bio pond gives the water it's final polishing

before it re-enters the big pond.

Wow. That sounds pretty complicated. You must have beautiful ponds though.

You need to into check the legalities of growing Water Hyacinth in your area. It's a prohibited weed in many places and can be very costly to eradicate if it gets away. And very costly if you're found growing or harbouring it.