Foam on surface of my pond

[Artist]

My pond filter has broken so I directed the hose from the pump back into the pond without it going through a filter, I thought to oxygenate the water, but what I get is a mass of foamy bubbles on the surface of the water, although the recycled water coming out of the hose is clear.
I added some liquid natural pond bacteria to the pond 2 days ago.
The pump may be too strong now it is not going through a filter.
There is a big overhanging tree over part of the pond and birds roost in it, but this was never a problem before when the filter was working.
I havent had the filter or pump on for nearly a year.
The pond has lots of plants and wildlife and goldfish in it and the water looks fairly clear.
I found 4 dead goldfish in it this week but I thought that was because I forgot to stop it freezing over for 2 days.
I lost my husband a year ago and it was him who looked after the pond, pump and filter. I just added plants and fish and made it look nice.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! Important to note that your filter is an integral part of your pond — location of the beneficial bacteria (not all of it, of course, as every surface of your pond will harbor those bacteria).

 

[brokensword]

foam that persists on the top of the pond is usually from DOCs (dissolved organic compounds) in the water. When fish are spawning, this is prevalent as well. The filter was obviously helping with this issue; I'd get that taken care of. And yeah, look for anything dead in the water and get it out. If you have a lot of rotting leaves/debris on the pond bottom, that contributes to your DOCs.

 

[Artist]

foam that persists on the top of the pond is usually from DOCs (dissolved organic compounds) in the water. When fish are spawning, this is prevalent as well. The filter was obviously helping with this issue; I'd get that taken care of. And yeah, look for anything dead in the water and get it out. If you have a lot of rotting leaves/debris on the pond bottom, that contributes to your DOCs.

I have a pond vac but it worries me that little creatures will get sucked up too so only used it once. Do you think I should use it now and sacrifice the pond life?

 

[brokensword]

I have a pond vac but it worries me that little creatures will get sucked up too so only used it once. Do you think I should use it now and sacrifice the pond life?

well, most when using such will actually search through (they use a long handle pond net, small weave) and sift the pond life out. If there's much of any decay down there, you're risking the pond life you actually built the pond for, esp with a filter that is not functioning. It can be hard, making such choices, and I understand; hence take your time or close your eyes and just clean the decay out.

 

[GBBUDD]

If you have a lot of rotting leaves/debris on the pond bottom, that contributes to your DOCs.

THIS TIME OF YEAR THERES LOTS OF DEATH . this foam says to me if you have not lost any fish is that more then likely your filter is just barely able to keep up with demand. Like was said if you have lots of dead plants pull them make sure the leaves are pulled out and think about a possible filter upgrade.

 

[Lisak1]

I agree with @GBBUDD -get the obvious sources of organic material out of the pond best you can. But the small amount of foam you are showing in the picture really isn't something I'd worry too much about.