Hello!
I found this board/website researching what to do with a little surprise I found last week. I bought a house almost 3 months ago and the day of the final walkthrough the previous owner told me there was a pond out back. What he forgot to tell me, or didn't know since he never actually lived in the house, is that there were fish in this pond. I didn't notice for a couple of months because I didn't really go to that part of the yard and when I did my dog would always run around it, scaring them below the surface, but last week I was standing by it trying to figure out how to clean it out and noticed an orange thing swimming. I can't see below about an inch under the surface, but I've counted at least 20 at one time, ranging from the size of a pinky finger, to the size of a hand- I think they're goldfish in that they're gold, but the big guy is white, with brown and red/orange, if that matters.
Anyway, so I now I have a fish pond and I don't know what to do with it, but I can't just let them die, so I want to become a fish person. I've attached a picture so you can see what I'm dealing with(this was right when I fed them, so I don't leave the food sitting there- it was gone a couple minutes later). I think it's roughly 7 feet by 3 feet, and it seems to only be a foot deep, but I thought they wouldn't be able to survive a New England winter if it's that shallow, so I'm not sure. Now onto my million questions- any and all help would be much appreciated.
1. DE-ALGAE-FYING IT: As you can see, the water is gross- I've read a million things that are supposed to work, but I'm not sure what the mix of things I need. I bought TetraPond Algae control, but I don't have a pump going yet, so I saw it wasn't safe to use. I did try to use it once (before I read that I needed a pump) and it didn't do anything and the fish are alive still, so I'm afraid to do it again. The girls at PetSmart said to try and put a tarp over it to shade it- does this work? I've also heard of replacing 1/4 of the water at a time- is this effective? I've been doing a couple of pitchers at a time adding the TetraPond stuff that makes tap water safe for fishies, but I'm not sure if this is even an effective thing to do. I also bought a couple of plants at Lowe's yesterday because I saw plants are supposed to help, but they need to grow and summer's running out.
2. FILTER: On top of where the waterfall is supposed to be, I found a box(like for christmas decorations) with another plastic thing in it that has holes in it, with sponge type cloth in it. from what I read, is this a homemade filter? It completely broke apart when I touched it because it probably hasn't been moved in 3+ years, so I can't reuse it, which leads me to- is it easier/cheaper to make one like that, or just buy one? How do I do either of those things
3. PUMP: I read that I needed to have water constantly going to make oxygen for them- I bought a smart pond fp155 and a waterfall attachment thing, but i'm afraid to put it in the pond because I read on the box it isn't meant for marine life, but then multiple places online it says it IS safe for fish, so I'm not sure what to think. Anyone know? Also- should I be nervous about electrocuting myself? I mean it plugs into a wall and goes into the water- every other electrical product I have says this isn't normal. Is this supposed to be in some type of enclosure? I would rather the pump go down the waterfall, but I couldn't find the tubing or whatever that you need for it so I got the fountain attachment.
I know that's a lot, but any advice would be great, and as dumbed down as possible as I have no idea about any of this stuff.
Thanks!
Megan
I found this board/website researching what to do with a little surprise I found last week. I bought a house almost 3 months ago and the day of the final walkthrough the previous owner told me there was a pond out back. What he forgot to tell me, or didn't know since he never actually lived in the house, is that there were fish in this pond. I didn't notice for a couple of months because I didn't really go to that part of the yard and when I did my dog would always run around it, scaring them below the surface, but last week I was standing by it trying to figure out how to clean it out and noticed an orange thing swimming. I can't see below about an inch under the surface, but I've counted at least 20 at one time, ranging from the size of a pinky finger, to the size of a hand- I think they're goldfish in that they're gold, but the big guy is white, with brown and red/orange, if that matters.
Anyway, so I now I have a fish pond and I don't know what to do with it, but I can't just let them die, so I want to become a fish person. I've attached a picture so you can see what I'm dealing with(this was right when I fed them, so I don't leave the food sitting there- it was gone a couple minutes later). I think it's roughly 7 feet by 3 feet, and it seems to only be a foot deep, but I thought they wouldn't be able to survive a New England winter if it's that shallow, so I'm not sure. Now onto my million questions- any and all help would be much appreciated.
1. DE-ALGAE-FYING IT: As you can see, the water is gross- I've read a million things that are supposed to work, but I'm not sure what the mix of things I need. I bought TetraPond Algae control, but I don't have a pump going yet, so I saw it wasn't safe to use. I did try to use it once (before I read that I needed a pump) and it didn't do anything and the fish are alive still, so I'm afraid to do it again. The girls at PetSmart said to try and put a tarp over it to shade it- does this work? I've also heard of replacing 1/4 of the water at a time- is this effective? I've been doing a couple of pitchers at a time adding the TetraPond stuff that makes tap water safe for fishies, but I'm not sure if this is even an effective thing to do. I also bought a couple of plants at Lowe's yesterday because I saw plants are supposed to help, but they need to grow and summer's running out.
2. FILTER: On top of where the waterfall is supposed to be, I found a box(like for christmas decorations) with another plastic thing in it that has holes in it, with sponge type cloth in it. from what I read, is this a homemade filter? It completely broke apart when I touched it because it probably hasn't been moved in 3+ years, so I can't reuse it, which leads me to- is it easier/cheaper to make one like that, or just buy one? How do I do either of those things
3. PUMP: I read that I needed to have water constantly going to make oxygen for them- I bought a smart pond fp155 and a waterfall attachment thing, but i'm afraid to put it in the pond because I read on the box it isn't meant for marine life, but then multiple places online it says it IS safe for fish, so I'm not sure what to think. Anyone know? Also- should I be nervous about electrocuting myself? I mean it plugs into a wall and goes into the water- every other electrical product I have says this isn't normal. Is this supposed to be in some type of enclosure? I would rather the pump go down the waterfall, but I couldn't find the tubing or whatever that you need for it so I got the fountain attachment.
I know that's a lot, but any advice would be great, and as dumbed down as possible as I have no idea about any of this stuff.
Thanks!
Megan
