Apartment complex has a waterfall/pond setup with fish which has been disconnected for years. Green water low oxygen.

[arpunk]

My building has a pond with goldfish in it. They have been here for at least 15 years. I don't recall if the waterfall used to be on when I first moved in.

I noticed yesterday that all of the fish were at the surface which tells me the pond was low on oxygen. I did some investigating and I see that the power cord has been cut. I don't know if it was cut for a reason but I am tempted to splice the wires back together but I want to make sure this isn't going to cause some unintended consequence. Does anyone think that it would be a bad idea to splice the power wires back together and plug it in?

This building has had a lot of issues in the past and we are just getting back on our feet. I have emailed management and the board but haven't gotten a response as of yet. Please understand that I am doing everything I can do to get the building to address this issue but they have much larger issues to deal with.

Here is a video of the setup:

https://imgur.com/etPolEj

 

[GBBUDD]

So the lack of a filter around the pond says to me that the biofalls /waterfall and the skimmer are probably it.

The box you were looking it more than likely is a transformer for lighting.

Looks like the concrete base has a leak as the black material sticking up above the water in the begining of the video says the pond was probably lined at one point. Now is the leak high up and the now water level is at the spot where it is leaking or has the liner and debris clogged the hole over the years.

If my assumptions are correct that there is no filter hiding . Turning on the pump IF THERE is one. To a old filter or pipes can be blowing water that is stagnant and hydrogen sulfide could blow into the pond and kill anything there..

The electrical could be so weathered as soon as the power starts flowing and heats up it could throw the jacket off exposing bare wires.



is

 

[arpunk]

So the lack of a filter around the pond says to me that the biofalls /waterfall and the skimmer are probably it.

The box you were looking it more than likely is a transformer for lighting.

Looks like the concrete base has a leak as the black material sticking up above the water in the begining of the video says the pond was probably lined at one point. Now is the leak high up and the now water level is at the spot where it is leaking or has the liner and debris clogged the hole over the years.

If my assumptions are correct that there is no filter hiding . Turning on the pump IF THERE is one. To a old filter or pipes can be blowing water that is stagnant and hydrogen sulfide could blow into the pond and kill anything there..

The electrical could be so weathered as soon as the power starts flowing and heats up it could throw the jacket off exposing bare wires.



is

Alright thank you for your response, first of all; I appreciate it.

Please understand I know nothing about ponds I’m just a shareholder in the building and I want to fix this situation.

When you say there is no filter around the pond… what would a filter around a pond typically look like?

I don’t know if the box is for lighting but that’s the only thing I have found that has any power attached to it.

If the pond hasn’t been maintained in years, couldn’t the black liner showing simply mean that the water has evaporated faster than the rain has refilled it?

There is a whole waterfall system there. I actually ran into the super coincidentally a few minutes ago and he said that there is an elbow that broke years ago which is why the pond was shut off. I’m hoping we can fix that elbow and re-splice the wire to get it back up and running.

 

[netvine]

It looks like the skimmer was the water intake and it fed the waterfall.

Would adding dechlorinator, and then tap water, (a partial water change) be a positive step this person could do until management can addess it?

 

[GBBUDD]

Just noticed the water is just below the skimmer intake. so it could be the elbow out the back of the skimmer that they were referring to.

 

[GBBUDD]

When you say there is no filter around the pond… what would a filter around a pond typically look like?

older set ups usually had a sand filter and that looks like a above ground canister , or they can be semi round.

but you probably had a filter pad in the skimmer and then the same in the waterfall barrel we will call it. The biofalls is that black barrel. There may have been gravel or lava rock as a bio media in the bottom.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum! You will get a lot of help for the ponders here. A bunch of smart ones.

 

[j.w]

@arpunk
Hope you can find the problem and get it fixed. If not maybe time for a new home for the fish fast?