First time pond clean

[michaelsf90]

I'm sure the fish and frogs would eat eggs and its if I end up with Male and female. Il let you know the rough volume tonight and see how many youd recommend. It's more the issue in winter. The deepest part is 60cm but it might only be a tiny part of the pond with the shelves. Il draw the shape and measurements and the shelves. Upload it and see what you think and how many youd recommend. As you can tell I'm totally new to ponds

 

[brokensword]

I'm sure the fish and frogs would eat eggs and its if I end up with Male and female. Il let you know the rough volume tonight and see how many youd recommend. It's more the issue in winter. The deepest part is 60cm but it might only be a tiny part of the pond with the shelves. Il draw the shape and measurements and the shelves. Upload it and see what you think and how many youd recommend. As you can tell I'm totally new to ponds

as you probably already know, the smaller the pond (water volume) the easier for parameters to get out of whack. Overfeeding is the surest way to do that for a small pond. Too, if you have a very shallow pond, if the heron (or other predators) find it, you won't have fish for long. Consider how you might protect them. Shubunkins can get large, up to 16" so keep the numbers small. Fantails don't get near that large and you could have more.

 

[michaelsf90]

The clean is now done. In the deep part the sludge was 2 foot deep. I ended up blowing a paddling pool up and emptying the water and frogs into there. I removed majority of the sludge. Put two bricks and the pump in. Filled the deepest part with water from the paddling pool so the pond water. My back is killing. I plan to add more pond water then fresh water that's been dechlorinated. I didnt want to drain it but I couldn't get anywhere near the sludge. It was so heavy

 

[Lisak1]

I think you did the only thing you could! That's some THICK MUCK! We can all relate to the aching back... but it's a good ache. Much better than the one I get from staring at a computer all day!

Good job!

 

[addy1]

Good job! A lot healthier now.

 

[michaelsf90]

I was shocked at how bad it was. The net couldn't get it out with the weight so I thought I'm going have to drain it. Il add as much of the existing water as I can but it's probably gonne be a 50% water change. The deep part is only small. How many goldfish am I looking at looking at the size in those pictures?

 

[addy1]

Can you do some measurements while empty or get one of those hose water meters to figure out the gallons? Easier to figure out fish load with gallons.

 

[michaelsf90]

It isnt very big. I've got an average depth of 40cm. Average width of 180cm and average length of 120cm. The deepest part is 80cm by 70cm by 30cm. It's only 100 litres in that part. I have probably underdone the averages. I get it around 850 litres. I'd say anywhere between 800 and 1000 litres. Hoping I can get 3 fish in

 

[addy1]

Hoping I can get 3 fish in

Put in Fantails, they do well in smaller ponds, stay small, breed slowly.

 

[michaelsf90]

Would I get 3 in? Or should I start with 2?

 

[addy1]

I have a 300 ish gallon hot tub pond, right now 9 adults and 3 kids live nicely in it. I put in the 9 adults, they are maybe 4 inches in size.

 

[michaelsf90]

US or UK gallon? Mine is around 200 gallon I'd say. So I should be ok with 4. Il start off with 2 and see how I get on. Dont want to add too much. This may seem a silly question but does the cable for the pump need protecting inside the pond? I planned on putting it in some pvc conduit on the outside of the pond

 

[addy1]

does the cable for the pump need protecting inside the pond?

No the pump lines are made to be under water.

300 plus a bit us gallons, prob less after you remove water for the lily pots, the plant pots etc.

 

[michaelsf90]

Im still getting the power sorted. Need a few bits. It will be finished tomorrow. Refilled and powered up il upload some pictures once it's all done

 

[poconojoe]

Good job!
That was a lot of muck!
You should be good for many years now.