First time pond owner: Do I need to feed my fish + Other Questions

[akanksha1985]

Hi,

Our home came with this large water feature which I have converted to a pond. It has only 4 gold fish but I have following questions:

1. Do I need to give food to the fish? It seems our fish eat the small green algae or other organic matter coz anytime I give the fish food (salmon flakes), they never come up to eat it.

2. As you can see, the water has turned green so any advice on how to keep it clear? I have already put barley straw last week and planted 2 water lilies. Any other ideas?

3. I planted water lilies in those blue planters (shown in image) but left cattail directly in the pond. Do I need to plant that also in a container? I want all plants to spread so they can cover the pond quickly. Will gold fish eat the plants if I left these directly in water?

 

[brokensword]

Hi,

Our home came with this large water feature which I have converted to a pond. It has only 4 gold fish but I have following questions:

1. Do I need to give food to the fish? It seems our fish eat the small green algae or other organic matter coz anytime I give the fish food (salmon flakes), they never come up to eat it.

2. As you can see, the water has turned green so any advice on how to keep it clear? I have already put barley straw last week and planted 2 water lilies. Any other ideas?

3. I planted water lilies in those blue planters (shown in image) but left cattail directly in the pond. Do I need to plant that also in a container? I want all plants to spread so they can cover the pond quickly. Will gold fish eat the plants if I left these directly in water?

View attachment 138008

Your fish will be fine; goldfish are tough and resourceful.

Save your money as there's no direct evidence that barley stops string algae let alone the free floating kind. you need floaters like water hyacinth and water lettuce--they'll multiply fast and give you what you want. Too soon, you'll be composting the over growth.

Water lilies are not the best for out competing the algae, that's what the above are for. Keep your lilies in pots as if allowed to run free, you may regret it.

Hope this helps!

 

[mrsclem]

Put the cattails in a container. They will take over the pond and could possibly do damage to liner

 

[akanksha1985]

Don’t think there is any liner - it’s a concrete pond.

 

[addy1]

Plants, plants and more plants help with algae.

No need to feed the fish if you have algae and plants in the pond. I hardly ever feed mine.

 

[Crimedog]

is there any circulation - a pump?

 

[jmajid]

Welcome (and also welcome to a fellow concrete pond owner)
Lot's of questions -
Looks like you need more shade also - i see you have some shade put up?
I'm not sure, but it looks like the floor of the pond is green and not necessarily the water? That's OK - as that is carpet algae and does not need to be removed and like you said, the fish enjoy eating it. My fish eat it - but also tend to eat what was once wet and now dry just above the water line - i see them popping their heads above water all the time. I feed them once a day and not very much at all compared to how much i see others feed their comparable fish.
Where are you located?
What are the dimensions of the pond? LxWxD?
How big are the goldfish?
What kind of aeration do you have? This will help not just the fish but of course your plants.
Any filtration you know of?
You will also need to get on top of any debris, leaves that fall into your water - they will create extra nutrients that dont help.
More photos are always nice
This time of year the water will always get green(er) as plants get their kick from water and air temps rising. Once they get up and running you will find your water getting clearer, but dont worry too much about carpet algae like i said.

 

[addy1]

The green almost looks like a painted bottom green. Actually a pretty color

 

[j.w]

@akanksha1985

 

[GBBUDD]

If you want no algae and for the contemporary style turn the pond into salt water no algae issues.

if you do want lilies and such look at lotus . With a concrete pond unless you let you plants get hug you can pull them out fairly easily the roots don't have much to grab onto.

 

[Lisak1]

With a concrete pond unless you let you plants get hug you can pull them out fairly easily the roots don't have much to grab onto.

I'd agree with that, with one exception - cattails. We visited a pond once where the cattails had jumped ship in the pond and made their way to the adjoining cement lined pool, where the pushed their way through the cement and created a nice big leaking pool. They are tough as nails.

@akanksha1985 - I don't know exactly what your photo is showing - are those concrete pads of some type? What are the overturned flower pots? And I'm with @addy1 - that's not an algae green like I've ever seen before. It's almost fluorescent! But the answer to too much algae is always the same - more plants and/or fewer fish. You're not overstocked, so I'd suggest more plants! I see someone mentioned too much sun - my pond is in full sun almost 100% of the day and we don't have an algae problem. Sun may make algae more green, but it doesn't make it appear. It's there because you have nothing competing with it for those nutrients in the water.

 

[addy1]

My ponds are full full sun never get shade until it sets. I have a ton of plants in the pond and bog they don't give the algae enough food to live.

 

[GBBUDD]

@Lisak1 they are a contemporary walk across the pond right up against the house I'd imagine. My guess is very contemporary or a twist of Japanese.