First Time Pond

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Good morning all. We purchased a home last year that had a small garden pond already installed. It wasn't in great shape, and my wife told me that I had a year to get it up and running, or she wanted to fill it in. I'll have to admit, this thing has put me through the ringer. I've fought leaks in an old vinyl liner, tried patches, replaced the water pump hose, etc. etc. Finally, we just went for broke, and pulled all the rocks out, and relined with a 45Mil EPDM liner. I can proudly, and exhaustedly, say that I am FINALLY holding my water level. I'm excited to see where we can go with this now, and hope to have a healthy pond that can handle a few small fish, and some aquatic plants. To start, I've added some water lettuce and hyacinth, and would like to add a few feeder goldfish to get things going.

The pond is approximately 4'x4', with a max depth of just under 2 feet, so approximately 200 gallons or so. I have a Totalpond DD11560 pump, pushing 210GPH through my water fall. Decholorinator has been used on the water according to instructions.

I do have a couple of questions after lurking for a few days:

FILTERS: I see lots of talk about filtering, but I don't have anything installed at this time. I thought I might start with a simply DIY system using quilt batting, but there isn't any build up of any sort yet on the pond. Do I need a different strategy here?

TESTING: What sort of testing should I be doing on my water at this point, and what brand of test is recommended?

FISH: Am I safe to add a few small feeder goldfish to work on building up the ecology of the pond, or should I wait longer?

Thanks in advance for the help.
 

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sissy

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Not sure what your winters are like but if you add fish you need to think about freezing if you are where it freezes .Best thing is replace liner with epdm if possible
 
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Not sure what your winters are like but if you add fish you need to think about freezing if you are where it freezes .Best thing is replace liner with epdm if possible
Sorry, I left out the new liner was an EPDM liner. We do have some cold winters in the Kansas City are, so freezing will definitely be an issue. I'll make accommodations for those winter months.
 

sissy

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All you need is an opening in the ice .Aerator or small pump would work to a certain point .I think all the pond heaters would be to big so only other thing is a pond breather .or taking the fish in .We seem to rely on the API liquid test kit .Testing will help you figure out when to add fish
 
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I too have a smaller pond. I incorporated a mechanical filter into my waterfall box. Hard to explain but I pump my water from one side of the pond up, out and around to the opposite side of the pond where it goes into the waterfall box (Total Pond 8in spillway, and 600gph pump). I used PVC and light filters to create a layer of filter material (Bought on Ebay as Pink Koi Filter material) so the water flows under and up through the material, then out the waterfall box. Basically copying what some of the pre-made spillways do. It is very effective although I will admit I have to clean it out often. I don't mind as much because I rinse it out in water and use it in the garden which the plants love. So far so my water has been crystal clear since the spring when it cycled. I have 3 small goldfish and over the summer has been home to at least 6 or 7 frogs.

I will try and get some pictures of the filter.
 

sissy

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Your other plants are happy with all your extra work so don't disappoint them and make them unhappy or they will pull up there roots and move to another yard to get love :)
 

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