I inherited a cute sad little pond

[jcJohn]

Hello everybody; first post here from new member.
My wife and I bought a house that included a cute little pond. Nobody had taken care of it for about 3 years so it was pea-green. I just assumed that there was nothing living in it so I was going to just drain it and start from scratch. But then I began to clean it out, and I quickly found two little fish (2-3 inches long)! I only saw them for a couple seconds, but I'd say they're probably goldfish, although I didn't really see any gold color. I have no idea how many there really are because I can only see a couple inches into the water. So now I have to clean it around the fish, without hurting them, and since I have no idea how many there are it's really tricky!

The pond is approximately 4 feet long and it's about 18" from the surface to some spongy matter that I assume is tree debris. It's in full sun from about noon on. I've been skimming the surface because it gets tree leaves in it, but then I thought maybe the fish need the shade from the floating leaves. I was going to get some floating plants but I have no idea what I'm doing so that seems kind of absurd.

We'd like to make the pond into something nice but my first concern is to make it livable for the fish. So what's the most important thing to do first? Plants? Pump & filter? How big for the pump and filter? What kind of plants? Aggghhh!!! (Oh, and I do have electricity at the pond; it's behind the irises.)

If you folks can help me help my fish I'd really appreciate it.

 

[GBBUDD]

Green water is from too many nutrients in the water. Decaying leaves, pollen,even dust adds to it.
Your little pond does not have a lot of water thus it's very hard for something that gets in the water to become diluted/ made less problematic.

This now comes down to who you are. If you have kept a gold fish in a bowl for 5 years or not at all.

Myself I would build a bog it will be 1/2 to 1/3 the size of your pond but maintenance is reduced to removing leaves and dead plants in the fall.

If spending money and less work is desired there are canister filters that can do the job but what ever they say they say they can filter cut that in half. So a filter thats good for 5000 gallons is realy only good for 2500.

Third option is ozponds he has some videos how to do a small pond with minimal intervention but imo is not for most

 

[j.w]

@jcJohn

 

[bagsmom]

Welcome! I was going to suggest Ozponds as well. If you really don't want to enlarge your pond or redo it, a good option would be to add a small container "bog." It is essentially a small biological filter in a container. You could do something with a large planter or other container. Kevin (from Ozponds) has good diagrams and discussions on his YouTube channel.
Be careful, though! Ponding is addictive and you might find yourself planning something completely new!
I started out with a small pond. Then I built another, larger pond. Now I'm planning to build one for my Dad! It is a lot of fun, and if you enjoy nature, a pond is a wonderful ecosystem to enjoy and observe!

 

[jgrandmont]

That is a cute little pond! I also like the idea of a small container bog. You might also benefit from some aeration.

 

[Hound Heaven]

@bagsmom nailed it - a container bog would help immensely and could be a lovely addition! Welcome and best of luck.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[jcJohn]

Thanks for the responses, folks.
Interestingly enough, I was surprised to see Kevin recommend a pump/filter combo on Amazon for beginners. I'm already swamped with all the spring-time chores that need to be done on our property so I'm going to opt for that. (We bought this house because the property looked like the garden of our dreams but man! We found out the plants don't take care of themselves! )

 

[addy1]

No kidding, I give up and let the weeds grow, they have flowers they can stay.

Poison ivy, bam sprayed!
Bumper crop this year.

 

[gimpy]

Has anyone thought about doing some partial water changes……? Or, is that not a good idea?

 

[Stephen Noble]

Welcome!