i'm so ignorant with pond stuff please help

[lauren]

Hey all...so my husband and I put in an extremely basic pond in our backyard about a month ago because i wanted something there we bought a small pond shell from home depot, dug the hole, put it in, filled with water, stuck a fountain pump in there, and brought the tube up to spill over some rocks back into the pond. very simple. i like it, but i have a few questions

1. right now there's a dead bird in there..lol..and when my husband gets the bird out, how should i clean the water? we don't use chlorine in the water, should i dump bleach in there?
2. how can we prevent leaves and such from flying in there? one time a storm blew so many leaves that it clogged and broke our pump, so we had to buy a new one
3. any other tips would be greatly appreciated

 

[cauzeneffeckt]

how about you take a picture of you setup so maybe we can provide you with a better detail on what you can do...

 

[addy1]

Hey all...so my husband and I put in an extremely basic pond in our backyard about a month ago because i wanted something there we bought a small pond shell from home depot, dug the hole, put it in, filled with water, stuck a fountain pump in there, and brought the tube up to spill over some rocks back into the pond. very simple. i like it, but i have a few questions

1. right now there's a dead bird in there..lol..and when my husband gets the bird out, how should i clean the water? we don't use chlorine in the water, should i dump bleach in there?
2. how can we prevent leaves and such from flying in there? one time a storm blew so many leaves that it clogged and broke our pump, so we had to buy a new one
3. any other tips would be greatly appreciated

I just removed dead birds, had a few in my arizona pond, none here so far.

You could throw a net over the pond when they say our monsoons are coming. Not sure how big it is, but should be manageable.

Do you have fish? if not you could throw some bleach in.

 

[lauren]

that would be the dead bird in the pond to the left...and yes my tubes are running out of the pond, it looks trashy but i didnt know of any other way lol...sigh.

 

[DrDave]

A cover made from plastic fencing and PVC will keep the leaves and dead critters out. It will also save your fish, if you have any from predators.

Think larger and you will not be sorry.

As for the dead bird, he didn't drink much and as long as you remove him soon, nothing needs to be done to your water unless it killed him.

 

[lauraleellbp]

I agree, just pull the bird out and get rid of it. Bleach the water if you're really concerned. A cup of bleach would be more than enough.

If you lay down some flat rocks or pavers around the edges you could hide the edge of the pond and the wiring/tubing along with it.

 

[DrDave]

Don't use bleach if you have plants or fish!!!!!!

 

[lifeworthliving]

For now, just pull the dead bird out. I would not put bleach in there if you have anything more that rocks and water. :lol:

Pull the tubing under the waterfall for now. You won't be able to see it. Bigger is always better. My first pond 11 yrs ago was just a bit larger than yours. Now it's 2300 gal and only because that is all the yard I have to put it in!