Inherited Pond, need help!

[mewilldz]

Hi All,
I'm Sam from coventry, united kingdom. I have recently moved home and with this lovely home I have inherited a little garden pond. I am a keen fisherman and fish enthusiast but haven't been around a pond since I was a kid, and haven't had an aquarium for a few years.

The pond is a kind of figure of 8 shape about 6 foot long, not sure how deep yet as haven't probed about much. I think there are around 12 fish in there, small/medium gold fish from what i can guess when they occasionally surface. have just started feeding them as it's been really cold here. they must be tough as they survived a rediculous winter, when i first moved in it was 3 inches thick solid with ice for a while.

Basically, the water is terribly discoloured, (dark/olive green) and i presume there is weed/algae growth all over the liner etc and probably silt/leaves at the bottom. Now i would like to rectify this as fast as possible so i can see the fish are healthy (preferably clear water would be nice!). however i am on a limited budget and don't want to harm the fish by removing/exchanging with tap water. does anybody have any suggestions on what to do and what equipment i need or treatments i can do that wont harm the fish, whilst i wait for an affordable second hand pump/filtration system?! any advice on what i need with regards to filtration would be good too. thanks a lot!

 

[sissy]

welcome to our group and good luck with your new and the pond you inherited with it .I'm sure here you will find tons of cost saving fixes for your pond as I have since getting into this forum .I have learned that clay cat litter helps with algae and oyster shells crushed helps buffer water and help fish health too . no fishing in your pond LOL

 

[sissy]

If you could possibly post pics I think most here can give you ideas for your pond .I try to save money also but keep my fish happy and healthy is #1

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Mewilldz, Welcome to the forum! Don't feed them until the water temperature is consistently over 50 degrees. They can eat the algae until then. The problem with feeding them is one; they can't properly digest the food you are giving them at lower temps and two; the pond needs to build up good bacteria to properly dispose of the wastes they give off. The more food they have the more unprocessed wastes like ammonia there will be that will actually harm them. You can clean the water by doing regular water changes of 10-20% of the volume, but be sure that the water has been properly treated first by using an declorinator and letting it sit for a day before adding the water. There is a lot of info in the diy section on biofilters that you can make yourself. Also I would read something about pond cycling on old forum posts. Don't be in a rush to change the pond chemistry too fast because this can actually do more harm than good. Hope this helps.

 

[stroppy]

hi Sam if you have a net you can also try getting leaves and stuff out of the pond ...as it rots and causes lots of problems to fish health but you need to do it very slowly so you dont stur things up too much and as cometkeith says water changes and a filter up and running before you start feeding your fish ... there are a lot of diy filters on this site that are cheep to make :0)

 

[mewilldz]

could any body link me to a simple/cheap to make DIY filter for my pond and what pumps etc will i need with it? i want to be able to see the little beauties in there lol. have just taken pics so will post asap

 

[sissy]

don't forget also you may have chemicals in your city water if thats what you have .They treat almost all city water everywhere .You may need an oxygen pump so figure that into your cost

 

[mewilldz]

thanks sissy. i kno about chems, that's why i don't want to start swapping out the water, what should i treat new water or existing water with. and can i clean the current water or is it best to try and replace it over time? i dont want summer to bloom the algae and weed growth and the fish to keel over due to lack of oxygen.

 

[sissy]

Well the best is to clean as much out as you can like they said without disturbing the fish .But here they say 100% pure clay kitty litter helps near flowing water .Once your weather warms up you are going to have a lot of work to do as I guess the pond was not maintained for awhile .

 

[sissy]

here I have seen info in using peroxide to hand clean it and the great info on using baking soda works as my pond was cloudy and the next day after putting it in my water was clear .But then again I have had my filters up and working for 2 weeks already and my pond water is near 60 degrees .I wish you luck because I'm thinking you will have a lot of hand work to do .Do you happen to know the temp of your water that well help to let you know what to do next

 

[shakaho]

You can get dechlorinator anywhere that sells supplies for pet fish. It will often be labeled "water conditioner," and the label will say that it makes tap water safe for fish. Get a big bottle and add to tap water according to instructions.

Goldfish are tough little guys that can thrive under a wide variety of conditions, but they don't respond well to sudden changes -- even changes for the better. You can probably change up to 50% of their water without distressing them. Then give them a few days to adjust and change some more. Algae growing on the liner is good. Gunk in the bottom should be removed. You can use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner to clean it up once you can see the bottom.

Here is a good description of how to build a filter. You don't have to use such a big barrel for a small pond. I just made one using a 9 gallon flowerpot as a container. It's up and running but still needs a few finishing touches. My water was fairly clean before, but after I ran the new filter overnight, my goldies spent half of the day hiding in shadows because the water was so clear it scared them.

I suggest you hold off on feeding until you have a filter system in place. Your goldies have plenty to eat. Feeding them is mainly for our entertainment. Adding food is going to make the algae grow even faster.

 

[sissy]

your poor fish going to call animal control scaring them like that LOL

 

[shakaho]

I just asked them if they wanted some peas, and they overcame their fear really fast.

 

[sissy]

I use a wet and dry vac too and I put a hose on the other end and have a tote with holes in it with quilt batting for the water to go back into the pond .I just put the tote in my waterfall drains and cleans real good

 

[sissy]

shame on you bribing fish to keep them from blowing the whistle on you .LOL.Thats the biggest reward in having a pond watching them attack food .