Moved into a house that had an abandoned pond, probably hadn't been touched in 10 years. Been working every day in it to try and revive and need some

[kyleandrun]

(from below: "...hear me out, i understand the right, and maybe only way to do this right is to drain it, clean it, and fill it... but i'm not gonna do that. haha this post is basically asking if there is a way to do this without doing that. in fact, i'm gonna add this part to the very beginning so my obnoxiously stubborn expectation is set clear instead of wasting someone's time reading all the stuff before this. so, with my handicap stated, is it possible to install a mud pump or filtration system to clean out this water and how to combat the algae that now can see the lovely sun?")



Backstory: so my friend/landlord bought this house, i live in the lower floor. it was foreclosed on and had been abused by methheads, and then was abandoned for idk 6 years or something. no one has paid any attention to the backyard or this pond in at least 10 years i'm sure. the yard was un-walkable, the pond was encroached on by overgrown bushes, covered entirely with lily pads, and had these stalk-like plants that were taller than me.

What we've done so far: we've removed any unnecessary bushes and plants, and trimmed the remaining ones back a ton. i've been going in with waders and ripping out hundreds of pounds of plants and muck. first ripped out all the stalk plants, then tore out the lily pad root networks which were HUGE. also there was about a pure foot or two of this weird thin root network that was like walking on a trampoline. eventually got everything down to the rocks. we did leave the left side of the pond with some plants so the poor frogs had a safe haven and for all their eggs to have a place to be. (i'm sorry to all the thousands of frog eggs i decimated while doing this, anytime i ran across some i relocated them to the lily pad corner).

it's a two waterfall system, at some point someone cut the pvc leading to the lower waterfall and routed it to just the upper. the pump is up and running, but only feeding the upper waterfall. we finally got to a point a few weeks ago where the water was clear enough to leave the pump running, and we haven't turned it off since. eventually gonna cut back in the second waterfall but for now it's just the one.

with the removal of the lily pads and all the other plants, the water has a new population of algae. this pond actually had a very healthy, self sustaining ecosystem, just not the ecosystem i want. so we jacked it all up by yanking everything out. after yanking everything out we've got the fuzzy algae, plus a ton of green that wasn't there before as you can see below in the algae pic.

i have before pics, but they're not even interesting because you straight up can't see anything. again, 10 years of abandonment. just know, this looks AMAZING compared to what it was, and it still looks pretty rough.

What I want: i want to eventually have fish in this pond, and i want it to be somewhat clear. ultimately i want koi fish. Now hear me out, i understand the right, and maybe only way to do this right is to drain it, clean it, and fill it... but i'm not gonna do that. haha this post is basically asking if there is a way to do this without that. in fact, i'm gonna add this part to the very beginning to my obnoxiously stubborn expectation is set clear instead of wasting someone's time reading all the stuff before this. so, with my handicap stated, is it possible to install a mud pump or filtration system to clean out this water and how to combat the algae that now can see the lovely sun?

so, there'll be a few more trips back in to clean some more of the super old plant life that's in there, and just get out as much stuff as possible. but i imagine we're at the point where we need to start finding a way to clean the water.

what kind of pump or filtration system, or both will i need? what kind of bacteria/treatment options should i use? is this even possible?

i know literally nothing about ponds other than what i've crash-coursed over the last few months. and up until this point it was all just physical work anyway, which any knuckledragger can figure out. but now it's time to figure out the best way to remove the mud, clean up the water, and figure out a long term sustainability framework for this pond.

tl;dr: trying to fully clean and revive this old pond and put fish in it... without draining it. (i know, i know) what kind of hardware and treatment bacteria should i be looking into. any help at all from someone smarter than me (which is everyone) would be super appreciated.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our forum!

That is a beautiful pond! Do not drain and clean, it will make the restart of the pond worse. Do not use any of the fixes that come in bottles. How long ago did you do the major yank and clean? It may need some time to settle. If there is a lot of muck on the bottom you could use a pool net to collect and remove it. But it sounds like you have removed a lot. If there is a huge amount of mud on the bottom a pond vac could help or you might need to drain and get it out. Do not scrub the liner clean whatever you do.

Some people put in quilt batting to removed particles. What kind of filter does it have now? I see a bit of green matala filter material, probably that is where the pump it. IF that is your only filter that is part of the issue.

I only filter with a bog type filter, my pond water is pumped into a bog, a ton of pea gravel and plants, water falls back into the pond. Keeps my pond crystal clear and free of algae. Not enough nutrients to keep the algae alive.

 

[poconojoe]

Agree with Addy. She knows what she's talking about!

I believe no one here will tell you to empty and scrub out your pond. That's just a bad idea that is only done for very extreme conditions such as a contamination.

The quilt batting she spoke of is used by some by lining a milk crate or a bucket with holes in it. Let it hang over the pond with ropes. Have you waterfall spill into it or point you pump outlet into the batting and it will screen out the solids. When it gets dirty, just rinse and reuse the batting.

I use a pool net for the debris that accumulates on the bottom. I slowly run it along the bottom as not to stir too much up. You'd be surprised how much you pick up. Leaves, sticks, acorns, etc. If you have really thick mud, you may need a pond vac. They are quite expensive and some here have saved money by building there own.

Keep reading throughout this forum. There's so much information that can help you out.

 

[poconojoe]

You say you want to add koi. I hope your pond is big enough. As you read through these forums, you might see that koi require a lot of room. 1,000 gallons plus. Try and determine how many gallons your pond holds.

It seems that wanting koi is the standard among people who get into ponding. The word koi seems to automatically get associated with the word pond.

I made that very mistake and started out with only 300 gallons! I quickly rebuilt to around 1600 gallons. Still really not big enough for the fish I had. I have koi that are over 2 feet long with tremendous girth.

If I were to do it all over, I would stay with shubunkin and goldfish. Shubunkin are beautifully colored fish that have long flowing fins.

 

[Ronfire]

You could try a submersible pump that can handle some solids and place in the bottom of the pond and pump the sludge out to the lawns or gardens to fertilize them. add water to make up the loss and move the pump occasionally to get more debris would help. There are rental shops that will have trash pumps to handle solids, you will have a lot of make up water to use. You would not have to empty the pond and as stated do not scrub it totally clean.

 

[sissy]

welcome to the forum and a shame that people do that to a place that was probably loved at one time .Glad you are there to rescue the house and pond

 

[poconojoe]

You could try a submersible pump that can handle some solids and place in the bottom of the pond and pump the sludge out to the lawns or gardens to fertilize them. add water to make up the loss and move the pump occasionally to get more debris would help. There are rental shops that will have trash pumps to handle solids, you will have a lot of make up water to use. You would not have to empty the pond and as stated do not scrub it totally clean.

This is a good suggestion!

 

[j.w]

@kyleandrun
Keep the nice fuzzy short carpet type algae on the sides of your pond as it is good. Fish love it too and it hides the liner. This is a lined pond right?