New/Old Pond

[Colbycat]

I bought a house with a small, but fairly deep, pond. Former owner told me it had originally been a sandbox that they made into a pond. There are no fish. The pump seems to be working OK, but the former owner did tell me the pond has never been cleaned or drained of old water (about 15 years old). It's now getting hot here and the pond seems to have lots of gunk on the bottom (I'm guessing 15 years of leaves, etc.) and there is lots of stringy green algae stuff stuck to sides of liner and floating on top of water.

What should I do to get this looking better. The actual water if fairly clear but all that stringy algae and dark gunk on bottom is not exactly attractive. Thanks.

 

[Lisak1]

Pictures would help immensely. If this is just a lined hole with water or are there plants growing in it? How large is it? Small but deep is somewhat helpful but are we taking 4x4 and 6 feet deep or what? What is the pump doing? Is there Ean filtration?

 

[Colbycat]

Here are a couple pictures. As you can see, the pump and water are running well and the water is clear. But, so much gunk on bottom and sides of liner and the stringly algae stuff floating on top too. I'd say the depth is about 4 feet and the length is about 6 feet. There are no plants or fish. Pond gets quite a bit of sun. Thanks for your help!

 

[j.w]

@Colbycat
Seems to me it would just be easier to start all over and take all water and gunk out. Leave the short algae on the sides of the liner as that is good stuff. If you are planning to add fish eventually you will have to wait till your pond water has cycled but you can add lots of plants while you wait. Leave the filter w/some of the nutrient gunk in it so it will cycle perhaps faster if adding fish in the future. No koi tho, too big, just a few goldfish. I like Shubunkin type goldfish myself. Pretty patterns of colors.

 

[Lisak1]

Well, it's not a pond... it's a tub of water. There's nothing to keep the algae at bay, so there it is. Add plants, a few fish and you'll have a lovely actual pond!

 

[addy1]

Agree add plants, a few small fish, fantails breed slow and stay small.

The plants will use the nutrients the algae is living on.

 

[GBBUDD]

I saw don't fix what's not broke. Make as sudtle changes as possible. If the bottom bothers you then a light cleaning would be my suggestion. Then I would consider smaller species of gold fish but only a couple then some minnows of some sort. No idea where you are but there are many very attractive minnows . I personally have found those corney glow fish in the aquarium trade to be perfect. And they are by far the absolute last thing I would ever put in my aquarium.

 

[YShahar]

Here are a couple pictures. As you can see, the pump and water are running well and the water is clear. But, so much gunk on bottom and sides of liner and the stringly algae stuff floating on top too. I'd say the depth is about 4 feet and the length is about 6 feet. There are no plants or fish. Pond gets quite a bit of sun. Thanks for your help!

Welcome! The water does look nice and clear, so you might just get a good sized pool net and net out the gunk on the bottom (makes great plant food too!). You can then add a potted water lily and some small fish to eat mosquito larvae. Goldfish would work, or minnows.

You can also add some floating plants (water lettuce, water hyacinth) to filter the water and before you know it, you'll have a miniature ecosystem that will leave little room for algae. Note that some algae is a good thing, as it too is part of the filtration system. The string algae is usually more of a problem in cooler weather, but floating algae and algae on the surfaces is pretty much always going to be there.