new pond owner

[johnny mac]

Hello all,
The wife and I have moved into a new home that has an existing pond. The home was un occupied for 2 years and
we have a bit of a mess on our hands. We own a marine fish/coral import company and I have a decent amount of freshwater experience but neither of us have any pond know how and we are hoping to get some good advice.

We would like to thank everyone in advance for your help.

Now to the good stuff.
Our pond is roughly 30ft long by 8ft wide and averages from 6 inches to 2 ft deep.
I believe the skimmer box is broken and the pump is missing.
There is a waterfall with filter media in it.
At the moment it has a ton of water lillies and cat tails that we think need to be thinned out.
Please let us know any suggestions on equipment and our first few steps.
We will both be trolling through the forum to catch up on info.

 

[addy1]

to our group! Ask away and you will get lots of answers.

 

[sissy]

welcome and are there any fish .What kind of filter media .It can be pretty smelly after being neglected for so long so that will need cleaned out .I am guessing you are in a really warm area if everything is growing .How does the water look and you will need a liquid water test kit

 

[RobAmy]

Welcome to the forum, If the skimmer box is broken then you will have to replace it or you will leak water, if you do not need or want a skimmer then you may be able to patch it. I would try to trace your plumbing if possible and check for leaks. The cattails should be thinned and that will be a job, the root mass will be large. Do you know if there are fish in there? BTW what makes you think the skimmer is broken? Pictures may help to give better advice also.

 

[j.w]

johnny mac
Troll away and keep asking questions all you want

 

[johnny mac]

welcome and are there any fish .What kind of filter media .It can be pretty smelly after being neglected for so long so that will need cleaned out .I am guessing you are in a really warm area if everything is growing .How does the water look and you will need a liquid water test kit

No fish. Looks like big bagsof lava rocks in the waterfall. We live in illinois. Water looks dirty.
we talked to a pond guy and he said it needs to be drained cleaned out and the plants needto be thinned out.
I guessits to shallow for koi but goldfish should be fine?

 

[johnny mac]

Welcome to the forum, If the skimmer box is broken then you will have to replace it or you will leak water, if you do not need or want a skimmer then you may be able to patch it. I would try to trace your plumbing if possible and check for leaks. The cattails should be thinned and that will be a job, the root mass will be large. Do you know if there are fish in there? BTW what makes you think the skimmer is broken? Pictures may help to give better advice also.

The box has no lid the sides are warped and the screws that hold the liner to it are rusted off. No fish we can see.
The pond guy said same thing on the cat tails. Should they be removed completely?

 

[sissy]

If you drain it and wash it out you will be starting over I would just try to clean it first .I use lava rock and love them .Quilt batting in a basket will help and a pool net will help .it depends on just how dirty it really is .You never want to clean the good muck off the liner .I don't have rocks in the pond

 

[Tula]

Welcome to our friendly forum. If you don't have any fish, you can take a bit more time cleaning things up I'd consider using a pair of waders and netting out as much debris as possible, thin out the lilies and cat tails, and maybe buy new lava rock...or at least clean it.

If you want your waterfall to work, you'll need a pump and if it were me, I'd replace the skimmer. Water changes will help a lot.

 

[RobAmy]

The box has no lid the sides are warped and the screws that hold the liner to it are rusted off. No fish we can see.
The pond guy said same thing on the cat tails. Should they be removed completely?

No need to remove them all if you like them, I love the look of them. They do spread easily and can take over. I put mine in a bog like area in the pond so it will contain the growth. I build a stone wall then lined it with extra rubber line and filled it with small stone and planted them. You can see them below

 

[Becky]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome! Do you have any pictures you could share with us? We love to see pictures!

 

[ZenZilla]

Welcome

 

[Fishylove]

Welcome!