New to ponds please help

[dbd0512]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a house that has a pond in the backyard. The previous owner told me it was around 1800 gallons. If i had to guess I would say more like 1000 gallons. The house was vacant for a year and the pond is a mess. They had a pump that was on a timer that would turn on every now and then. Once I moved in the house I realized the timer was no longer working properlly so there is no telling how long the water set stagnent. The water is very green and there is algae all over the rocks that line the side of the pond. There are inches of muck that has accumlated at the bottom of the pond. There are also leaves that have settled to the bottom. The pond does have a waterfall. The algea and muck is so bad that the current from the waterfall will stir it up and make it cloudy. I feel like the only way to get this clean is to drain it completely and clean the bottom. The pond does have some small goldfish in it right now. I do have tanks that I could keep them in while doing this. I am concerned about my plants though. I have two big Lilly pad plants (or whatever you call them) That I do not want to damage when emptying the pond. Can anyone give me any advice or pointers. This is the first pond I have ever had and I do not have a lot of knowledge about them.

Daniel

 

[sissy]

welcome and geeze sounds like the mess was caused by the time .A pond is supposed to run all the time .Is there some type of filter.Get a kiddy pool and pump some of the water from your pond into it and mix with i hope well water .You will need this water to start your pond up and ghreat thing fish can go in the kiddy pool with the plants .Double dutty .Just put a bird net you can buy in the garden center of lowes or home depot .About 8 dollars

 

[sissy]

geeze keyboard again is messed up .The net will keep the fish from jumping out because they could be spawning .pics would help some .

 

[dbd0512]

Good idea on the kiddie pool and the net. I do not have access to well water. The previous owners used city water and a dechlorinator. I am sure the pond went down hill as it was neglected for a year. I do have a mechanical filter as well as a bio filter. They are both hooked to the pump that runs the waterfall so it has not been running on a regular basis. When the pond was orginally dug it was about 3x the size it is now. The pump and filter system that was put in was sized for that size pond. My pumps and filters should be more than enough now that they have made it smaller. Should I try to reuse the water that is in the pond now or would you drain it and start over with fresh water?

Daniel

 

[sissy]

Thats why you need to keep some of your old water from the pond as much as possible or you risk a big algae bloom .The bio filter needs to work and with all new water you are starting over .I use this when I put water in we have a lot of iron in our well water here
[sharedmedia=core:attachments:53178] I bought it on an hydroponics sight .Clean your plants then and use quilt batting to help clean the pond water .I am rebuilding my filter so it can hold more plants
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[addy1]

As long as you keep the lilies under water (the tuber) let the leaves float they will be fine until you clean the pond. The fish need to be in a tank or like sissy says, a kiddie pool.

If you drain it to clean the muck out, don't scrub the sides and bottom real well, leave the carpet algae. Just scoop out the muck. That stuff is good for your pond and will help it get established again when you refill.

 

[sissy]

yep you need the good muck to restart your pond and feed fish and taddies .Scrubbed clean pond is never a good thing for the eco system in your pond .Fish will suffer