Pawned Equipment? What's Missing Here?

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Please pardon the corny pun....I'm relying somewhat on humor to help me persevere in this undertaking!

I am temporarily renting a farm, after a disaster where I lost my home and all contents. There is an above ground pond, which was obviously long since abandoned. My only experience with fish and outdoor containment is limited to bream in a five gallon bucket... But, I have managed to keep a respectable number of indoor fish alive, in tanks up to 55 gallons - for what that's worth.

This pond is under an arbor in south coastal SC. It's above ground and made of concrete...and that, pretty much, sums up what I know. So, I hope to post a few pics, so that someone can tell me just what kind of animal I'm dealing with.

Obviously, since I am renting, I don't want to pawn my car in the name of fish amnesty. But, I'd really like to get get this thing up and running. I used a small pump to remove most of the pea soup about a week ago, but couldn't remove the bottom inch or so. I went out this am ready to shop vac it, but, to my great surprise, discovered about 5, 15¢ feeder goldfish survivors...skinny, paranoid, and in need of Dixie straws for adequate H2O. :notworthy:

I must save them!

There appears to be the remains of some sort of aeration or filtration gear, but IDK what is actually still there, and what has been removed. There is a large, sunken PVC pipe adjacent to the pond, and it makes me "ponder" (sorry). Could this be the remnants of a filter? Could it possibly be restored...and, if so, what can I do, economically, to achieve this? What else am I going to need to get this thing running again?

BTW, the fish indicate that WATER would be a prudent and welcome improvement ...I have the knowledge and finances to make it happen. But, beyond this luxury, I'm in dire need of some pointers.

Thank you very much for your patience, and information, and much appreciated advice. I will post after rehab - the fish, I mean. They have, after all, mastered what might just be a 12 Step Program, with nothing to drink or swim in. :rolleyes:

I am writing this from my phone. So, just to be sure I don't lose my narrative, I'm going to submit my pics in a separate post.

Thanks again!

Kristen
 
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sissy

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The sunken area may have been there idea of a skimmer .A ump would have been in it and pulled water from the pond and then pumped it by a hose up to a filter .Or they may have used it as a filter .Since this is a farm could it ever have been something besides a pond for fish .I have seen people do that here for pet ducks also and even for pygmy goats to drink from .They would cover them to keep other ducks or predators and keep them close to the house .I live near NC border and have seen a few similar to this and one couple I know use it for there pet pot bellied pig to get fresh water but of course it is not as high .
 

Smaug

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That's an animal watering trough for sure but they repurposed it for fish keeping. A small 125 GPH fountain pump would be all that was needed if you intend to just keep the survivors. That end tank is overkill for any filtration for the few fish you could keep anyway. Seeing as how that is concrete it would be a very good biofilter just from the surface bacteria and you could have another 3 comets. Float some hyacinth or water lettuce and it would help even more. I'd remove everything that's plumbed and just go with a fountain pump.
 

sissy

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I would put the pump inside a small bucket that you drill holes in and put the pump in that with some lava rock in it .Lava rock is cheap to buy and easy to clean .You can lava rock at garden centers like lowes for less than 4 dollars a bag .Just rinse it well before you use it or you will get red water .Pull the bucket once a month and just hose it off and put the pump and bucket of lava rock back in.OH also do you know what is growing on that arbor because it may need cleaned up and trimmed before it starts to grow faster
 

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Is that a pump in the stock tank? The black thing that the yellow hose is attached to. If so, clean it and see if it still works. You may not need to buy a new one.
John
 

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Where is @Dave 54 or @Meyer Jordan ? They should know how to fix this... Best of luck

Need more photos, close-ups of all areas.
This appears to be a pre-1980s installation. It can be made to be functional with very little effort, but to be aesthetically pleasing major renovation will be needed. I would recommend not using any of the existing plumbing, but treating this as any other pond basin and provide the required water flow and filtration as dictated by the basin capacity and projected fish load.
 
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Where is @Dave 54 or @Meyer Jordan ? They should know how to fix this... Best of luck
Need more photos, close-ups of all areas.
This appears to be a pre-1980s installation. It can be made to be functional with very little effort, but to be aesthetically pleasing major renovation will be needed. I would recommend not using any of the existing plumbing, but treating this as any other pond basin and provide the required water flow and filtration as dictated by the basin capacity and projected fish load.
Totally agree with what meyer is saying here the plumbing looks rather antiquated to say the very least even when I bought my Former koi dealership QT pond to retrofit into a pond most of the bellow ground pipe work including the bottom drain fixture needed replacing as did at a later date one of the filters which sprang a leak so if your going to retrofit this pond its going to cost .
Why not take these guys indoors and pamper them for a while they'll soon get used to human contact again and more importantly grow healthier plus you can see any health issues behind glass .
@Marshall good buddy if you wish to know what is happening with me, I'm affraid the health issue I was suffering before Chistmas is still with me I thought it was getting better but I've relapsed .
At the moment I'm loosing weight hand over fist I have no appetite what so ever [why I know not ] and I have dropped from 17 stone 8lb to 16 stone .
Val is extremely worried and because I dont feel like eating neither does she [she needs too eat and take in all the goodness she can get into her system], after her bypass operation last year at least I've a tad to spare in the way of weight
The GP has requested an endoscopy and also a C.A.T. scan so we can find out what is happening to me internally and to get to the cause of all this.
I'm trying to be positive about all this but you cant help but fear the worst. at the moment my mind is all over the shop and even concentrationg on our favourite hobby seems hard

Dave
 
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sissy

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Spending the least amount of money is the goal since this is rental property ,I would go easy on what you spend on something you will be leaving behind .Is the arbor structurally sound as that may have to be addressed also .It will also depend on how long you intend on living in your rental property
 

Marshall

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@Dave 54 Sorry to hear you are are still sick my friend.
I hope you can get yourself back to good health. No joke when they say health is the one thing you only understand the value of once you lose it... I remember when I had a tumor removed a few years ago and thought they were gonna kill me in the process because it took almost 6 months to get back to even feeling human again let alone well. Best of wishes to you my friend and to Val. Hope to see back at 100% soon :)
 
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@Dave 54 Sorry to hear you are are still sick my friend.
I hope you can get yourself back to good health. No joke when they say health is the one thing you only understand the value of once you lose it... I remember when I had a tumor removed a few years ago and thought they were gonna kill me in the process because it took almost 6 months to get back to even feeling human again let alone well. Best of wishes to you my friend and to Val. Hope to see back at 100% soon :)
Thanx Good Buddy I've just had a very long chat with Val about what you've had removed from your body we have to look at it as a posibility though we'll know mmore after the endoscopy anf CAT scan .
I've gone from super fit to loosing my health one bit at a time since the back crash all those years ago , I thought we had it stablised after the heart issue last year which put the cybosh on an operation which I'm still waiting for the heads up to have which is called a secal nerve stimulation inplant into my lower back [look it up].

Dave
 
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The sunken area may have been there idea of a skimmer .A ump would have been in it and pulled water from the pond and then pumped it by a hose up to a filter .Or they may have used it as a filter .Since this is a farm could it ever have been something besides a pond for fish .I have seen people do that here for pet ducks also and even for pygmy goats to drink from .They would cover them to keep other ducks or predators and keep them close to the house .I live near NC border and have seen a few similar to this and one couple I know use it for there pet pot bellied pig to get fresh water but of course it is not as high .
That's an animal watering trough for sure but they repurposed it for fish keeping. A small 125 GPH fountain pump would be all that was needed if you intend to just keep the survivors. That end tank is overkill for any filtration for the few fish you could keep anyway. Seeing as how that is concrete it would be a very good biofilter just from the surface bacteria and you could have another 3 comets. Float some hyacinth or water lettuce and it would help even more. I'd remove everything that's plumbed and just go with a fountain pump.
Do you know taking another look at this pond , I'm beginning to think it isnt a pond at all.
My new thoughts are it could well be a place for watering livestock or perhaps for washing produce?
I simply cant figure the plumbing out its like no pond plumbing that I've ever seen it doesnt make any sense as such why such a large 4" pipe and such a small pipe in the pond which if you look doesnt seem to line up with the 4" , f the intenal pipes where an undergravel filter it would be a sealed unit with small holes drilled into it ?
I have to concur with both @sissy and @Smaug on this It was probably retrofitted for the farmers children if he didnt run livestock

Dave
 

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