Rebuilding 20 yr old pond

[troynoel]

Hello,
Looking for advice to a common problem. We overhauled the pond 2 years ago but still a lingering issue - excessive muck and Curly Leaf Pondweed. Looking for advice on additional filtration, what types of plants to purchase and potential reduction in fish.

Pond setup:
5A growing zone with full sun exposure all day
25ft long, 15 ft wide and 2 ft deep (approx 5600 gals)
Large surface skimmer with waterfall - approx 7300 gph pump (also plumbed to create underwater current)
300 gal waterfall box with Matala Filter material (1 green and 1 blue), 8 lbs of Barley, and 30 lbs of lave rock.
Waterfall made from limestone rocks
Pond bottom is a thin layer of small rocks
AirCrystal Clear Koi air pump - 2 air diffusers (specs for 16,000 pond)
152 fish - avg length 4 to 5" feed every other day
21 plants in Plant bags with pea size gravel (1/2 are lily's)
Typically drained and lightly powerwashed every other year
Additives Air Max Muck Defense, Pond Clear and EcoBoost every 2 weeks - dosed as recommended
Skimmer box cleaned daily
Very difficult to clean the water fall box due to location and trees.

Looking for suggestions on filter material (add more Matala?)?
Reduce number of fish?
Add pond dye?
Add plants - which types would you recommend for my climate?
Anything else I should consider?

Thank you in advance, Troy

 

[poconojoe]

Stop draining and power washing. No "overhauling". You are disrupting the natural beneficial biofilm that coats your liner. No need for huge water changes either. Stop using chemical treatments that are supposed to fight algae. You don't need muck defense or any of that stuff. It seems you already have good water movement and aeration, that's great. So, either your filtration is inadequate for the fish load or you need more plants. Lots of plants. 152 fish, that's a lot. They're only 4"-5", so that's a plus. What kind of fish are they?

 

[j.w]

@troynoel

 

[troynoel]

Stop draining and power washing. No "overhauling". You are disrupting the natural beneficial biofilm that coats your liner. No need for huge water changes either. Stop using chemical treatments that are supposed to fight algae. You don't need muck defense or any of that stuff. It seems you already have good water movement and aeration, that's great. So, either your filtration is inadequate for the fish load or you need more plants. Lots of plants. 152 fish, that's a lot. They're only 4"-5", so that's a plus. What kind of fish are they?

Fish are mostly gold fish but a few Koi that are 9" or less. Any suggestions on various plants?

 

[addy1]

Slow down on the feeding also, they do fine in a pond with no food, if you have plants in the pond.

My suggestion build a bog..........I only filter with a bog and have no issues with excessive algae or green water.

The plants suck out the nutrients that feed the algae and probably the curly leaf

 

[poconojoe]

Floating plants: water lettuce, water hyacinths, duckweed, sensitive plant, parrots feather can be planted in shallow water or just dropped in to float around, creeping jenny can be planted in the ground or in between rocks and draped into the pond.

If you have shelves in your pond you can plant shallow water or bog plants. Water celery, big bean, iris, cat tail, mini cat tail, rush, marsh marigold, lizard tail, watercress, forget me not.

You can plant lillies as long as it's not too deep. You can sit them on a milk crate if if is too deep.

I generally try to plant hardy stuff that will come back every year. I'm in zone 6b, so any tropical stuff I use will die off once we get a frost.

Try not to plants them in pots. You want the roots to have full access to the nutrient rich water. Plant between rocks or use mesh planting bags that you can buy or make.

 

[poconojoe]

Bog filtration is the best. Throughout my years of ponding, I wasted so much money and time maintaining store bought and homemade filters.
Build a bog, save money and aggravation. Bogs require practically zero maintenance and the filtration is far superior.

 

[troynoel]

Bog filtration is the best. Throughout my years of ponding, I wasted so much money and time maintaining store bought and homemade filters.
Build a bog, save money and aggravation. Bogs require practically zero maintenance and the filtration is far superior.

Thank you very much. Very helpful information, especially the plants. I'll kick around the idea of changing the waterfall box into a bog. Its in a very shaded area (under several trees) so it may not be ideal for the bog. However I have a shelf all around the pond that varies from 3" to 9" deep so I can put bog plants there. I've got a shelf that's roughly 14" wide and 35 to 40 feet long to work with. Lily's can sit on the bottom which is roughly 25 inches deep. Guess I'll be buying alot of plants. Thanks again.

 

[poconojoe]

Thank you very much. Very helpful information, especially the plants. I'll kick around the idea of changing the waterfall box into a bog. Its in a very shaded area (under several trees) so it may not be ideal for the bog. However I have a shelf all around the pond that varies from 3" to 9" deep so I can put bog plants there. I've got a shelf that's roughly 14" wide and 35 to 40 feet long to work with. Lily's can sit on the bottom which is roughly 25 inches deep. Guess I'll be buying alot of plants. Thanks again.

Your shelves are perfect for planting.
And no problem having a bog in the shade.
Here's my recent bog build I added to my existing pond:

 

[Phaewryn]

I'll kick around the idea of changing the waterfall box into a bog. Its in a very shaded area (under several trees) so it may not be ideal for the bog.

I also have a lot of shade and have been trying to figure out plants that will work. Someone on here recently told me hostas can be bog plants. You just want the roots in water, not the tops of the plants. They love shade. I planted hostas in pots filled with gravel today and placed them on my shelf (my shelf is only 10" deep). I'm going to order some proper pond pots and substrate and repot them a little better when I do my monthly Amazon order. I also have creeping jenny and marsh marigold, both of those tolerate shade. I ordered water forget-me-not seeds, if you want to start some I can mail you some when they arrive as I had to buy 200 seeds and I only need 2-3 plants.