# Help! I've moved into a house with a pond...



## Guest

Hi all,

I've moved into a house with a pond filled with about 20 fish. Above this pond is a smaller pond with no fish in it; a pump/filter system sends water from this top pond into the pond below.

Please can you let me know how often and for how long I should run the pump/filter/fountain system to keep the pond clean and the fish healthy?

Also, how should I keep the pond clean/balanced? I cleaned the top pond out and refilled with fresh water, but this has quickly become murky.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## euRasian32

First of all, welcome to FishForums, and the to the world of fishkeeping. You're blessed to have gotten a pond with your house! The hard part is done, maintaining your pond will be easy compared to having to start out by digging a hole...

I've got a little bit of experience with ponds, others will chime in and correct me if I'm wrong, and to fill in the blanks...

The small pond above the large pond is most likely the "sump" area.
The filtration system should be run all the time, with scheduled maintenance (depending on size of pond, size of fish, size of filter/pump)

First things you should do, try to establish:
1. What system components you're running. Brand names and serial numbers should be enough info to see what equipment you have.
2. The dimensions of the pond/amount of water in gallons it holds.
3. The types and sizes of the fish.

Some other questions to clarify your situation to help answer your questions and guide you in the right direction.

When you stated that the smaller pond area became murky, murky as in greenish or milky white? Did you de-chlorinate the water before adding?
Is the filter/pump operating now?
What state are you in? (climate, temperatures at peak times in summer - usually around 12-4 pm).
During peak times, is the pond in the shade or direct sunlight?

You'll need to purchase a test kit which includes ph, ammonia, nitrate, nitrates, and CO2 if there are plants present. You'll also need chemicals, a de-chlorinator is a must at first. You'll determine what other chemicals to get after you've established what your water parameters are. You may want to add some dechorinator to the pond if you didn't do so, and you may have disrupted the biological filter with the introduction of chloramines, but don't fret.

Test the water in the pond. Test your tap water. (which can vary with the seasons, example: my city water tested at a ph of 7 in the spring about a month ago, it's reading 8.6 now)
After establishing what kind of fish, do some research and check the factsheets to see what the ideal water parameters of the fish are, mainly ph and temp. You'll want to achieve water chemistry within the high/low numbers on the fact sheets (get an average of at least 2-3 sites when searching fact sheets, they sometimes vary a little). Note that the ph should be changed gradually, or you'll "shock" the fish which is very stressful, more delicate species can end up with a disease, stop eating, or die.

I don't want to get to far ahead, once you can provide more information, you'll be able to get more information from one of us. Let us know if you need help establishing what you have.

for future reference and money savings: 
thatpetplace.com has free catalogs including a separate pond catalog, marine bioligists on staff, and has clear definitions of products.
bigalsonline.com has great prices, but descriptions are vague.
I use thatpetplace to shop/research products, and buy from the other.

C


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## fishfreaks

i dont kow much about ponds, im probably just about as experienced as you are. ive never had a pond but would love to in the future. Anyways, I must welcome you to fish forums!! :hi:


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## Guest

Thanks for all the information and help so far. It is much appreciated.

In answer to some of the questions, the pond is about 6 feet in diameter and about 2 feet deep. The fish are from the goldfish family and vary from about 15cm to 25cm in length.

The water in the pond is greenish and I did not de-chlorinate the water in the top pond. I am in the UK and the pond is in direct sunlight during peak times.


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## Mr Aquarium

You will prolly need a Pond Test kit, Not sure myself why the differnce in them, but the pond test kits have higher ranges then the one for in house aquariums....
Would like to see pictures of it if possable. not close ups, just over all pictures to see how it;s scaped.......


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## Celeste

http://www.worldofwater.com/pond_volume.htm

the above link is a pond volume calculator. go out and measure your pond and figure out roughly how big it is.

also, figure out how big all the fish are and if they are goldfish and/or koi/carp.

alright, the pump and filter should be run at ALL times. if the pump and filter are exposed, which they absolutely should be to do proper routeine maintinence, even if they are hidden, try and figure out what kind of pump it is, and how many gallons it pumps per hour. i'm assuming since this is an established pond, that the pump and filtration are sufficient to support the fish and size of the pond.

pretty much all you'll have to do is read up on fish diseases so that you can spot them should anything crop up. you may need to feed the fish. a floating pellet or stick made for koi/golfish will do fine. they also like fresh veggies and will often eat plants, especially floaters. you may have to scrub some algae off the side of the pond, and fish out leaves and large debris with a net, but that's about it.

the only thing i'm worried about is if the pond is overstocked. you said about 20 fish, if they are koi/goldfish, the pond should be about 1,500-2,000 gallons to support that many fish, once they reach adult size.


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## maxpayne_lhp

I myself have a pond and the system like you. But the leaf from the garden get into the water and mess up the bottom. So the prefilter of your pump can soimetimes get stuck. It's quite dangerous cause the machine can't work but the electricity still runs in! So keep an eye on that at regularly clear the prefilter if your bottom is dirty. After a while it should be all better...


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## euRasian32

Some pondkeepers that maintain larger sizes, use UV Sterilizers to cure algae problems, or to diminish the presense of it.

Of course, there are probably some steps you should take if you have a current algae problem. Correct me if I'm wrong anyone, if you have a really bad algae problem, it's best to remove and filter out as much as you can, otherwise a UV would kill all the algae leaving you with a pond full of dead algae soup.

If you get to examine any of the equipment and don't find any information on the equipment itself, your best situation would be to take a pic and post it, maybe someone would recognize it, or comb the filter section of some online shopping sites to see if you can find it with some luck.

Another thing you can do for the time being, is to take a sample of water to your local fish store (LFS) and they'll test it for a small fee, most of the time it's free.

C


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## mr.dark-saint

If I were in your situation (the empty pond) I'd set up a swamp filter. Which is you plant (cattails, horse tails (makes good light sandpaper) and other water plants) water plants the fish may devour or beat up the root system (water hyacinths takes a beating). It'll give you another dimension by giving it hight and a place to keep bales of hay to keep the water clear.


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## mlefev

I would think by the dimensions, the pond probably holds about 300 gallons of water. If the fish are Koi or regular goldfish, it will become crowded quite quickly. You may have to give some of the fish away. Plants for filtration are a must...they work with your pump to filter algae and other impurities to the sides of the pond, and make it easier to clean. Steadily moving water also makes it harder for plant life that you don't want in the pond to take a foothold. I wish I knew more about ponds, but I only am going off of what I know about my grandparent's fish pond. They just feed the fish and scrape goo out with a trowel, so most of these fish are pretty healthy. Being in the UK, you might worry about it getting too cold for them. Although any carp can take lower temperatures, if the water freezes, you could be in trouble. Having the water moving continually will help some of that, but if it's very cold, you might want a heater of some sort as well.


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