How to look after a pond? « Singletrack Forum

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How to look after a pond?

17 posts & 12 voices | Started 3 years ago by Teapot | Latest reply from AdamT

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Teapot - Member

Just moved into a new (rented) house with a pond in the back garden. Despite the letting agent saying there are no fish in it so far we've counted 3 Koi carp (we think) and half a dozen goldfish type things. I found some fish food in the shed and there appears to be a large water pump at the top of the garden and two large, black round things.

The water is pretty murky and I wonder if the filters might need changing/ cleaning? However I have no idea what they look like or how to do it. I don't want to spent my life looking after them but I don't want the little bugers to die.

Any pond experts in the house???

Posted 3 years ago #
spooky_b329 - Member

Koi? Flog em!

Girlfriends parents have a pond...the pump/filtration/uv must cost a fortune in leccy...the filter housing is the size of a bathtub!

Posted 3 years ago #
Elmo - Member

It may well have been turned off.....maybe thats why the ponds murky.

Are there any fountains or "water feature" present?

If its a sizable filter system it woud need little maintainace once set up.

Power used is negligble compared to what a modern home saps up.

Where are you? maybe the fish could be liberated..........save you worrying!

Posted 3 years ago #
Oxboy - Member

How big is the pond? Does it have any plants in it? How murky is the water? really cloudy?
My dad has a pond with no filtration but a lot of lillies in it which use the nitrate and phosphate (bad stuff) in the water up as plant food.

Posted 3 years ago #
stratobiker - Member

Depends a bit on how big the pond is, and how long/well established it is.

We have a pond, loads of carp in it. We don't do anything really. The heron comes and takes a few, but there's so many fish he's welcome, he takes a few frogs as well. I'll throw a bit of bread in the water sometimes, but just to watch really.

Carp don't mind cloudy water, and they'll survive quite happily where other species won't.

Bearing in mind that you don't want to spend your life looking after them I'd be inclined to do nothing except a visual check every day or so. If the fish are struggling you'll see them near the surface showing signs of stress (typically looking like they're gulping for air). That's when you need to run the pump to oxygenate the water (not necessarily clean it with filtering).

Here's a picture of ours tucking into some French bread....

SB

Posted 3 years ago #
Teapot - Member

I'm pretty sure the pump has been on all the time as it powers a little waterfall. As for the amount of electricity it uses, I did wonder about that. The pond is about 8 foot x 3 foot.

The pump housing is quite big and what I'm assuming are the filters (black round plastic things) are massive (dustbin lid size). There are loads of plants in the pond and they have grown rapidly over the past few days.

Maybe I'm being overly optimisitc but seen as I'm paying for the electricity I think it would be nice to actually see the fish...

Posted 3 years ago #
stratobiker - Member

If you wanna see the fish just throw a very small amount of food in at the same time each day. In no time at all you'll find them waiting for you.

Posted 3 years ago #
roadiebiker-m.g - Member

ooh, im studying ponds for my dissitation/research placement. Not fishponds though. However i did work for a guy who used to build these systems for koi.

Keeping Koi seems to be a bit of involved/expensive hobby, as their conditions have to be carefully maintained. The big black things are probably old orange juice containers, filled a bio-media. microorgainisms stick to this media and clean the water as it goes through, removing ammonia from the water, which is harmful to the fish.

You probably dont want to 'clean' the bio-filters, as this would remove the stuff thats cleaning the water. There may be sand filter as well.

To be honest find an expert if you are particulary interested in fish.

Mike

Posted 3 years ago #
johnhoo - Member

if you do want to 'clean' the filters, do it using some of the water from the pond. Do not use tap water as it's full of chlorine, fluoride & other stuff that the microorganisms won't like. Turn the pump off first though

One or more of the filters may have a UV feature - if it does, the bulb will probably need replacing. Not expensive, and will rapidly clear the water once everything else is working.

If you're anywhere near Otley, West Yorks, call into the Garden centre on Pool road; if you are, you'll know where I mean; if not it doesn't matter. The aquatic centre folks there know their stuff.

Posted 3 years ago #
Oxboy - Member

If you go down the filtration route, it will cost you money, some of those pumps arent as economical as you think, plus theres spares and repairs to pay for. Just depends how much you want to get into it. Fish is like bikes you can spend endless cash I know I keep marine fish.
As the plants are in there water quality should be ok. Just keep an eye on it.
Stratobikers pond sounds ideal

Posted 3 years ago #
lozzzz - Member

i have a koi pond which has been running for about 2 years it has gone from crystal clear to murky like pee soup ,the uv bulb had blown but has now been replaced ,the filter cosists of a vortex brushes japanease matting and rocks .i was thinking of putting a sand filter on the end before it goes into the pond as a desprate bid to clear my pond does anyone think this will work or have you any other ideas

Posted 3 years ago #
steveb - Member

Lozzz, your filtration sounds similar to mine. Pond is about 18000 litres, and as usual early season had been quite murky. Filters been running since early March, I gave it s good clean out last Saturday. Bought a new UV lamp (£20) but didn't get to fit the UV unit due a technical hitch.
Anyway, mid week, wham, suddenly crystal clear water! Touch wood should stay like that all summer.

To add to the above comments, some pumps do use a lot of leccy as they have to be on 24/7.
Can thoroughly recommend Oase ecomax pumps, expensive to buy, but very well made and extremely economical. More than halved my power usage and its shifting more water than my previous pump.

Posted 3 years ago #
Trampus - Member

A pond is a pond! Leave it alone, nature will cope. If you want to play "God", then take on a "managed ecosystem" plus all that entails!

Posted 3 years ago #
grizzlygus - Member

A pond is a pond! Leave it alone, nature will cope.

That might well be true. But we're talking about a fish pond here - which is completely unnatural, and nature will not cope.

Playing "God" and a "managed ecosystem" will be required to sustain the fish pond.

Posted 3 years ago #
lozzzz - Member

reply to steveb see in winter algae dies off and the water goes crystal clear ,if you have a short heat wave you get algae bloom.my pond has a bottom drain so i thought i had the best filter system ,i have now been told that i pergula over the pond to shade it will work .i wont use those chemicals in the shop that clear the pond because i lost some fish last year.i have been told that the sand filter will work but change the sand for plastic medea .if you have success please contact me .there must be others that have a clear pond all year roundplease help.

Posted 3 years ago #
lozzzz - Member

hi guys just to let you know ,i got a sand filter cheap on ebay fitted it after the uv filter before it goes into the pond .the water is now crystal clear.if you are going to do it to your pond make sure it is only 1/4 full with sand medea because its a pond and not a swimming pool could get clogged up.

Posted 3 years ago #
AdamT - Member

Don't you look after the pennies then the ponds will look after themselves (sorry... it's been a long day)

Posted 3 years ago #