inherited pond,

[epatterson]

Hi,

3 months ago, I bought a house which has a pond at the bottom of the garden. The pond is 270cm x 90cm and 45cm deep. I dont know anything about fish, but out of humane reasons, I would prefer them not to die!

There is a fountain in the middle and I have just worked out how to turn it on. What do I do now? There are about 10 fish in the pond most of which are about 20cm long.

General Q's:
1. Does the water need to be pumped around or is the fountain enough?
2. How much do I put the fountain on for?
3. The water is getting a bit murky now, can I clean it somehow?
4. Does the fountain produce the oxygen, or do the weeds to it too?
5. Someone mentioned putting straw in the water to clean it, is this true?

Fish Q's:
1. They look like they are sucking in water all the time, does this mean something or is this normal?
2. One of the fish has been very inactive for the past week. It just floats tail-up in the water for ages. But if you poke it, it swins off erratically, then starts floating again. But it hasnt died yet! Shall I just take it out of the water incase it infects the others?

Thanks

 

[goldene]

Does the pond have a filter at all as it may be in need of a clean, and does it have any plants in it, I am not really the right person to advise you on ponds as tanks are my field, but you could try taking a bit of the mucky water out and put some fresh in using a water conditioner for ponds, as the fish sound like they are gasping for oxygen they are definetly telling you that all is not right with the water, get some test strips for ponds to see what condition the water is in, look up about the nitrogen cycle and go from there, hopefully someone who knows about ponds may be able to help you more.
Goodluck

 

[ryan]

Ok you have roughly 240 gallons there. Do you know what fish they are:

Goldfish/Comets:

These come in many different colour variations, the Comets have a longer trailing tail.

Orfe:

Blue Orfe:

Koi:

Any of these?

The fish species will help me know what the pond needs. For example Orfe need a higher oxygen concentration so they will need an oxygen pump and Koi are messy and big so they will need a external filter, is there on of these? The fountain should be left on constantly, 24 hours a day. There are oxygenating plants that produce oxygen but not on a large scale unless the pond is covered by it. There is a straw called barley straw which you use to take the nitrates out of the water and combat Blanket weed and other algae forms but it will not clear murky water. It sounds like they are suffering from a lack of oxygen or maybe from high nitrate and ammonia levels.

Steps to take-

What fish are they?
How is the pond planted?
Invest in an air stone oxygen pump.
May need to purchase an external filter.

and several more but I need to know the answer to my questions first. Then I can help in more detail.

 

[epatterson]

I tried to upload images, but I couldnt work out how to. Most of my fish look like the top one you posted, just stretched a bit. Also have some smaller dark brown ones that look slightly different.

The pond has some lillies type plants and some long thinner curly weed type plants, and a bit of algae all round the sides and on the bottom a bit. (Sorry, I'm not much of a botanist!) The bottom has little pebbles. It is a perfect cuboid in shape.

Dunno what an airstone pump is. But it has a pump that sucks water into the fountain. Can I submerge the fountain so that it just blows the water round the pond instead of throwing it into the air?

Hope this helps more.

Ewan

 

[goldene]

I wouldn't think so with the fountain as thats what they are made to do but it is possible that it has a filter attached some how, you might need to get some waiders and check it out, did the previous owners not leave any instructions for you at all about the fountain or if there is a filter, try to find out what make the fountain is and do a search on the internet to see what you can find out about it, and maybe look into getting a filter if it is just a fountain thats if you would like to keep the pond going, the plants should help with oxygenatig the pond and filteration to a point but you will need to do some regular maintenance to help them out.

 

[Fuzzy]

the goldfish comets will change how the look when put in a pond

 

[ryan]

If they are gaspnig for air I would advise you to go to your lfs and buy a test kit for Ammonia and Nitrate and also a large oxygen pump with tubing and air stone. Personally I would also consider buying an external filter to deal with the mess that Goldfish make.

Good Luck

 

[Fuzzy]

General Q's:
1. yes u need a pump, i suggest a bio wheel
2. dont get what ur asking
3. skim the water reguraly and Clear Pond should fix that up
4. Does the fountain produce the oxygen, or do the weeds to it too?
5. Someone mentioned putting straw in the water to clean it, is this true?

Fish Q's:
1. do what ryan said

other stuff: if u get leeches or misquito larva put some common creek minnows in the pond.
crayfish r cool to have depending on size of fish, WARNING: may eat snails in the pond or try to hurt small fish.

 

[Fuzzy]

when doing the pump/skimmer heres what i suggest:
1.get a big bucket or anything like that, must be big enough for filter and room around it.
2. cut a slit about 6 to 8 inches across and cut as far down toware its below water level.
3. when putting the pump in put filter pad surronding it and on bottom of it, and then put a mesh bag around the pads and pump.
4. it is prefered were the water poors out that the water goes thro gravel and either a filter pad or a air duck filter and then out to the pind/fountain.

that is what i have on my pond and it works great

 

[ryan]

If the pond is murky I would recommend an external filters, internal filters don't work well in ponds as it is difficult to find one that can handle 250 odd gallons. You may also want to do some water changes, say 10% daily until it has settled back down.

 

[goldene]

2. One of the fish has been very inactive for the past week. It just floats tail-up in the water for ages. But if you poke it, it swins off erratically, then starts floating again. But it hasnt died yet! Shall I just take it out of the water incase it infects the others?

Hi there Any update as to how you are getting on, did you manage to do any water change at all and have you tested the water if so what was the readings, also how is the fish that kept floating, does it have any signs of infection like fungus at all.

 

[epatterson]

Hi,

Yes, I have just done a nitrate and an ammonia test and neither turned any colour in the test tube, so i guess that means the the water is ok. Hence, I havent changed the water.

I went down to the local garden centre and aquariam, and bought the test, but also bought two cool looking "Sterlet" fish and 3 swan mussels! I hope they fit in well. I also bought some barley straw, and was going to buy a new pump/filter system called EcoFlow (i think) for £140, but I thought I would wait until I could get someone to install it as I am not sure about the electrics.

I want to get a new filter and oxydising system, but I want to get the quiestest method, so that I can leave it on all the time without annoying the neighbours. Can I get something that bubbles air through the water rather than pumping it through a fountain?

I still see the "sick" fish every now and then. But it must just have epilepsy or something, as it seems to be selectively dead. So i havent taken it out of the pond yet.

I did noticed that all the fish were congregating near a thick bunch of plants, but I think that they are just there to suck up all the newly hatching tadpoles!

Will my Sterlet eat the regular fish "balls" that I am feeding the goldfish/carp?

 

[goldene]

The tests you did was it nitrate or nitrite, as nitrite showing no colour is good but you should have some nitrate at least a slight show of colour but the test you are using would tell you this, So you bought some more fish be careful as its very addictive you know I am not sure about the sterlet food but it should be easy to find out, where about are you england or america ? as then I will know what filters you can get hold of

 

[epatterson]

I'm in London.

 

[ryan]

Sterlets are big fish and that pond want be big enough for long, I would advise you to get some sinking pellets and frozen foods for him. If you get a Ren air pump or a Koi air pump they are nearly silent and do a great job with an airstone which air is pumped though and comes out in thousands of bubbles. I would also look into the external. The filter is quite good just make sure you get a filter that can handle 300 gallons and a pump that can to.