Help with an inherited pond

[Mike R]

Hi,

My wife and I recently bought a house with a small pond that it about 4'X3'X2.5" or so. The previous owner inherited it as well and didn't do much with it other than change a small water pump when it burnt out. He told be he has never fed the fish or cleaned the pond or anything and the four fish the were living in it are still living in it now.

While I like the idea that the pond seems to be relatively maintenance free I have been trying to get the muck our to the pond. So far I have filled a five gallon bucket with leaves from the bottom of the pond.

The question that I have going forward with the pond is what do I need to do as far as maintenance? What kind of filter do I need? How do I keep the pond clean and what kind of plants can I put in it.

I have seen a lot of things that discuss planning for a pond. I didn't plan for it and never have had fish before. However, I like the pond and would like to get it looking really nice. I would really appreciate it if the pond experts could give me some pointers.

Thanks,
Mike

[Trillianne]

Ok so the math on your pond is 3x4x2.5 (I am assuming you really meant 2 and a half feet and not 2 and a half inches there) which = 30 square feet.

There is approximately 7.48 gallons per cubic foot. Which would mean you have 224.4 gallons in your pond

[smaug]

I kept a pond that size for years and it fairly simple as long as it isn't overstocked. You mention 4 fish have been in it for several yrs so that's a good sign. The best filter for a pond like this isn't a mechanical one,iow you don't need to get the particulate out. What is needed is a good biological filter such as a bucket filter on the outside of pond. My little pond had a small 20 gallon outer pond that sat on the edge of the main pond and I had the line from the pump in the main pond running to the little one. In that little pond I had about a 5 gallon bucket of well rinsed lava rock which acted as somewhat of a mechanical filter but more of a biofilter as the rock had many nooks for which nitrifying bacteria to grow. Once a week a would remove the rock and hose the junk from it,if it was hot sometimes twice a week. For plants you could have a hardy water lily and that would help shade the water. If the fish aren't koi then you could use hyacynth or floating water lettuce as well but keep in mind that bigger goldfish eat the roots and koi will eat the whole thing in time. Just keep netting the junk out once a week and that's pretty much all there is to it. Please feed the fish! Any good pond pellet appropriatly sized for them. Feed till water temps drop below 45 deg in the fall and begin feeding in the spring when water temps hit 50f and stay there for a week. Water temps below 50 deg feed them a wheat based low protein food for better digestibility.