Help with pond

[Shezbug]

The new house has a fish pond...three goldfish were left for me along with a few struggling plants.

There is no filter but there is a water feature that can be turned on to spurt water. The pond is dirty and I’m trying to filter it manually once a week to get some of the funk out till I can get to the town with pet supplies and buy a filter, some plants and fish to help clean up the mess too.

Any help on plants and fish (looking at getting sucking cat fish) that help the water a bit would be great. I’d like to keep the maintenance to a minimum by making it a healthy ecosystem of its own if possible.

I’m hoping to get to buy the things I need this week sometime.

I’ll try to post some pics soon.

Thanks for reading and hopefully helping.
I have had fish before but not outdoors in a pond, it was also a long time ago that I had fish so there could be many things I’ve forgotten that are important. I really want to help the fish have a happy home instead of a stinky gunk filled pond.

 

[Revelth]

Wowza, to be honest it will probably take a bit of work to get running. What are the dimensions of the pond? If the water spurting feature is directly siphoned from the pond then maybe you can try to attach a small sponge to the inflow or outflow to let it try and filter it for you. If you have an air pump with an electrical outlet close enough to the pond you could buy a small sponge filter. You can find them for pretty cheap on amazon but they're not commonly found in pet stores. I'm not sure on exactly how to care for ponds on the filtration aspect due to them being outside but if you go to a specialized pond forum they might be able to help you better.

I would advise against getting a sucking catfish. I'm thinking you're referring to a common pleco and they get really big. Once they get big they can also get aggressive and territorial and contribute a lot to the bioload of your pond which means more maintenance. Once plecos get bigger they can also get a taste for your goldfish's slime coat and scrape it off and injure the goldfish.

I personally don't have any ponds so I'm not sure what your climate is like but if you're looking for algae control I think some snails such as Mystery snails, Nerite snails, or Malaysian trumpet snails would work well. Most ponds will always have some amount of algae. You could also try some shrimp, I'm not sure what types would be good for your pond but ghost shrimp might help with some too.

As for plants you can try some duckweed, water lettuce, or water lillies for floating plants. They help make your fish feel more secure and some fish might even snack on a bit of duckweed. You can try Cardinal plants that are grown emerged for around the edges and there are also fully aquatic varieties for the water bottom.

These are some of the basics but i have to go right now. I'll try to add any other information i remember later. Good Luck!

 

[BlueDoraBarry]

I can't help much. But I would keep the water feature turned on. Non-moving water is an invitation for mosquitos, dragonflies, and frogs to lay their eggs. Also, it would be a good way to oxygenate the water for the plants and fish.

 

[SandraK]

@ChromeScholar Might be able to help or give you some pointers. I believe he & family recently moved to a home that has a pond and was either re-novating or cleaning up the pond.

 

[fashionfobie]

Are you in Vic still @Shezbug ?

I know I am not allowed an inground koi pond or the like in Qld. Have you thought about getting some Australian native fish. Many are great for eating up mossies and are easier to maintain than goldfish, koi or imported plecos. Rainbows are awesome, and hardy Another great idea are mountain cloud minnows. They are from China originally, but they are cold water fish. They will clean up the place.

My biggest fear with getting a pleco "sucker" catfish is that most have high ammonia output and most aren't easy to rehome if you wanted to change your arrangement easier.

Only a thought to toss into the mix. I am sure you will find the perfect fit.

 

[Shezbug]

I am still in Vic....closer to NSW border than before but not by much.

The state of the pond was driving me mad so I went to the pet store the other day and bought some extra goldfish and a heap of snails, plants and groovy things for the fish to hide in as well as some gravel because there was none.
I am shocked at how much of the algae they have already eaten and how much clearer the water is already. The snails are cleaning up the bottom and the sides and I really have never ever seen so much change so fast without changing the water or filtering it. I am running the water feature to help also, I just have to be near it as it gets clogged up so needs to be turned off for a while every now and then. Once I can see where the inlet is for the water feature I’ll get a filter to attach to it.

I decided not to get sucking cat fish as I do remember my last ones harming some of my goldfish once they grew to about the same size as the goldfish.

I may get some shrimp or maybe an eel if the snails don’t do a good enough job. The girl at the store is a fish maniac and is trying to help me get the pond cleaned up as safely and naturally as possible. I have to learn more about the eels and shrimp but they were a suggestion that the girl said has worked for others in the area.

I will try to remember to keep posting about it as we go.

Thank you for the advice and suggestions, they were a big help for me.

 

[Shezbug]

Oh @fashionfobie i had thought of putting native fish in but my concern was what to do with the fish that were already in the pond and having to learn all new stuff.
I wasn’t planning on spending any time playing with the pond just yet but because it was so not ok (in my mind) I have spent a fair bit of time on it so I figured I’d stick with what I was familiar with for now.

Might just need me another pond in a year or so? Lol

 

[fashionfobie]

Well with the gold fish now, with proper care you can have them for a long while. Even more than a decade

 

[Shezbug]

Looks like one is possibly not going to survive the night but all the rest seem to be thriving and having a good time exploring and eating.

 

[fashionfobie]

Just for fun

Koi Hanako - Longest Living Fish Ever — Fish Laboratory

 

[SherLar]

On our acreage, we had a beautiful 7000 gallon (26,600 L) koi pond with koi over 24" long. Unfortunately, within a year of giving the acreage to our daughter and her family, all the fish were dead within a summer, and the pond in bad repair. We now content ourselves with 2 aquariums in the bird room: a 400 gallon (1,520 L) predatory fish tank, and a 135 gallon (510 L) planted tank, so we can still enjoy our fish, inside.

The first thing you need to do is establish your pond volume. You'll need a mechanical filtration system that filters 4 times your pond volume per hour. You can get either a submersible filter, or an external filter. I prefer external filters, but then you have the problem of hiding the filter system.
Water plants are great biological filters, and will make your pond look even better. Water lilies, water hyacinth, reeds, cattails, etc are all easy to grow and maintain, and their roots will filter out a lot of fish waste. Also, they'll shade at least part of your water, which will help inhibit algae growth.

Are you certain the fish are goldfish, or could they be koi? Either way, they'll produce quite a bit of waste for their size, compared to other fish.
So called algae eating fish probably won't be much help. As @Revelth said, common plecostomus can get very large, and after they get to a certain size, they won't eat much algae. Likewise with Chinese Algae eaters. They'll ignore algae in favor of your fish food. If your fish are koi, snails won't be an option, as your koi, and sometimes even goldfish will harass the snails to the point that they won't come out of their shells to eat, and will starve.
Koi can live a human lifespan, if properly cared for, and can get to impressive sizes, so they typically require about 500 or more gallons per fish. Most goldfish stay quite a bit smaller, but you should still plan on having about 50-100 gallons per fish. Both will eat some of your algae and organic waste, but can't be counted on to keep your pond clean, as they produce more waste than they clean up.
Or, as fashionfobie said, you could rehome the goldfish, and try to acquire some native fish from your area.
Your best bet is to simply prevent the algae and sludge buildup. First, by removal of much, but not all of the sludge and sediment buildup that's already in your pond (some sediment is necessary, as it harbors bacteria that are an essential part of your biological system). Second, by using a quality filtration system. Third, by choosing flora and fauna that help to reduce the amount of waste that accrues in your pond. If your pond is large enough (2000 gallons or 7,600 L), it can become mostly self-sustaining, and require little maintenance aside from a yearly cleanup and periodic removal of debris that falls into it.
Seachem makes a great line of aquatic chemicals to help with pond maintenance. Seachem Prime to detox chlorine and ammonia; Seachem Stability to help add beneficial bacterial to stabilize your nitrogen cycle; Seachem Pristine to help manage organic waste. I'm not normally a big fan of chemical additives, but for initial startup, or refurbishing a derelict pond, they can be a great help.

It will take a bit of work, but once you have it cleaned up and running, you'll enjoy it greatly, I think.

P.S.
As Revelth also said; leave the water feature running. It will help to aerate your water.