Mike: I do not have an ion generator. It's reassuring to know that draining and refilling the pond should be enough to dilute any poisons. It appears I was rather extreme to scrub all the algae off, but I do feel better about safely adding new fish. sleepless: I can't recall the last time there was a power outage. An electrician ran the wires to the pond and they are properly grounded. The outlets are all GFCI. My pond is on its own circuit breaker separate from other lines in the yard (swimming pool, decorative lighting, etc.). As for the in-pond fixtures, the bulbs have always lasted for years. I probably only replace them every 2 years or so. When this one fixture burnt out about 6 weeks ago, I replaced the bulb. It went out again about 3 weeks later. When I opened the fixture up to replace the bulb again, it was dry with no water leaking in. There was no sign of any damage to the wires, so I chalked it up to a bad bulb. I will certainly toss it and get a new one. There are some great prices online for new fixtures, so it isn't worth the risk to keep it, IMO. bulldinkie: That's terrible what happened to your pond! Not only did you suffer the massive loss of your fish, but it happened so close to a special day for your family. I hope your pond has recovered and is doing well now.

LOL! Going to the bottom is normal behavior for fish that are in a panic. Sometimes they disappear for weeks. They may even temporarily lose all their colors. The dark color of the water is probably tannins but it is also possible there is debris in the water. To figure out which, scoop some water into a glass jar and let it sit undisturbed for a couple of hours. Any debris or free floating algae will settle out or float to the top. Tea colored water shows there are tannins or other organic compounds present. Some of the organic compounds are harmful to the fish. Tannins come from rotting leaves, peat moss in potting soil and any thing else organic that is rotting. It often has an odor like sewage that is unpleasant. Adequate filtration will eventually remove debris and some of the algae. To get rid of the rest of the algae you can use chemicals or a UV light. I like the UV since there has less chance to harm the fish and it doesn't bother the algae that grows on the sides of the pond. That is considered beneficial and the fish will graze on it. The UV can also kill some free floating parasites that show up every so often. I have never had the problem of green water. For tannins (tea colored water or tannic acid) you need Activated Carbon also known as Activated charcoal placed in a permeable bag in a place where there is an active water flow. The tannin molecules react and combine with the carbon molecules on the surface of the chunks. Odors in the water are also removed with AC. Zeolite will handle most other organic compounds. There are chemicals available for this but there is a chance they won't work as well. Try the Zeolite. You should test the water for nitrates and nitrites (organic compounds)regularly. The black liner is the best color to have. The colors of the fish pop out when you see them, so long as the water is clear. You will be able to see all the way to the bottom. Has anyone suggested you get a Pond Test Kit? It is an important thing to have. Did you remeasure the dimensions of the pond to get the volume of water? I used two sites to get the 588 gallon measurement. I can't hear the pond inside of the house. I have been looking for an inside-outside intercom to take care of that problem. The sound is one of the best things about the pond. I guess I must be a geek too.

Lori_Carolos, we don't have the resources either! LOL! Everything we do is on a shoestring and DIY. Our friend doesn't charge much for the digging and the liners are used vinyl billboards we get to cover hay bales on our farm! Most of the plants have been begged, borrowed and stolen from friends and various other spots on our farm. The fish are 27 cents at PetSmart and some were given to us. Most of the waterlilies we got for free from my brother and a guy who advertised on Craigslist. So, jump out there and DIY like we do everything around here! I always joke that I cut my own hair and my dogs--and with the same scissors. And, it's true! I'm posting more pix from today in a new post soon.

Jenny - You're right! Sometimes we're talking to more than one person at a time. Sorry Maria - The problem with any covering is that you need to leave a few inches open at the bottom to let in/out frogs, insects, birds, etc. We don't cover our pond tightly like saran wrap. We drape our net to about 5 inches from the top of the pond if that makes sense - we leave a 5 inch gap between the net and the pond surface. Now obviously this method will allow leaves to blow into your pond, but we had to made a call after finding our frogs on TOP of our net and almost baking to death. The poor things couldn't get off, just kept bouncing around like it was a trampoline. Same thing with birds under the net. They couldn't escape. I'd prefer to save wildlife than block out all the leaves. More maintenance for me, but after rescuing birds, frogs, butterflies and dragonflies all summer, we decided to leave the gap so they can escape when we're not home. We didn't want to unnecessarily kill anything we didn't have to.