I've moved into a home with a gold fish pond

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hi there, my family and I have just moved into our new house and there is a fish pond with is roughly 2.5m X 1m and unsure of depth as can't see bottom. It contains a 4" gold fish and couple small unknown black fish. I don't believe there is a filter in the pond and unsure when it was last cleaned. And we cannot find the tap for built in hose for the water fall anywhere around the area, so there is no running water into the pond what so ever. It has over grown oxygen plants and Lilly pads, and algae on everything. I have 100 litre drum of water sitting to declorinate it self as I don't have any chemicals to do so. I'd like to know if someone could tell me how to maintain and keep the pond healthy for the fish. And the pond needs to be urgently cleaned as the previous tenants of the house didn't clean it. Also Do I need to feed them? What type of plants do they need? And how to look after the fish?It is currently 5 days into summer here in New Zealand and would love to get the pond tidy and clean for Christmas. Any help is muchly appreciated, thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

chas045
7 years ago
I am lucky to have well water and have not needed to concern myself with chlorine, but I am under the impression that there are products that can be directly added to a pond when new water is added. I would assume that moving water would be useful or required. I'm sure someone else will help us out on this.

You did say something about a waterfall. Is there a place for one? The water normally comes from a pump in or beside the pond that pulls water from the pond up to the waterfall via some usually hidden pipe.

Flowing water is good for cleaning, aeration and bug control, but it is not required. OTOH it is not that difficult. There are plenty of inexpensive in pond pumps and tubing is far cheaper. Give us a little more detail or a picture.
tropicbreezent
7 years ago
You mention "built in hose for the waterfall". If there's a hose there the previous tenants might have removed a submersible pump for maintenance or whatever and never got around to replacing it. You could try asking the landlord. Otherwise, if you have a Bunnings near you they have that sort of gear and it's not all that expensive. You can get solar powered pumps or mains powered.

The fish probably don't mind that sort of water, it gives them good cover. If you clean it out and have clear water you may get visitors at the pond, like herons and other water birds that'll have a deep interest in the fish. Something to keep in mind.
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This setup was "the best system money could buy" when I built it. The pump is a Hayward Northstar 1&1/2 hsp drawing 10.5 amps on a 220 circuit. I tried a 3/4 but it won't pull the distance --60+ft to the pumphouse & 60ft back to the pond jets & falls. I had a power audit by my power company. The pump runs 24/7 and adds up to 1663 KWH/month running without cycles and the 150 watt UV light adds another 120 KWH/mo. Just those 2 items total 1783 KWH/month @.17 per KWH on my monthly bill = $303/month I didn't add KWH for the power surge for the Blower or backwashing the bead filter. Adding food, water, fish, meds, salt, hired labor, replacing parts, uv bulbs & misc brings it up to the $4800/yr expense. Over the 4 yrs I've had this pond, I've done 2 major overhauls/change-outs of equipment-right now the 2 hsp Southwind blower is cracked & spewing water needs replacing, another $269 + installation. There's always something! The pond was originally 22,000 gallons designed/equipt by SacramentoKoi. Last time it blew up I had it re-built down to 7000 gallons. I've had KoiEnterprises, Flora Tropicana assisting me over the years as well. The latest bid I got for a Cerius mechanical filter change-out installation was $8000.
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Debbie Downer
7 years ago
It would be helpful to know size, # of gallons - measure depth by sticking a yardstick or something into the water. Once you know width in 2 directions + depth (or diameter + depth, if its circular) then you can find things online to compute no. of gallons (or litres ). People say filtration not necessary but in will make the job of keeping healthy environment infinitely more idiot-proof.
hemlock140 Zone 8B
7 years ago
My pond is about that size, depth .3m at one end, .6 at the other. It will ice over in winter but the fish survive. They only eat about April to October/November. I have never filtered it in almost 20 years, but do have a small pump and waterfall to aerate and disturb the surface to prevent mosquitos. You can get a solar that requires no power but only runs when sunny out. I started with 22 cent feeder goldfish, now 6-8" long. In spring I will drain it part way with an electric pump, clean out any submerged twigs or leaves, and refill.

I've moved into a home with a gold fish pond

Comments (4)

chas045

tropicbreezent

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Debbie Downer

hemlock140 Zone 8B

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