How do i keep my pond clean? Good for wildlife but Clear?

[JV]

How do i keep my pond clean?
Good for wildlife but Clear?


Its basically a big blue container at the end of my garden in a hole with bricks on the sides,gravel at the bottom, and 3 unknown pond plants i got from a petshop (Pets at home )

Also i got a primerose on the side and long grass for shelter.

Please i would like to see inside and attract wildlife to it!

[Kayleigh]

Just make sure you put lots of oxygenating plants in there this will keep the water fresh and top it up with rain water when the level drops...

[dampflippers]

The pond plants from Pets at Home are probably ones for an aquarium. Leave them in, but never put any of hem in wild ponds and streams.
I suggest going to a garden centre for oxygenators which are usually sold in bundles or tiny pots.
Elodea is the most common, but better are things like hornwort, Ranunculus aquatilis (water crowfoot), spiked water milfoil, water starwort etc.

Good ones:
Callitriche stagnalis Water Starwort
Ceratophyllum demersum Rigid Hornwort
Eleocharis acicularis Hair Grass
Fontinalis antipyretica Willow Moss
Hippuris vulgaris Marestail (not suitable for small,
mud-based ponds)
Hottonia palustris Water Violet
Myriophyllum spicatum Water Milfoil
Myriophyllum verticillatum Whorled Milfoil
Nuphar lutea Yellow Water Lily (for large ponds only)
Nymphaea alba White Water Lily (for large ponds only)
Potamogeton crispus Curly Pondweed
Ranunculus aquatilis Water Crowfoot

"Bad ones"
Azolla/ fairymoss
Australian swamp stopnecrop/Crassula/ Tillea
Floating pennywort
Water primrose
Parrotsfeather

Good luck with your little pond. Expect it to go green before it clears.
Make sure there is a ramp of some sort to help frogs and hedgehogs to climb out. Frogs can actually drown if they can't get out.

You could bump start the pondlife by adding a couple of bags of live daphnia which you can buy from aquarium shops (must be alive).