Should I just leave my pond alone

[IbKaz]

Hi I have a lovely pond in my garden, made by my ex. not very big, but what plants are in it are now quite mature, and Im not sure the best way of tending to them.

I have loads of questions, as I really don't know much about what to and not to do.

My pond is u-shaped, the sides about two meters in length and not very deep maybe half meter, the bottom of u-shape about meter n half in width and a little deeper, then two meters length the other side.

Back when pond first built my then partner and I had gold fish, small koy and ghost carp, but some died or got snatched by herrin bird. We were left with an empty pond. Couldn't afford to replace these so we bought 4 large gold fish apparent 4 years old, two golden and two white in colour. To cut my very long story short, I am now only left with the two golden fish, and they have survived in my pond for approx three years and also I have up to 15 offspring that are now two years old (none of them golden in colour as yet). My pond is netted as best as possible, but for around the plants as they need room the room to grow in height.

This week I have been tending the one side of the pond, I have lifted out pots, that held lily's and some bamboo, cut back roots, and placed back in pond I have removed stacks of what i think is algy plants? or something to stop algy I reall have no idea what the point of this stuff is? I had bought it from pond shop and it multipies rapidly during winter, 'long green stringy plant'......Was I right to remove alot of this from pond? I have removed this stuff each winter though.

The other side of my pond holds grass and lilies and iris's (which have mature really well, and this is fare to heavy for me to lift out the pond now. I thought maybe I could feel around in pond and just pull and snip back roots, and grass, but I am very worried about weather fish have been breeding in this area?

I have thought can I empty pond, putting fish in large container whilst I give pond good clean, but again im worried about any baby eggs (what would they look like?

I dont have a filter in the pond, and the baby fish have survived fine in it and survived a very cold icy winter. I have managed to count 12 of the 15 from last year, and see no new baby fish as yet.

I'm sorry if my post has rambled on, but I thought I'd just type all history I know of it, I love my fish and dont want to do any thing wrong to harm them now. I hope my post make sensible reading.

[Tursiops2]

Originally Posted by IbKaz

This week I have been tending the one side of the pond, I have lifted out pots, that held lily's and some bamboo, cut back roots, and placed back in pond I have removed stacks of what i think is algy plants? or something to stop algy I reall have no idea what the point of this stuff is? I had bought it from pond shop and it multipies rapidly during winter, 'long green stringy plant'......Was I right to remove alot of this from pond? I have removed this stuff each winter though.

Hi IbKaz, welcome to WAB.

It sounds like you've been sold one of a number of non-native water plants which are notorious for being invasive and taking over people's ponds - Possibly Parrot's Feather Myriophyllum aquatica? Could you post a photo to help with identification?

Have a look at this website for more info on problem pond plants: Problem species and alternatives

With regard to your other questions - it sounds like you've got a fairly complex set-up there which certainly needs some maintenance doing. Some photos would be helpful here too, as a starting point.

I read in your other post that you're now thinking of putting in a separate pond for wildlife - excellent idea if you've got the space.

T2

[Naturenutz]

Hi ibkaz,
Lots of questions their . ill try to answer a few from my own experiences. First of all , if it was me i would not empty the pond unless it was a very last resort. Fish can be very fragile creatures and will do fine left alone but if you change the water it will upset the balance of the pond as well as alot of the life the fish will be feeding on.Fish do not like tap water, unless it has been left a long time to settle before adding them or it has been through a purifier which can be bought from a fish stockist , water garden etc. New pond syndrome is a term given to freshly built ponds with no life and fresh tap water that can cause the fish to flick and flash , rubbing themselves on rocks ,etc where the water irratates them, this can cause parasites to get into the fish from sores or cuts from rubbing on the rocks or bottom etc. So in my opinion not a good idea to drain the pond . Goldfish do not have the appetite that koi carp do and hence do not cause as much waste , which allows you to keep more fish per square meter of water .All ponds can only hold a certain amount of fish, it depends on the amount of excretement which builds up ammonia,nitrates and nitrites.Plants can help obsorb this and do the job a filter normally would do. It will be very usefull for you to find out about ammonia and nitrates/nitrites on the internet. They are critical to the fish surviving and i believe everyone keeping fish should understand how these effect your pond water quality. You are doing the correct thing in tidying your pond, old dead leaves can be removed etc . The algae you mentioned sounds like blanket weed. It usually grows more in ponds that get alot of sunlight. There is no harm removing it and preventing it overrunning the pond. All in all i would say your pond sounds very healthy and the fish have spawned so they must be happy . You seem to have a good balance of fish and plants . dont be scared to ask further advice
Hope this helps ps the algae may be something else not blanket week can you describe it any further ?
best regards
vic

[IbKaz]

Thank you Tursiops. I will sort out some pictures of my pond soon, I must admit I;m very proud of it. I have none of the plant explained to show, I will certainly look at the link.

Thank you also naturensnuts, for taking the time to post me a very informative reply, I haven't emptied the pond for just over two year, (apart from sometimes needing to give it a little top up) Though previously my partner use to empty and clean it each year, so it possible that we culprits to upset the fish we did have back then.

My garden south facing and so the pond does get alot of sun ,well that is when we we are lucky enough fo sunshine

I believe the plant(s) I have removed from the pond is called Hornwort, I didnt have to pot this, but it did grow quite rapidly

Thank you again you have both been very helpful. I will up load some photos as soon as possible,

[Naturenutz]

no problem

[IbKaz]

Hi, At long last I managed to work out how to up load photos. Here is my pond just so you have an idea. The netting is only secured by large stones.brick until i can fit it properly around plants..

apols for an error please see below post

[IbKaz]

[Naturenutz]

I like the look of your pond . I have a net over my pond which is attached by hooks all around the edges, i just unhook the net when i intend spending a day in the garden. Its harder with your pond kaz because of the plants. Have you had any dragonflies , damselflies frogs or newts kaz ?. The reason your fish have survived is probably due to that all you plants provide cover for the young ones to hide in , so keep things as you are kaz, just do a tidy up as you have and you could use a small net to scoop the bottom bit by bit to remove debris like has been mentioned . love the iris's.

[IbKaz]

Originally Posted by Naturenutz

I like the look of your pond . I have a net over my pond which is attached by hooks all around the edges, i just unhook the net when i intend spending a day in the garden. Its harder with your pond kaz because of the plants. Have you had any dragonflies , damselflies frogs or newts kaz ?. The reason your fish have survived is probably due to that all you plants provide cover for the young ones to hide in , so keep things as you are kaz, just do a tidy up as you have and you could use a small net to scoop the bottom bit by bit to remove debris like has been mentioned . love the iris's.

I believe I have seen drangon flies, and infact this year was first ever time that i have had frogs sporn in my pond (maybe the reason is because the pond has been left fairly undisturbed for near two year now. Just behind the pond I have an area of the garden holding twigs and branches that have dried out, they're remains of taking a very large hedge down I used the chopped up cuttings as a feature and an alternative to bought bark cuttings, the frogs like to hide in there, one gave me a bit of a fright yesterday ha ha, plus birds come down for the twigs too, so this area has served many a purpose

Very strange you should say at hooks for netting, because today I have done just that too (a bit like tent pegs), but still needed to use rocks up the boardwalk in middle of the pond.

I'm going to get a water butt to collect water to top up, and my neighbour suggested too about a net to scoop clean bottom of pond.

The Iris look so much nicer than in the picture, and I have twice as many as last year.

I am very pleased to have found this forum (a simple google question directed me here) I can see the forums are going to make apprieciate wildlife and the environment much more, there so many interesting topics here.

oh dear I've typed another essay , glad you like the photo uploading it was a nightmare.

[galanthus]

If you do have tadpoles, sadly, they won't be able to get out when they become juv frogs and will drown; the sides have no slope for them to climb out. Also with 17 goldfish in there they will struggle to make it to juv frogs.

Best time to clear and tend your pond is probably end sept/beg oct. That way any breeding from anything is finished and creatures haven't then started to hibernate. I'd agree that emptying pond prob not a good idea as it will be fairly well established by now.

welcome to the site by the way