This post is partly to share my joy - you've all been here.

I built a pond last year. All my information came via this group btw, so this little pond is partly yours.

This year, I put in a veggie filter. My original plan didn't work so well, but I finally got a solution that seems to be working because my water is really clear now. Woo hoo!

This little pond is under a wild cherry tree that drops leaves pretty regularly. It is also dropping fruit right now.
In the fall I tented it last year and it was no big deal. This season I have been pretty diligent about scooping the leaves out. However, now that the water is clear I see some that I missed.

In the leaves and muck, I found lots and lots of cool things! No mosquitoes - young frogs, snails, and dragonfly larvae. Here's my issue: I can't clean out the pond without jeopardizing the dragonflies, but I wanted to put fish in my pond. I know from reading here that the leaves decomposing is a bad thing for fish.

Do I have to choose between dragonflies and fishies? There's not a whole thick layer of leaves in the bottom, just "some" scattered around the bottom. Will that be an instant death for my fishies?

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Angie Thornton