Careful there, cowboy. This ain't a bunch of salesmen your a'talkin'
to, here.
Seriously, this is a mixed group of real ponders with approaches that
range from engineers with spreadsheets to track water quality from
detailed test kits, on down to folks with no power to their ponds, who
are on fixed budgets and have next to nothing extra to spend on their
ponds. It is a common thread here to have someone ask for suggestions
to copy expensive systems and equipment so that they can by-pass the
expense. And yet, there are basic tenets of biology, botany and water
chemistry that can't be ignored. Your waterfall may be acting as a
filter, of sorts. My MIL changes her water frequently because she
doesn't want to clean filters. She too, only has goldfish. That is
another well accepted method among people who don't have chloramines in
their water. You don't say whether you feed yorur fish or how often.
Do you have plants? It sounds as if you only talked to one person. If
I got that wrong, then I got the wrong impression from your post. Any
experienced pondkeeper will tell you that there is more than one way to
do almost anything regarding ponds.
You say that you only have goldfish, and state that you have ignored
many of the things you have been told you need. Well, lots of the
things that are sold to ponders are specifically for koi keepers. Many
people here avoid koi so that they don't have to deal with the
requirements of those fish. It's nothing new. We recognize, here,
that there are a lot of things that are developed for this market that
just aren't necessary, and we are a skeptical group, even the koi
keepers among us. That's one of the most useful things about this
group. We can get other opinions before we buy something that might
not be worth the cost.
Simmer down, and read and make suggestions, and don't get offended if
people disagree with you from time to time. We've all tried different
things, and it's tough to see the consistent trend sometimes, but if
you keep an open mind, we can figure most things out together.
Welcome to rec.ponds