In a confined environment like a typical pond its not a good idea to
let any debri collect on the bottom. While it may be fine in a natural
pond it sets up an environment in which many nasties for fish
propagate. Just disturbing them at a later point will release hydrogen
sulphide gasses which are extremely deadly to fish......and gf and koi
will root in this mulm and stir it up, causing blocked filters and
strainers and in general make a mess. Its best to keep it clean of any
debri. A little bit usually does no harm, but a layer of leaves is
not good. You can probably get buy with it if no fish are in this pond
and only plants. I even try and remove as much pinestraw and leaves
from my natural pond as I can as even there you can see bubbles etc
from decomposing matter that builds up. Since you do not have fish in
it now, why not remove the trash and do frequent filter cleanings,
before introducing any fish, and just make future leaf removal a part
of routine maintenance.
On Fri, 08 Apr 2005 02:57:58 GMT, ScrubsFan
wrote:

===Is it a good or bad idea to let leaves that fall into my pond decompose?
=== It's a pre-fab pond that holds about 80 gallons (if I remember
===correctly) and is 24-30" deep.
===
===If it is a good idea, is there some general rule of thumb as to how deep
===to let the layer at the bottom of the pond get before doing some
===housecleaning?
===
===I do not currently have any fish in the pond but am considering getting
===some.


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Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!