hotpepper wrote:

I already had three largish goldfish, I've added 3 Tench, 3 Commits,
3 Goldfish, 3 blue orfe, 3 Sebunkins, all are quit small 3in.

Everything seems fine expect I can't see the Tench but I assume they
are ok.

Tench are pretty much muddy-water-colored, aren't they? They'll probably
show up.

The water was very murky but after a few days it has started to
clear (you can see the rocks at the bottom of the pond) and is no
longer green.

My questions a

1 - Have I done the right thing in terms of setup and cleaning?

Mostly. I wouldn't have put new fish in until the muck you'd stirred up
settled out, and you should really quarantine new fish if you don't want to
risk killing off the ones you already had.

2 - I have had mixed advice on this but should I drain and clean the
pond and does this need to be done every year?

3 - Can I keep Koi in this pond?

I think not - it's pretty shallow.

4 - Is there anything else I should do?

Enjoy!

5 - How many fish should I keep in the pond?

No more for now. They'll breed (at least assuming you've got some of both
sexes for each species - which is pretty much guaranteed for the
goldfish/Comets/Shebunkins, which are all the same species), and before you
know it, you'll be asking us how to get rid of the extras.

5 - Where have the Tench gone?

It's amazing how fish can hide. Unless your water is clear enough to
actually see the bottom, it's rarely quite as clear as you think it is, so
that helps then hide. Then they take advantage of any bit of foliage, and
many fish are particularly timid when first introduced to a new pond. If
you were missing an assortment of fish, I might think a predator had found
the pond already, but since it's just the Tench, I'm sure they're hiding.
--
derek