I'm glad I found this group, I've added back to April.
Is there a FAQ I've missed seeing?
(group has lotsa info., but I'm not fully understanding much.)
I've read the charter.
I live in temparate Pacific NW.

I do not know much about this
(so corrections are welcome - especially where I have names wrong).
For years I've had and enjoyed two ponds with fish.
The fish are currently only 'goldfish' or similar/related.
They each have about the same number of fish
per gallon and/or surface area.
This year the only 'floating' plants are what I've heard
called 'frog bit' (each 'leaf' is about 1/8" long, three
leaves per plant). This plant currently is restricted
to about 1/3 of each ponds surface area.
I have pumps (currently use them about 2 hours every
couple of days). Top one squirts a stream of water a
couple feet and lands back in pond. Bottom one pumps
water down a 3 step cascade.
I've 'mucked' out considerable gunk from the bottom
of both (but never drained or totally cleaned).
When evaporation exceeds rain, I fill tap water
(clorinated etc.) into barrels, let sit for 24 hours, then add.

The real difference between ponds is my
"Bottom pond" has a large "Water Iris", big grass like
leafs, some stems and at time yellow flowers on stems.
This grow on a 'shelf' - takes about 1/5th of surface.

In years past, they both had the water clear up probably
in late June/July.
This year the bottom 'brown' has pretty much cleared
up fairly recently.
The top pond's water still looks quite 'green'.

Is this likely "algae"?

What problems does it cause?
(Besides limiting viewing?
Is too much of it harmful to fish?)

Does running the pumps make it worse?
(by increasing oxygen in water?)
(Running pumps more & longer certainly did not seem
to make it better!!??)

One person advocated, letting the 'frogbit'
expand to cover 2/3 of surface.
Does that help?
(If so, real quick and easy to do!)

I've tried some with various filter ideas,
and somewhat open to more.

Thanks for your indulgance.