"Amphitecna" wrote in...

(I previously sent this, ((twice in fact, addressed to both groups.
It sure looked like it went fine, but never arrived on either group,
so sorry if you get it twice, or thrice!)

Hello all,

Welcome to the interest.

I am a new user on this forum,

It's just my opinion, that both this newsgroup,
and the moderated newsgroup (that I have "cross posted" to)
are currently usable. There are plenty of caring and
kind people that will give advice and ideas.

and my two young children

I hate to add a "worry" first thing, but seriously
evaluate & take steps for the children's safety.
There are frequent very sad cases of children
falling into ponds & drowning (even in 2 feet).
No need for paranoia, but consider that first.

Ok, about 6 months ago, we moved into a house that has an established
pond. It is about 6 ft by 3 feet, but a paisly like shape. I do know
that at one end it is about 2.5-3 feet deep (the fish survive the few
days of freezing that we have). The other end is shallower, but I
couldn't tell you how deep.

The previous owner, who built the pond, rather proudly said he never did
anything to it and never planted anything, just let nature take its
course. Considering some of the plants are in pots, I know the latter
point isn't true. There is no filtration, no fountain or flow,
The plants around the pond and in it are a bit of a mess, few natives
and lots of alien invasives, BUT near as I can tell, no algae problems.
And the fish, all goldfish, are happy, and I'm pretty sure breeding.

Hey!! If the current pond works that well (fish happy & breeding)
rejoice!!

but the liner does leak a bit at the upper levels, so the water
drains a bit, and the pond refills with each new rain
(or the hose in the summer).

Perhaps I have been overcautious, but I use hose to
put water into 5 gallon buckets to sit 24 hours
(to lose chemicals and 'moderate' temperature)
before adding to pond.

Today, I was fishing some quince out that my son threw in there in
November, and for kicks and giggles tested the depth at the deepest end.
There is a LOT of debris down there, fallen tree leaves, dead water
lily leaves I'm sure some dead fish, and probably other plant material.
The current depth is not what the previous owner said- it's closer to 2
feet. It actually seems to be doing pretty well. But I'm tempted to
drain it and clean it out. Should I, or is that inviting problems?

I'm probably in the minority and wrong.
But personally, all I would do is reach in and
pull out a bit of the debris each day.
(perhaps use a net on a stick to get a liter
quanity of gunk & debris each time out).

Total emptiying, cleaning, & in effect transplanting
fish just seems to me to be a big risk, for a
situation that's doing well.

I know if I were to do that, and refill with hose water I'll likely have
an algae bloom, but is that bad? I have never had a pond, and have no
idea really how to care for it. I know what my goals are for it, but I
think I'll save that for another thread to avoid confusion.
Can anyone advise me? And hopefully point me into a good direction as
far as learning materials ? I'd like to stick with natural and organic
methods.

Some sort of pump, filter, & water flow (or water fall)
might be nice.

Thanks heaps! And happy Spring!
Amphitecna

Happy spring back to you.
I'm in USA, Pacific NW.
About Tuesday & Wed. we had white shit falling
from the sky. Then we had 2 days with sun out.
Yes, Spring must be coming!
A couple cases of a male duck chasing a female,
and a male goose chasing a female, but they did
get a bit distracted when a bald eagle flew over
and nested in a tree to watch.
Now we got 7 days of rain predicted with almost
all temps staying 31 to 41 degrees F
(so for you in C, 0 to 7).
But, I have faith, Spring will come.