When I bought my new house the owners left a pond with ten goldfish(?)
in it and it has gradually become dirty and full of algae. It never
had an electric filter system and I can't afford one, so is there a
way I can manually clean the water?

I'm thinking perhaps I could scoop out bucketfuls of water and filter
it through something like cotton wool, layers of muslin or sand (or
all three?). Can anyone offer any advice please?

On Tue, 6 May 2008 13:59:34 EDT, wrote:

When I bought my new house the owners left a pond with ten goldfish(?)
in it and it has gradually become dirty and full of algae. It never
had an electric filter system and I can't afford one, so is there a
way I can manually clean the water?

I'm thinking perhaps I could scoop out bucketfuls of water and filter
it through something like cotton wool, layers of muslin or sand (or
all three?). Can anyone offer any advice please?

How big is the pond?

If small, bucket enough to catch and hold the fish in. Then bucket it out
till you can use a shop vac on the rest of it, including the debris on the
bottom. Do not scrub sides, rinse off, but do not remover any thing growing
solid on it. Fill, add dechlor or an chlorine & ammonia remover, float
bucket in the pond till the waters come to equal temps and turn goldfish
loose.

Then watch craiglist, or similar, for a cheap pump. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

How big is the pond, you think? Any idea on the number of gallons? You can
build your own filter for less than you think. My first was my pump
"wrapped" in a mesh bag filled with bio balls, stuffed in a milk crate with
an air conditioner filter wrapped on the outside. Kept my 800 gallon pond
crystal clear.

JB


wrote in message
...
When I bought my new house the owners left a pond with ten goldfish(?)
in it and it has gradually become dirty and full of algae. It never
had an electric filter system and I can't afford one, so is there a
way I can manually clean the water?

I'm thinking perhaps I could scoop out bucketfuls of water and filter
it through something like cotton wool, layers of muslin or sand (or
all three?). Can anyone offer any advice please?

Hi,

How large/deep is this pond, and is it a pre-formed liner, flexible
liner or something else? Do you already have plants in there? Is there
gravel/rocks on the bottom or is it clear?

My first reaction is to do some partial water changes if you haven't
already. That probably won't be enough, but it will help. If you're
using city tap water, you may need to add some Aqua-safe or the like
to neutralize the chlorine. Depending on your setup, you can either
overflow the pond to replace water, or siphon some water out, ideally
from the bottom, and add new. You can use a garden hose for a cheap
but very slow siphon or get a 1.5-2" flexible plastic sump hose like
the sell at H-Depot for a faster siphon for a few dollars more. Of
course, that all assumes you have a lower spot than the pond that you
can run the siphon hose to and you are prepared for the possibility of
getting a mouth or face full of pond water. (Been there, done that.)

If the pond is really messy, and it isn't too large, you might want to
drain it and do a big cleaning, shop-vac style. You'd have to move the
fish to a kiddie pool or something like that and keep the water
quality fairly consistent (when they're in the pool and when they're
returned).

You really need some kind of filter running, though. Goldfish are very
messy. There may be some low-cost home-built solutions that list
members can help you with if they knew the size/construction of the
pond.

Dave

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to mention the plants, There are some
reeds at one corner and there are some lilies just starting to spread
out. The pond is very small, probably about 5 feet in diameter. I'd be
interested in any home brew filter designs if they are cheaper than a
bought pump/filter. Thanks again.

On Wed, 7 May 2008 19:16:04 EDT, wrote:

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to mention the plants, There are some
reeds at one corner and there are some lilies just starting to spread
out. The pond is very small, probably about 5 feet in diameter. I'd be
interested in any home brew filter designs if they are cheaper than a
bought pump/filter. Thanks again.

You can see some at the bottom of "My Filter" page, scroll down. There are
3 to chose from. Go to a store, look at what's in the box, and you'll go,
AH HA, I can make that! I like out of the pond one's best, easier to
maintain and the muck is removed from the pond. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

there are three things essential when having fish.
aeration ... Kmart used to have a double outlet air pump (about $10)
pump for moving the water to be filtered into a filter (around $50). the pump does
not have to big or move a lot of water or create nice waterfalls.
a filter, and the absolute cheapest and easiest is a veggie filter. Jo Ann's filter
is a kiddie pool, end of the season, 1-2 bucks. I sent her the water celery.
http://weloveteaching.com/mypond/VF/joannsfilter.html
it is nothing fancy. If you can build with wood, then you can make a filter sits in,
on or outside your pond. just line it to make it water tight. Ingrid


On Tue, 6 May 2008 13:59:34 EDT, wrote:
When I bought my new house the owners left a pond with ten goldfish(?)
in it and it has gradually become dirty and full of algae. It never
had an electric filter system and I can't afford one, so is there a
way I can manually clean the water?

I'm thinking perhaps I could scoop out bucketfuls of water and filter
it through something like cotton wool, layers of muslin or sand (or
all three?). Can anyone offer any advice please?