# ? outdoor pond?



## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

My brother-in-law has a pond about 7' across and about 3' deep. right now it has about 50 gold fish of various size in it and he wants to know about filtration requirements and other servicing for the pond. right now it has only got a waterfall that cycles the water with no filtration. what does he need to do. Thanks for your help.


----------



## BigFatLyre (Apr 22, 2010)

depends largely on how much money he has, and what he plans to put into the pond.
does he want to go "green"? i.e. you can use the waterfall to assist aeration and push the pond water (it's easier to push than suck 
Also, those fifty goldfish should be in a crane's stomach by now if the water is only three feet deep. One pond I saw in Steveston has a lattic cover and is very near the house; birds don't go in there. 
Ever visit a trout farm? Go see what they do. They have a lot of passive systems.
(this is the cheap advice league; if you have lots of dinero you can do just about anything


----------



## gklaw (May 31, 2010)

Not a whole lot  Plant some lilies and other plants in the spring. You can even sell them when they spread. Just bought some lilies at $20 each from someone this summer. That was much cheaper than landscape centres.

If really concerned, pass the water through a Rubbermaid of foam and bioballs (or lava rock).


----------



## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks for the help.


----------



## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

Assuming a perfect circle and uniform depth, 50 goldfish still sounds like a fairly heavy bio load. It wouldn't hurt to follow gklaws suggestion and use a simple filter system. If you don't want to DIY, good filter/pump combos are available on line for +/- $100. At the very least use a fountain spray, ala BigFatLyre, to agitate the surface.

Over spring/summer fall include tough, fast growing plants - duckweed, salvinia, water lettuce - to pull nitrates etc from the water. The fish will eat the duckweed and keep it under 'control', ish, but not the salvinia and water lettuce. Those you can sell/trade/mulch/compost.

>gklaw, the lilies don't grow fast enough to provide much filtration. Although, with 50 gfish, the flowers should be spectacular!

once it gets into single digit temps, the fish will reduce their feeding and produce less waste. bring the filter indoors for the winter, but leave a bubbler on to keep a surface hole during freezing.


----------



## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Most ponds seriously lack any proper filtration. Plants tend to control the waste of the fish in most cases however green water and suspended debris is the real issue. Some debris in the bottom of the pond is beneficial particularly in the winter. 
Most entry level pond filters merely trap some debris and need constant cleaning. For clear water, a UV sterilizer and some sort of pressure filter is best.


----------



## Trouble (Apr 27, 2010)

*My brother has a pond and I got him a UV sterilizer from my fish guy, says it works so well. You have to take it out in the winder so you don't crack the buld. Plus the pond sorta goes into a winter mode itself. You don't feed your fish even. Old drain tiles work well for the fish to hide in so they don't get eaten. Large brick, slate and so on can be added in the bottom for hiding places as well. You gonna post some pictures?*


----------



## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

Thanks again for the help I'll forward the info to my brother-in-law, also I'll try and get some pics. I think it looks pretty good for a very basic set up.


----------



## Koi Kichi (Oct 23, 2010)

well you have many choices, you can either pay more now, or pay more later in the form of labour towards cleaning your filter. An inexpensive pond canister filter running you a hundred dollars or so should do the trick providing you clean it once a week. A swimming pool sand filter costing 500-1000 would b sufficient without too much work involved.


----------



## TCR (Jul 13, 2010)

There are pond filters o. Creigslist sometimes for cheap. Keep an eye on the garden section


----------



## Dough (Apr 21, 2010)

thanks for all the help and advice.


----------



## eliteanny (Sep 7, 2010)

*fountain cum pond*








hey frns chk out this!!


----------

