we had a small fish pond built, its about 12' by 3'. We bought 20 small gold fish, is there any maintenance/tests we should carry out.........thnx

we had a small fish pond built, its about 12' by 3'. We bought 20 small gold fish, is there any maintenance/tests we should carry out.........thnx

There have been several threads and some excellent information in this forum on fish ponds and maintenance. I have been looking into it because of a friend asking for help with theirs.

I hope you had a good recirculating pump, filter system (lava rock, screens, etc), and aeration components installed with the fish pond; if not then you need to incorporate those important aspects. Run the pump 24/7 to circulate the water through the filter. A biological bacteria digester like PSBIO (available at fish/aquarium stores) is useful to keep the harmful bacteria level down. Don't overfeed the fish and don't let the numbers build up too high or you will have excessive amounts of undigested food and fecal matter that will promote algae growth.

Some people say water plants are essential, but others say they contribute to problems.

Shade is important to create a cool clilmate for the fish and to keep the sunlight from promoting algae growth.

Hope that helps; but my information is all second hand; I have avoided keeping fish ponds myself because everyone that I know that has them says they are a lot of work to maintain.

The attached photos are of a clear water pond with healthy fish. The owner himself maintains it regularly and runs the pump all day and night. He has filter boxes with shells, rock, and large brushes. I don't want to show you the dirty pond that I looked at, it is overgrown with algae because of 90 fish in the pond, inadequate filter (only one box with shells that haven't been cleaned in awhile), and full afternoon sun.

Good luck, don