New pond, new fish- but a whole lotta work first!

[fIsHy13]

I am so excited that spring is here and i can get my encredily dirty pond cleaned and put some goldies in!!!!
How do i clean a pond with inches of waste matter and algea at the btoom and on the sides?
Also, the plants that are in there have died off, and i was wandering what are the best plants for filtering and oxygenating the water as i hav no filter

[frloplady]

Why not make a small filter??

Best way to clean a pond that dirty is to drain it as much as you can with a hose/siphon and then get in with a bucket and muck it out. I have heard of some using a shop vac to get the last bits out, but it comes down to work.

edit: you don't necessarily want to scrub all that good algae off the sides. It's healthy for the fish. Lots of string algae you will want to remove, but I'd not scrub the sides off of the short green carpet stuff.

How big is the pond?

[ohbly]

the plants that are in there have died off, and i was wandering what are the best plants for filtering and oxygenating the water as i hav no filter
the plants could be just dormant and may sprout back from tubers or rhizomes soon.
as for best at oxygenating- elodea sp. better known as oxyden weed. goldfish eat it but it can quickly clog up ponds.

best at filtering the water- water hyacinth then water lettuce then duck weed. theyre all floating plants and the first 2 wont survive the winter in cold places. they will also clog up a pond very quickly

without a filter you want alot of emergant plants but youve got to keep them tidy and under control otherwise they will quickly turn your pond into a swamp