Outdoor Pond Issues

[Riso-chan]

My father has had an outdoor pond now for about 4 years. I'm not sure on the gallons, about 500-100. It has two sections, one upper, one lower. The lower section houses the few goldfish we have, as well as a few apple snails(one is already the size of a tennis ball) and wild frogs and their tadpoles. Well water is used. Their is no filter, but occasionally the pump is run to flush out the pond a few times a week. I've argued with my dad about this repeatedly, but not much anymore. There are lily pads, anacharis plants in the pond, and algea on the sides of the liner(soon all to be consumed by the apple snails). There is substrate, numerous rocks and some sand. The goldfish look sickly to me. Most of them have ulcers on them, only one or two don't have them. I've given up arguing with my father about these issues, but I still feel I should do something for these poor fish. Any DIY solutions for a filtration/pump system and cost would be appreciated. I love every animal, even insects, and to be in a position such as this has been bothering me for a while. Ahh, the rigors of being 21, unemployed, and still living at home...

 

[OrionGirl]

More plants would probably help--what do you mean 'to flush out the pond'? As in pushing out water and adding new? Or just stirring it up? If the latter, this is probably worse than nothing at all, since whatever waste is in the filter just gets spewed out into the pond. Filters should either be run 24/7, or cleaned completely between sporadic use.

 

[Calico Goat]

Medicate or quarantine the sick fish--you don't want whatever it may be to spread. We clean our pond twice yearly (drain water, inspect fish, scrape out muck, check plants, clean and condition water)--has this ever been done for yours?

 

[Riso-chan]

More plants would probably help--what do you mean 'to flush out the pond'? As in pushing out water and adding new? Or just stirring it up? If the latter, this is probably worse than nothing at all, since whatever waste is in the filter just gets spewed out into the pond. Filters should either be run 24/7, or cleaned completely between sporadic use.

Yes, pushing out old water and adding new. What kinds of plants would you suggest? Anything that apple snails won't eat, which I doupt there is.
Do you think pond salt would help with the parasites that might be in there?
What should I do with the ulcers on the fish?
It can't be normal for goldfish to get those, can it?

 

[Riso-chan]

Medicate or quarantine the sick fish--you don't want whatever it may be to spread. We clean our pond twice yearly (drain water, inspect fish, scrape out muck, check plants, clean and condition water)--has this ever been done for yours?

Not twice, but we did do it once this year. Though, I don't think it was thorough enough. I don't have anything big enough to quarantine the goldfish, but is there any way to treat them while still in the pond? Thanx for your posts BTW.

 

[Kissofthegorami]

You can try some salt and meds if you can diagnose the disease. For plants, lots of oxygenators like the anacharis you have. Floating plants are really good filters.. water hyacinth, duckweed, frogbit. You can try marginal plants too. Try ebay for cheap pond filters.

 

[OrionGirl]

Lilies and such, and floating plants would be a huge help and avoid predation by the apple snails. I'd try to do these water changes, accompanied with a manual cleaning of the substrate at least once a week. Make sure to treat the water for chlorine/chloramines at the same time!

Anyway to do a salt dip? I don't think the pond has parasites, but the ulcers indicates lots of stress and poor health. A dip in heavily salted water may help, and then you wouldn't have to worry about removing the salt from the pond.

Is there anything for surface agitation? A simple fountain with a dirt magnet foam might help out, and they are pretty cheap.

 

[Riso-chan]

Lilies and such, and floating plants would be a huge help and avoid predation by the apple snails. I'd try to do these water changes, accompanied with a manual cleaning of the substrate at least once a week. Make sure to treat the water for chlorine/chloramines at the same time!

Anyway to do a salt dip? I don't think the pond has parasites, but the ulcers indicates lots of stress and poor health. A dip in heavily salted water may help, and then you wouldn't have to worry about removing the salt from the pond.

Is there anything for surface agitation? A simple fountain with a dirt magnet foam might help out, and they are pretty cheap.

How do I avoid predation by the apple snails?
Do they not like those plants?
My father uses well water, but does not use any conditioners. Do you think it is safe without?
Also, A simple fountain would work for that, as well as the plants filtering the water? That could actually work? BTW, thanks so much for your advice.

 

[OrionGirl]

The lilies and floating plants, as well as marginals, will be less accessible to the apple snails. They'll nibble as they can, but it should not be as bad as for the fully emersed plants.

A fountain with a dirt magnet sponge (or any kind of sponge that will fit over the fountains intake) would work wonders--the bacteria will colonize the sponge, and it will trap much of the waste, meaning it will need to be cleaned often, but it will still help a lot. The fountain will help keep the water moving, reduce the low oxygen problems and reducing algae and undesirable bacteria growth.

With well water, you should be fine--no chlorine/chloramine treatment to worry about.

 

[case_rums]

set up a filter system. Get a big rubbermade container or even a trash can would work. Cut a hole in the side of the container/trash can the size of pipe desired. Put in pipe with a 90* elbow, so the pipe exits out the side and up towards the top of the container. Run pipe at least 3/4 the way to the top of the container. Fill with lava rock (the stuff that goes in the bottom of a grill). Top with sponge material. Cut an intake hole in the top of the container and pipe this to about 1/2 way down. Seal the inlet/outlet. Enjoy your new filtered pond.