Those of you that regularly follow my blogs are aware that I have four ponds ranging in size by gallons of 6000, 5000, 3000 and 1500. The two large ponds are pretty much established both mechanically in the equipment that is hooked up to keep the water clear and also in skimmers and waterfalls. Both have Aquadyne Filtering systems which are top of the line when it comes to this type of equipment.

The 3000 gallon pond was the last one that I “remodelled” making it deeper by raising the exterior walls by 3 feet or so above ground. Incidentally, the rocky ground in my part of Texas is only a foot or so below the ground level hence the need to go upwards. The water depth is a little over 4-1/2 feet. This is the home to a lot of goldfish probably a hundred or more who have the run of the pond. They do share it with a turtle and a very large 4 feet long Brown Snake that uses this pond as his very own smorgasbord although as far as I can tell, is not making any dent in the number of goldfish that the pond contains. I often see him resting up and sunning himself on the wall dividing the two ponds usually after having caught a meal. All a part of nature. This is also the pond that the Heron busied himself with at the start of the year although I haven’t seen it in several months. This could be due to the fact that the water in this pond with the current filtering system is pretty dirty, hence this blog.

The problem originally started when a hose failed overnight resulting in the loss of a couple of thousand gallons of water, which lowered the level of the pond considerably. All I could see was a mass of goldfish of all shapes, colors and sizes in what remained of the water in the bottom of the pond which was less than a foot deep. I was in immediate trouble to keep enough oxygen in what little water remained in order for the fish to survive and rushed to pull a couple of oxygenators from the other ponds which I knew would be good for a few hours overnight. Placing them in the water immediately stirred up the residue of dirt, leaves and fish droppings turning the water into a not so lovely shade of brown. At least it had oxygen for the fish to breathe. At the same time, I had turned on the system that I use to keep the ponds topped up so that fresh clean water was getting added. As that increased in volume I had to contend with the chlorine in the City tap water and was adding dechlorinator as the pond filled. It took several hours and finally we had the pond water level to where it belonged. The problem now was the quality of the water which was a dirty muddy brown color. The oxygenators did not help as they constantly kept the water stirred up not giving the residue a chance to settle but I had no choice with them. They had to stay in there at least for a couple of days to bring the oxygen levels back up.

Two days later, I took a chance even with the dirty water and removed the oxygenators and returned them to their ponds and installed a smaller and less powerful one. I was hoping that the pond filtering system that was already installed would, over time, take care of the problem of the dirty water and by the number of times a day that I had to clean the filters, it is working. With the big oxygenators off, the water also had the chance for the sediment to settle. However, it was way too slow and after a week, the water was still pretty dirty. I did not lose any fish except one that had jumped out of the pond overnight probably to escape the attentions of the Brown Snake and I found it the next day.

I had in my possession from one of the Fish Rescues that I had been on, a Savio Filtering System which consists of a large 60 gallon barrel that contains filtering material and a couple of different type filters that sit on the top. Quite a simple system really and I have six others around on the other ponds that I have built. We call them Skippy Filters and they do exactly the same thing as the commercialized model does. Three of mine are in 20 gallon containers and the other three are in 100 gallon tubs. I spent some time hooking up this system using an existing pump that had come with the unit when I acquired it. It was pumping too strong and I had to make some modifications by adding a valve to check back the flow otherwise more water was coming in than was getting pushed out. Needless to say, the pump lasted overnight and quit so I had to buy a new one adding to my frustration. I bought a less powerful pump requiring more work on the piping but do not have to regulate the flow of water with the valve. Good job I am handy with tools and know how and after 30 years of since I built the first pond, one would hope to have learned something.

The system works fine and although it has only been installed a couple of days, the water is starting to clear up and I have already had to wash the filters in the unit. I had to reinstall the Scarecrow just in case the Heron decides to pay a visit as with the water much clearer, the fish are visible to him (or her).

For Part 2, read about where I turn my attention to the smallest pond (in volume) to clean it up.

Written 8/5/2019