smelly pond water

Hi,

When you say the water smells, is that when you are just stood nearby or more when you actually handle the water when doing maintenance ?

Do not know what type of wood you have used or if its treated in any way ,but the wet green algae we can see on the wood can smell quiet bad.

You could try scrubbing the worst off with a hard brush ( thats really smelly work!) and see if that reduces the smell, so proving thats causing the problem. Expect it would lessen in summer when the wood will be drier.
No need for algicides etc.

Re adding tap water, do you just pipe it straight into the pond ?
Not a good idea if you have fish in there.
As said you should keep it in a bucket/tub, for 24 hours, or use a pond dechlorinator in the bucket which acts within a minute or two.

Fish in the pond will reduce the amount of diversity in your pond as they will eat almost anything, though you will still see frog/toads and birds around, but lots of the tadpoles etc will be eaten up.

Frogs and Toads do appear naturally, they seem to smell the water out, but
think with your current pond and netting you will not get any in there as its probably too high for them to get in and the water level is low in respect of the wooden top, making it hard for them to get out.

Re your other post, a pond in the the ground will likely lessen any smell, assuming you use stones or flags around its edges rather than wood.

 

thankyou for your reply the pond including cascade was bought from quickcrop on the internet , the smell seems to be on the wooden part of the pond all though have tried to wash it off , we have no fish at the moment my wife has changed her mind and looking at a rockery type fish pond to attract more wildlife to the garden , thanks

 

I think that is a good idea @Gizmo I think a more natural pond in the garden with rocks is a much easier to maintain pond type.
For me timber that remains wet all time is not good.

 

thanks for your reply a rockery type fish pond size hopefull of size of 5 foot x 7 foot 2 to 3 foot deep but i was thinking of what type of filtration would be need for a low maintenance pond as i have seen on youtube very large filtration units which would be a concern as we have limited space

 

the new pond will be in place of the old one beside the shed so some shade and sun

 

I think you will find big ponds balance easier, mine is smaller than ARMANDII 's and I have a water fall.

I'm not well up on modern filters.
Mine is just a gravity fed filter box containing plastic pieces and foam layers, that bacteria can build up on and convert the fish waste to a useable nitrogen, which the plants then live on.
Its very Heath Robinson but it's worked for over 30years and the fish thrive.

 

thanks for your reply we are hopeing to have pond 5 foot x 7 foot x 3 foot but depends on the ground i was looking on youtube about filters they look quite big as we only have limited space

 

Argee the @ARMANDII a filtation unit only really needed for a large volume of fish , typically Koi.

If you want some water movement, a basic pump with a foam inlet filter will be all thats needed for the average small pond.

You might want to look at preformed ponds, not cheap, but pond liners can leak if you do not do the groundworks perfectly.
Also they come with inbuilt shelves for the plants, much easier that making your own with a liner.

For a pond your size , probably 45 to 60cm deep is all thats needed these day, we do not get such freezing for weeks these days that are needed to freeze that deep.
Don't think we have seen any pond ice thicker than 25mm in the last 20 years !

You might want to consider making part of the ground surrounding the pond into a bog, so you can enjoy such plants that need such moist ground.

 

thanks for your reply the pump from the old pond is a hoselock easyclear 4500 but didnt seem to clear the water , i thought that a gravity fed filter box would work better in keeping water clear but not sure if a water fall feature could be attached as well , i was woundering about a preformed pond but looking at digging out new pond and covering it will sand before finer goes down , we would like to have a few gold fish as well not sure if 60cm would be deep enough , i was looking on youtube about digging out ponds and the use a tamper is that a good idea to use we are going to try and create a rockery type pond

 

60 cm, is deep enough, but a the deeper the better.
A sloping area if you want it for wild life and some shallower ledges to put marginal plant popts on.
I just used a preformed fiberglass water fall that the water from the filter empties into.

Not sure what the tamper is for, I used a pickaxe, spade and shovel.

 

We have had 2 ponds one with fish the other natural, both only 45cm deep and run for a good few years ok.

When you say a rockery type, do you mean on level ground surrounded by stones or on a slope as a split level /waterfall ?

Same with your pump, when you say it did not clear the water, what of ?
A pump with foam filter will not clear green water, and in the first year it can be a problem but there after with some natual products like barley straw etc it should clear.

You can go overboard with filters and products, just fill the pond and let it get on with it, once the plants get growing in the warmer weather it will need only a little looking after, more just tending it like any soil border.