When we bought our house there was already a pond there, so it's kind of a new thing for us. We've just had our pond, about 4-5 weeks ago now, drained and cleaned.We got someone who does it for a living to do this for us. Apaprently the pond is a fibre glass one and is light blue. The guy who did it for us said that the fibre glass wouldn't stay blue but would discolour over the next couple of months. He also installed a UV filter for the pond to keep the water clear etc.

It's not 4-5 weeks later and the blue is "fading". I'm not concerned about this - the water is still very clear and it all looks alot better than it did. However, in places, at the bottom of the pond there seems to be deposits of soilds building up. It's not much and it seems to be - I think - bits of soil from the plant pots in he pond and maybe little leaves that manage to find themselves in here. I suppose if our pond was black then we wouldn't see this.

My question is, is it OK to leave this - is it "natural"? We have some newts and some Black tench (as well as other fish) I'm just worried that if if we do remove it then it may unsettle the newts we have who seem to "hang around" in these places. When we first had it cleaned it did look a litle too blue and a bit over exposed. If it is advised to remove it is it best to use a specialist "vacuum cleaner"? I'm primarily concerned about the best conditions for the animals in our pond rather than the "aesthetics " - if you know what I mean!? Can ponds be too clean?

Any advice/tips Welcome for this pond newbie!

Stephen

I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you add good bacteria like BZT or Microbe-Lift, it will help the plant material decay faster. The dirt probably won't go away until it's cleaned again. It is the blue that makes it more noticeable to you. If algae starts to grow on it, it won't be as obvious. The UV only kills algae in the water itself. I suggest adding in pots of plants which would make the dirt and debris less obvious as well. If you want to get up the debris, you can net larger stuff. For fine dirt, you'd have to use a pond vaccum (an electrical one as the venturi-powered ones have a "sock" in the water which dirt goes right through). The electrical pond vaccums are strong and can suck up your little newts too. I would just leave it alone for now. A super clean pond is pretty sterile and not as natural. The newts will hide under some of that debris so they like it. We can't get tench here so I guess you're in the UK? Good luck!

Thanks for the reply/advice. Yes, I am based in the UK. Currently in the pond we have three black tenches, one goldfish and three shebunkins. The goldfish and the tenches were there already. We've just recently added the shebunkins - the guy who did our pond suggested introducing new fish gradually. Our pond is not that big, and he said that it could hold approx 20 fish. Hopefully we'll be buying a few more this weekend. I think I'll see what the summer brings to the pond and how it reacts before doing anything major. We have had a problem with a Heron though - at the moment I've put a net over the pond , but iit's not ideal. Three doors down from us have had all their fish eaten!! 20+ fish, some which they've had for 10 years plus!!

Sorry to hear about the herons. My pond had no heron predation for its first 6 years and then the last few years, if I take they net off, they come back and feast. So, I have my big pond netted all the time. I hate the net! But, I love the fish more!