Yes I have a rather small pond in my backyard which does not get any shade. It has slowly been getting rather filthy, I mean so bad you can barely see just underneath the water. I was told there are fish and stuff you can get to eat the algae or whatever. You see I don't really know much about all this, but I do know there is a good amount of algae and the water is very slimy and thick. I have a pump for a fountain that I think has a small filter but I am not sure. There are also tadpoles, Iris', and lilypads in the pond but that is all. I want to add fish but not sure what to get. I live in Southern Ohio.

How big exactly is your pond? Adding fish will not clean up dirty water from algae or whatever but in fact make it worse. You should try to get that under control before adding fish. Be sure your filter is working right or buy a better one. Fish may eat attached algae but not really the slimy algae (which may be cyanobacteria also called blue-green algae) or the suspended algae. For information on getting the algae under control, see http://www.fishpondinfo.com/algae2.htm

If your pond is under 50 gallons, I suggest as far as fish, some tropical fish that you would bring in over winter such as white cloud mountain minnows, paradise fish, or guppies. Not too many. If the pond is 50 to 150 gallons or so, then rosy red minnows or mosquito fish are a good choice if the pond will be kept from freezing solid in the winter. If the pond is bigger than that, then you can add goldfish. If it's over 1000 gallons (your pond isn't but this is just for others to read), then koi and/or orfe can also be added if desired.

I have web pages on each of those fish.