>>> > You could, but I wouldn't if the idea is to clean the pond. Friends of >>> > ours had a >>> > BEAUTIFUL, springfed, swimming pond on their property. They decided to >>> > introduce >>> > some koi and ornamental goldfish into it. . . Well, it's not a beautiful >>> > swimming >>> > pond anymore. The fish reproduced like crazy and the water is always >>> > muddy/dirty >>> > looking now, even with the addition of two fountains to try to aerate >>> > things. >>> > Goldfish are dirty.
I don't believe that's true. Ponds will cycle, no matter what kind of fish you have in them - things are always happening to slightly alter the natural ecosystem slightly. Our goldfish pond is usually very clear, although there are times when it becomes somewhat murky. The most common cause of murky water is overfeeding - we don't feed our fish at all - and when natural debris accumulates. For us, the biggest natural debris comes from the leaves that fall in the fall, but that eventually corrects itself. When Cary was researching garden ponds before he built ours, he found a great website. One of the cute phrases on that site was, "The solution to polution is dilution." In other words, the bigger the pond, the easier it is for the pond to find a natural balance. For that reason, the four-foot goldfish pool I imagined became an approximately 6x19 foot pond with two sections, a one-step waterfall between and a bigger waterfall at one end. It works great with VERY little maintenance. Karen Thomas, NC
