Murky Water

[lidsurfer]

Hi there

I have a small outdoor pond with a few goldfish in it. I have noticed that the water is getting murkier and murkier...now I can not even see the fish.

Is there anything you can do to keep the water clean/clear in an outdoor pond?

It does have oxygen weed and a water lily.

Thanks

Jared

[enzoom1]

Do you have a filter for it?

[lidsurfer]

No, no filter.

Do snails help with murkiness?

[whetu]

Sounds like there might be a lot of sediment in the pond, which is being stirred up into the water column by the movement of the fish? Is the murkiness brownish or greenish? (If greenish it could be an algae bloom.)

In my opinion a filter would be the most effective option, and will also help to keep the aeration up, especially during the warmer summer weather. You can buy products that help to clump the particles together and make them drop to the bottom of the pond, but I usually prefer physical solutions rather than chemical intervention, so personally I would go with the filter.

[lidsurfer]

Thanks Whetu.

Where (and how much) can I get a pond filter from?

[imsweet]

try just syphoning out some muck and adding fresh water before getting a filter. As the days get warmer, so does the water therefore less oxygen for the fish. there are algae blocks you can get from fish shops and garden centres too. i try and clean once a week in summer and even just adding fresh water on really hot days to keep up with evaporation.

[lidsurfer]

Thanks, I will try this.