Hi everyone, hopefully some kind soul in here can help me....

I've recently moved into a new home and inherited a small pond with a little
waterfall (arent i lucky!) but it looks like it needs a bit of help getting
it back into nice condition.

Basically the waterfall part is full of leaves and the actual tank thing
that the waterfall water comes from has a thick layer of duckweed (i think
thats what its called, small leaves, 3mm ish, with little tiny roots
dangling underneath) covering the surface.

The pump had a standard UK plug on it and from being outside the metal parts
have corroded. I replaced it with another plug and tested to see that the
pump works.

The pond seems to be packed out with Oxygenators or Anacharis (long stalks
with lots of thin leaves curling off and slightly transparent, correct me
please if im wrong with the name!) and im sure it could do with being
thinned out a bit.

I've got a few questions since im a total newbie to all this and would like
to keep the few fish (i think three) that are in there alive and make it all
look nice as im sure it once was.

1. Each of the Oxygenator plants is about 3-4 feet in length. I'd like to
have them a bit smaller and tie them all together. Can i cut them halfway
and assume they will still grow or will they die if i do that ?

2. Should i get rid of none, some or all of the duckweed that is floating
about ? (i've heard fish like to eat it)

3. The plug seems awfully dangerous to use just sitting out there in the
outdoors. Can i do without the pump or are there special plugs for this kind
of thing ?

Any more advice that i might need ?

Sorry if my questions seem very vague/stupid but i've never had any kind of
experience with ponds whatsoever!

Thankyou very much.

Dan Bowles

"Dan Bowles" wrote:

Hello Dan

DB I've recently moved into a new home and inherited a small
DB pond with a little waterfall (arent i lucky!) but it looks
DB like it needs a bit of help getting it back into nice
DB condition.

Tsch, lucky bugger. All the fun and none of the hard work.

DB The pump had a standard UK plug on it and from being outside
DB the metal parts have corroded. I replaced it with another
DB plug and tested to see that the pump works.

Uhuh, more on that in a mo.

DB 1. Each of the Oxygenator plants is about 3-4 feet in
DB length. I'd like to have them a bit smaller and tie them all
DB together. Can i cut them halfway and assume they will still
DB grow or will they die if i do that ?

Yep, you can do both. This stuff does grow like crazy, and if you
leave the pump running 24/7 it's less neccessary, but useful to keep
some as a backup anyway. Tie together by all means, and you can tie it
to a stone to keep it out of site and nicely organised if you want.
It's very vigorous and won't mind being hacked about.

DB 2. Should i get rid of none, some or all of the duckweed
DB that is floating about ? (i've heard fish like to eat it)

Well, yes - but goldfish prefer other things if they're available.
Skimming with a pond net and dumping on your compost heap every now
and then is worth doing if they can't keep up with it.

DB 3. The plug seems awfully dangerous to use just sitting out
DB there in the outdoors. Can i do without the pump or are
DB there special plugs for this kind of thing ?

Right. The pump should NOT have a normal plug unless the lead is long
enough to reach an interior socket (or IP56 rated one if it's
outside). Note that they never are long enough for this...

What you do, or at least, my preferred method is:

Waterproof cable jointer onto round 1.0mm cable. Run this underground
to an exterior light switch. Take the feed from that inside to a
socket and add an RCD protected plug on it.

Pump --- Waterproof joint --- Exterior lightswitch --- RCD plug ---
Interior socket.

You can skip the lightswitch if you want, I just find it easier to
have a switch outside.

ALL outside cables should be either armoured SWA (expensive and
difficult to work with), or run inside an old hosepipe or conduit. Ok,
they're protected by an RCD, but a careless spade still makes a mess
of things.

www.screwfix.com are cheap and reasonable efficient for uk buyers and
I get most of my stuff from them now.

DB Any more advice that i might need ?

Once the pump is in properly - and don't skimp on the RCD, exterior
cables AND water don't let you take any shortcuts. Then mark the
waterlevel and run it for 24 hours. Stop pump, wait for water to
settle and check level. Hopefully it's the same, if not we have a leak
or spill somewhere.

--
Simon Avery, Dartmoor, UK Ý http://www.digdilem.org/