Pond help required

Traceie_Lou

Hi, hope someone can help

Moved into a new house in Dec and there is a pond in the garden with fish in it.

Noticed yesterday that the water level is dropping, so topped up the pond with the hosepipe. This morning level has again dropped, so have come to the assumption that there is a leak.

The pond liner is a preformed type I think, does anyone know if its possible to repair and if so how do you locate the leak or do I need to replace the liner.

Also if I need to replace it how much do they usually cost, the pond is about 2m by 1m with a depth of about 0.75m rectangular.

I keep topping the water level up but I am concerned about the fish.

System

If I were in your shoes, I would try to find anything suitable to put the fish in. ie bath, water barrel, try freecycle for anything. As soon as you've got a suitable container, almost fill with tap water plus a bucket of the old water as it will contain organisms. From a £ shop, get a couple of nets and SLOWLY catch the fish, try not to stress them.

Once you think you've caught them all, try removing water yourself at a pace that suits you, watching all the while for movement in the remaining water which might suggest you've missed a few, or frogs/newts/toads.

If there is weed in containers, as put in by previous owner, try to remove and introduce to your new, TEMPORY accommodation for the fish.

No doubt there will be smelly decomposing debris at the bottom, provided you've acted slowly, this shouldn't be too much of an issue.

I would suggest you forget about the leaking pool, and consider replacing it with another, whether it be new or secondhand via freecycle. Once a replacment is in situ, fill with tap water and leave for a week to settle. Then you can add the fish. It WILL go green, but clear itself in due course. Don't keep removing the green water and replacing, that is a waste of time.

How do I know all of this? Well for the last fortnight I've been reading up and asking questions from an old guy that has fish for 49 yrs. and over the weekend have set my pool up.

Incidently, today on MY freecycle site, someone offered a prefabricated pool and someone else offered an unlimited amount of goldfish free, but then the moderators removed the post as it is deemed livestock.

alanobrien

If its preformed its likely to be glass fibre or plastic and both are repairable.

Worst case if you think it isnt repairable, assuming the pond is correctly installed, i.e. supported on a sand bed then just get a low cost butyl liner to go inside the existing pond, that will save you a lot of work and money.
I have done this several times with leaky ponds and if done with care it looks good.

navig8r

If you want to find the leak let the water level drop until it drops no more ..this level will be the lowest point of the damage..then take out some more water with a bucket to lower the level low enough to get a good area dry for a repair ...If this level is too low for the fish to survive you will have to move them as sugested above.

Dave

System

www.sd.meters.com don't you mean this.

mocolo

Hi guys,
the level of my pond has dropped quite a lot recently-not a leak definitely but it has been so hot and we have had very little rain. Question is: how can I raise the level. I am sure that I read that you shouldn't fill up with tap water. I have loads of tadpoles in there and don't want them suffering. Any advice?
thanks.

tightbarsteward

I fill mine up with tap water & it's fine. I started with 6 fish & now I have about 25 as they multiplied last year. The tap water hasn't had a detrimental effect on them. I had tadpole's too.

Don't know if hard water would make a difference. I live in the North so the water is softer. Depends where you are on that score.

WestonDave

I would imagine one issue with tap water is the chlorine residue from treatment, however if you let it stand this will evaporate off even at low temperatures. I would put some in a bucket (or a few buckets) and let it stand outside for 24 hours before adding it to the pond. (Not that I have a pond so can't talk from experience of caring for pond life!)

seletar

My 20 year old pond also looses water, I have always refilled via tap water,
with no ill effects to the tadpole, frog or newt inhabitants.The water is hard
as I live in York.I have an hose pipe which feeds direct from an outside tap.
I hope this helps.

alanobrien

If you fill it up by spraying water over the surface the chlorine will evaporate very rapidly. I have done this with Koi ponds for years with no problems

BUBBLES_3

I agree with above that its generally the Chlorine in the water that 'enthusiasts' are nerveous of. by spraying in the air or if by leaving it to stand in a bucket, the gass can escape. I fill my pond from my waterbut from my house downspout cos its free and Im on watermeter!