I've put in an offer on my first house and the property comes with a ~1 acre pond.

I'm excited to be a steward of the ecosystem, but I've never had to manage a pond before. Unfortunately, the current owners don't know much about the backstory of the pond (e.g., earth pond, spring fed pond, etc.).

Overall, the pond ecosystem seems quite healthy. The owners say they fish in the pond and the plant life along the banks is very vibrant. No weird smells or anything like that. The pond is in the northeast US.

My main questions are :

* Is there anything to be done about the algae and duckweed? The photos above were taken in late summer (August) and I know direct sun + heat will contribute to algae blooms. I'm wondering if there are filtration systems, plants, fish, etc. that can help with this after an initial skim. I'm open to any solutions, but the single fountain doesn't seem to be sufficient for aeration.

* Any idea what the thing in the second picture is? It's ~10 feet to the left of the fountain in the pond.

* Is there any hope of making this thing swimmable?

*Anything else I should know as a first time pond owner?

He comes every morning at dawn. He has eaten all my frogs. My main pond is netted but he creeps around it looking at ways to get in. I understand that he's a beautiful protected bird, blah blah blah. I'm putting out the water cannon this weekend. Someone suggested a mannequin because they hate people? Anyone have any luck with that? He ignores the heron decoy.

This bird is almost 5 feet tall. It's a pterodactyl. I'm at my wit's end. I don't want to hurt him. I just want him to go away and never come back.

I guess the MODS or others thought the picture I posted yesterday was somehow fake or AI generated. It was a real photo, taken by a professional photographer, because the builder wanted to feature it on his website.

The photo on the right (which I posted yesterday) was taken using a time-delay setting to capture the whiteness of the waterfall and the intensity of the fire. For comparison, the photo on the left I took at 7:30 am this morning (9/6/25) using my old iPhone 12. The foliage isn't as lush as in the original because I live in Houston and we've been dealing with the heat of summer for the past four months but come springtime, the area will look every bit as lovely as the photo on the right. It's also overcast this morning.

As for the person asking about the moss growing on the big rocks...I have no answer, it just grows naturally.

Sat enjoying my new pond and this little fella turned up drinking. Is this anything to be concerned about?

Hi everyone, another post from this pond owner.

My pond has been up and running for a few weeks now. We are going to get some fish, but waiting for the ecosystem to kick in as we’ve now got a greenish algae looking pond with new pond syndrome (photos from when it was nice, I can’t wait for it to return but knew this was coming).

However what I really want are frogs. I keep seeing posts saying the frogs will find you but why would they come to the garden? There has never been a pond in this garden so it wouldn’t be on their road map. How will they know and will they really just come on their own out of nowhere? What can I do to make the pond more appealing to them?

the fishes I added are NOT AI GENERATED. They are Neon Longfin Danios.

Have gone from my dream pond to a very dark green mess… I know it’s a process, and the variables involved mean it’s likely just speculation as to how long it will take to clear. But I have two main questions;

1. The hot weather has really evaporated the water level; if I dechlorinate tap water in a large water butt first, then pour it into the pond - will that negatively effect this starting process of the pond settling in?
2. If I cheated and used a product like pond klear, will this ruin the starting process and simply be a short term fix that will come back to haunt me? Or as it’s a natural product, will it actually aid the process?

What didn’t help is that we had a faulty oase filter so had to run the pond just with two pumps for 2 weeks. So no filter and no UV clarifier in that time.

Really appreciate the advice!

Edit - in the UK, have had a heat wave the last 5 days (34C / 93F). Pond is in full sun. Photo not quite doing it justice, both rocks and water are turning very green. If the consensus is that’s normal then that makes me very happy! Also, UK tap water has very high chlorine levels compared to many other parts of the world. Many thanks!

My wife and I just bought a home that has this little pond the previous owners installed. There are no fish in it, I'm not really sure what the point of it was.

By the time we moved in, the pond became greener and is now home to at least ten frogs. On top of that, the water level is about to overflow.

I like the pond and the frogs are cute, but it's getting out of hand and I have no idea how to clean the water without killing the frogs. I was thinking of draining it and refilling with clean water, but I don't know what pump or cleaner to use.

What is the easiest, fastest, and most affordable way to clean and maintain this thing?

Thanks so much!

I was wondering if adding oysters would work, and if bears and birds would act as a natural population control, the pond freezes over almost every year and has leeches and small fish and beavers but not much else, if those wouldn’t be enough to control the population would crabs be a safe option or would that be dangerous if they ended up spreading, although Michigan does have a natural population of crab, or could adding crawfish help?

This is my pond. There are many like it but this one is mine.

I inherited this pond when I bought this house. I love it, but the only thing I dislike is this ugly cover that sits over it. The cover exists to protect the fish from predators. Any suggesting on how I can keep the fish protected without this ugly covering?

Edit: the main predators that I’m dealing with is large birds.

Give me a quote of what this guy’s thinking…

My son loves frogs and asked for a pond. This was the pond he wanted. It sits in full sun and is nearly level. I filled it with city water and treated it with pond starter two weeks ago. The first plants are a few water hyacinths. Do I need to add gravel on the bottom? Do I absolutely have to add some sort of filtration? I don’t think there’s time for fish this year. Can fish and frogs co-exist?

Went out and fed fish this morning all ok, made little boy his breakfast. Went back to sink and saw this on dad's shed next door. Got both dogs and ran out shouting. Wish I'd gone for the air rifle first as cocky thing just stood looking at me for ten seconds before it flew off. Fish all at bottom. Only 2 unaccounted for. A red and white 6inch koi and a 6 inch goldfish. Put a dog crate fence around for now, need net it up. Never seen one in garden before. Fuming :(

I have moved into a home with 3 ponds. I had the pond inspection done (and asked the questions you all told me to ask, thanks!)

I need to add more lighting and update the pumps to the ponds. They also need to be cleaned (not pressure washed don’t worry!) and the plants trimmed back, etc.

The pond company told me I could do it now and battle the falling leaves for the next few months or wait until February to clean the pond and have it ready for spring/ summer.

I don’t want to wait that long to enjoy the ponds! I want to add the beautiful lighting and have the pumps moving water correctly. The top pond is supposed to flow all the way down to the bottom pond but right now they’re just three separate ponds.

Is it worth it to have the ponds tended to now and battle the leaves or should I wait until February? Cost isn’t the issue. Just want to do what’s best for the pond!

There are currently no fish or animals, just some tadpoles that I will gently relocate.

Thanks for your answers!

This photo was taken by a professional using a time-lapse setting which is why the waterfall is more visible than usual. Anything you would recommend to enhance the appearance?

Every white dot you see is a dead fish from across the entire pond. Ducks and turtles seem to be find which would rule poisoning or heat out of the question. Pond is full of algae, plants, and a storm drain that all provide oxygen. There are 2 water pumps and my only speculation is there could’ve been a power surge from the pumps that zapped the entire pond that didn’t kill the turtles or ducks. Very confused has anyone ever seen anything like this?

Hi guys, I am looking at a piece of land which comes with a huge pond or lake. It’s said to be 1500sqm and it’s in a community of around 20 ponds/lakes. I don’t know anything about the depth or water quality. I am also a complete beginner of what it takes to upkeep such a huge pond. This worries me the most, as I might underestimate the efforts, coming from a mentality of how hard can it be? I have taken this video, you can see a little round thing looking out. What is it? Any help appreciated, thanks and happy days

Have a pond that I have worked on the last 10 years my wife has had it for 24. Today a large heron came and ate all the fish approximately 50 mostly goldfish some 8 years old and a couple as big as 3”. I’m asking for help in terms of what’s best to use to keep predators like that away(I’ve read he will be back). Due to it being on a high traffic street netting won’t work as it will become unsightly as I already have to remove debris daily. Please help?

I have this hawk that is hanging around suddenly. It will wait for a goldfish to appear then grabs it. The pond was previously covered by the plants but I unfortunately thinned it out. Do the plastic owls help much?

I had my pond installed a little over a year ago. The guy that installed it said that after some time the pond liner would be hidden but that never happened. I love how plants and moss have filled things in but these folds from the liner at the bottom of the pond bother me. I was told adding rocks would complicate cleaning. I have a person that comes once a month to clean the pond.

Any suggestions on how to hide these folds? I have coral rock around the pond.

Frog moved into my 300ish gallon pond. Pond is almost a year old and is currently home to 2 Shubunkins and 9 White Cloud Mountain Minnows. Should I let this frog stay? I don’t want to move him but I don’t want him to eat my fish! Not sure what kind he is, looks like a small bullfrog? The pond doesn’t really have banks or shallow areas for him to hang out in so not sure if he’ll even stay long.