Pond size and natural filtering

[Stacykins]

Yes but if you get a good amount to start off you can have a stable population in a few months. They can have dozens and dozens of babies rapidly.


You can buy large adult plecos but you really need to live in a warm climate. I'd suggest Chinese high fin banded shark

You do know that adding 'cleaner' fish and 'cleaner' snails does not do anything to make the pond cleaner? Some species may be detritivores (consuming dead plant matter for the the most part), but they do not consume feces. Adding them will actually contribute to the bioload in the pond, making it dirtier, faster. Many people new to the aquarium hobby toss a few common plecostomus into their tanks in order to make it 'cleaner', and end up with a bigger problem then they had (overloaded aquarium, and having a fish that grows to over a foot in length) A pond is somewhat different from an aquarium, but many principles still apply.

The Chinese high fin banded shark is definitely not recommended to toss in the pond. Why? The size they grow to over three feet in length. And as stated, they won't do anything to improve the health of the pond.

 

[Kaolru]

That's useful information, but now that you've displaced one idea, do you have one to replace it?

 

[Kevin565]

Actually adding cleaner fish is a very common factor when revamping a already in use pond. The OP clearly stated that the pond has not been in use for awhile. A unused pond will collect a lot of debris in which pond snails and Chinese high banded sharks are excellent at removing. Also I quoted that they are great at cleaning dirty ponds which in this case most of the reason the pond would be cloudy is due to the fact of many months of debris. I never once implied they were going to do anything for the duck's feces. Also Chinese high banded sharks are very slow growers which is why I suggested them. It's not like they are going to reach adult size in even 2 or 3 years. For the record I've been keeping aquatic creatures in both ponds and aquariums for many years.

You do know that adding 'cleaner' fish and 'cleaner' snails does not do anything to make the pond cleaner? Some species may be detritivores (consuming dead plant matter for the the most part), but they do not consume feces. Adding them will actually contribute to the bioload in the pond, making it dirtier, faster. Many people new to the aquarium hobby toss a few common plecostomus into their tanks in order to make it 'cleaner', and end up with a bigger problem then they had (overloaded aquarium, and having a fish that grows to over a foot in length) A pond is somewhat different from an aquarium, but many principles still apply.

The Chinese high fin banded shark is definitely not recommended to toss in the pond. Why? The size they grow to over three feet in length. And as stated, they won't do anything to improve the health of the pond.