That's a really pretty pond.

Without a pump aerating and moving the water, it goes stagnant.

You need a pump, pronto. The goldfish is not the problem, and you will need some sort of fish to eat the mosquito larva anyway.

Renee

Renee,

Does the pump need to run all the time, or for a short period of time daily, weekly,...? I'll get a pump tomorrow, I hate to see the pond going bad like this.

Thanks,

Newgen, that stuff floating is pond scum. Preferably you would need a pump and proper filtration to keep the water conditioned.
This scum was not caused by the fish, it is probably dirt from the rocks, cement, etc, in and around the new pond, that is fermenting.

Go to the top of the main page here, on the pond forum and do a search for "Filtration" or "Filters" or take the link below to Google's, "Home Made Filters".
"Horton"

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade filters.

Sorry Horton, I have to disagree slightly, but I love the term Pond Scum, LOL. I guess that is what it is but technically. The bubbles and film are a protien build up of DOC's (Dissolved Organic Solids). Gas bubbles (oxygen usually, maybe CO2)float to the top and carry the DOC's with them. They don't burst because of the slimy coating. This is also an indication that the water needs to be changed partially. First I would take a small bucket, something you can lift when it's nfull of water. Push it down into the water just below the surface so it sucks in the surface water. Repeat this until most or all of the slick and bubbles are gone. Drain out more water until 25% of your ponds water volume is gone. Refill it with a dechlor if you have city water. Do these water changes as needed to cut down the DOC's. This will help prevent green water algae blooms. Rule of thumb 25% every week, minamally every 2 weeks.
If it was me I would get some type of filtration and aeration. A skimmer will take care of surface crud like this, but a bottom drain is best for removing stuff on the bottom. If anything a submersible pump to pull the bottom stuff to a filter. Use a prefilter on a submersible so you don't suck big stuff into the impeller and clog the pump burning it out prematurely.

OK so I've decided to get a submersible pump, prefilter, and an outboard filter cartridge as well. My concern is this: should I get a skimmer as well? Should I be worried that the suctioning action of the pump/filter/skimmer pull in the floating plants (their roots are pretty long)?

Thanks,

Woeisme, Woe is me also, as it looks like scum floating on the water to me, maybe not a "technically" correct enough term, or description, but that really is not too important at this stage of the game.
DOC's it is, in scum form, without a doubt and DOC's come from all sorts of things within the pond or can enter the pond from the area around it. But does it really matter what name you give it?
The OP wants to get rid of whatever you may want to name it and it will take a skimmer or some other type of filtration to do the job!
"Horton"

Hi Newgen,

Horton and Renee give the best advice.Skimmers and bottom drains are awesome, but since you have already built the pond and you have only one fish a filter should work just fine.

Eventually you will need to find a way to get the debris off the bottom such as a pond vacuum, syphon, or you can pump it out. Water changes are necessary when you have a few fish and need to freshen the water. Every so often as long as you keep one fish.

Regards,
Lisa

Thanks everyone for the very, very helpful advice.
I already ordered a pump, filter and skimmer, and a bubbler head to help aerate the water. I will also suction out the goo at the botoom, not much is there at all, since the pond is only about 4 weeks old.

goodkarma: what do you mean by "bottom drains"?

One thing you can do while you wait is to get a water breaker for your hose and hose the pool down and let it fill to flooding over, washing off the surface sleeze.
Have had several ponds, in ground and free standing and have never had this kind of problem, probably because of the wash down??

Horton, no offence meant, I was just making a joke about the pond scum. I don't know, just sounded funny to me at the time. Anyway I agree with your last statement 100%.

Bottom Drains (BD's) are just that. They drain the pond water from the bottom of the pond, they usually have a dome on them and maybe a disc aerator. The dome is about 1/2' off the bottom of the pond and helps circulate the pondwater and sweep debris into the drain. They do make 'retro' Bottom Drains for existing ponds. It uses the same principle as a 'regular' BD, but the plumbing is not hidden. That's one thing about GW forums, they are not user freindly. Great people, not alot of user freindly stuff. Here's a link to a regular one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bottom Drain Thread

woeisme, no offense taken. We are all after the same goal here to help a new pond-keeper.
Cheers,
"Horton"

Woeisme, I used to sell computers. I sold a lot more than other sales people in the area by avoiding jargon, which only baffled newbies. 'Push the on button' meant a lot more to a new user than 'boot it up'. The jargon and technical details can come later when you are not intimidated by so many new things. Many of us can get as technical as you might wish, maybe more than you might wish. One of the things that people LIKE about this forum is that we explain things in a way that newbies can understand. You can find lots of jargon and tech talk in other forums. This forum operates on KISS.

The simple fact of the OP's problem is there is something rotting in the pond. It needs circulation and increased oxygen to reduce the action of anaerobic bacteria. That can be provided by the action of a pump, filter and bubbler. A skimmer is nice but the scum will continue to form as excess anaerobic action takes place. My guess is the Ancharus is breaking down. Eliminate any stems that are dying, weight the ends and sink the bunches.

Sleepless, I don't think that my advise or explanation of what the yucky film was, was really that technical at all. To me pond scum is the stuff at the bottom. Like the saying "lower then pond scum". I agree with what you said about keeping it simple and I thought that's what I did. I backed up everyones advise of filtration and just gave an option of both lower and surface. The skimmer suggestion was a proative solution. The reason I mentioned it was not to solve the current problem, but future issues like floating debris, leaves, etc. I also thought it necessary to mention the water changes that where not brought up. I offered a quick fix solution for now with the bucket. It seemed to me that newgen is intelegent enough to handle the proper term for the yucky stuff. KISS is fine, if something was too technical for the OP then the OP would have said so or ignored it altogether. As far as I can remember, even though I haven't been here in a few years, there was no particular format on this forum. has something changed?

ROFLOL @ Goodkarma.

I had never even heard of a bottom drain until I came here yrs ago. I don't have one - don't need one actually my puddles are so small - BUT you can be sure I will install one when I finally get the opportunity to dig my dream pond!

Thanks for the chuckle.

~digger

Yeah that Disclaimer is defianately a classic, got me laughing to. Can I copy, paste and borrow it? LOL

My first pond didn't have a bottom drain either. And cleaning that thing every year was such a big job! So now, ALL of my ponds have bottom drains (no matter how big or small) and even my 300 gallon quarantine tank has a bottom drain. Pond maintenance is a breeze now.

Will all my plants die in this stagnant water, while waiting for the pump to arrive? Should I take them out of the pond and quarantine them in buckets?

Thanks,

no...they will be OK in the pond. They will be even more stagnant in a bucket. Fish, on the other hand, would not last long in stagnant water.

Stagnant happens where oxygen levels plummet to such a degree, aneirobic conditions take off, rather destructive when poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulphide and methane levels increase.

Not the end of the world, but it will be to those critters that are poisoned easily, more bodies going off.

A bit unlikely on a pond where usually such tacky water quality 'gasses off' such pollution.

As the pond is going into the green soup bowl phase, you could leave it alone, while waiting for the more desired ornamental plants to take control

As algae is an opportunist, able to expand and replicate faster than other plants, that's what you are enjoying currently.

When plants are settled in and dominate half the pond volume and more, the algae population will slump in water conditions where the fertility levels are being taken up by the aquatic plants. The algae growth will slow, stop, collapse, the water will go crystal clear one cool morning, and turn to silt.

Unless something stirs it up...

I have free access to as much water hyacinths as I want (just go to the river and gather), would it be a good idea now to drop in a few grocery bags of them?

That is probably where part of the cause of the DOC's (pond scum) is coming from.
Do you clean the plants before placing them in your pond?

Mix a tablespoonful of chlorine bleach into a gallon of tap water and wash the roots of the plant off by swishing them back and forth a few times.
Then rinse off the roots, leaves, etc, with clean tap water before placing them into your pond.
You have no idea what nasty things, may be clinging onto those roots, whilst the the plants are in the river.
"Horton"

Those that were put in the pond, I cleaned them up as best I could. Hosed down the roots, saw several small snails, dirt, gunk,... I cut off all the decaying parts of the plants. Still, I don't think I cleaned them up as well as could have been done.

May have been a coincidence, but the yucky water problem started the day after the "river" hyacinths were dropped in the pond. Of course, the same day, I also added "store bought" sensitive plants, parrots feather, lilies.

Even the stores cannot always vet their suppliers and a lot of the worst critters are invisible. It is up to me to make sure the things I add to the pond are not harmful. It is so-o-o easy to destroy the ecology of a pond if I am careless.

The link below is a wonderful and fascinating reminder of some of the world around us.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ron's pond scum

I LOVE that link!!! This is why playing with our ponds is so fascinating (much better than working for a living -- if you're lucky enough to be retired!!). You can pursue aspects of your pond to depths (pun intended!) you hadn't imagined were possible! Biology...that's this link. A bit of water chemistry...sure why not. 'Tis a wonderful, challenging thing. Or you can just sit back with a glass of the beverage of your choice and not worry about it at all.
---David

On that pond, my chosen weapons of algae extraction would be:

Anacharis- Easy to weed when it is in surplus, will provide winter cover for fish

Aquatic iris - three positions, two laevigata, one LA iris... They will be spectacular next spring, need to be established well rooted, ahead of next season

Salvinia minima, that's a brute on crushing green soup bowl conditions, easy to weed out on a small pond as mulch

Tropical waterlily - Just for the heck of trying one in your climate

Water hyacinth, water lettuce, salvinia, anacharis between them would be a massive mop of the surplus fertility by the shortest route in the short term, each is easy to weed on an ornamental pond.

In the long term, aquatic iris and waterlilies can dominate water quality, with a little help from the others when its needed

sdavis and anybody else:

The water quality improved tremendously today, most of the film and bubbles on top are gone, though the water is still on the murky and green side. The plants must be doing their job. Question is: do I still need the pump and bubbler? They're being shipped to me.

Thanks,

yes, you still need the pump and filter. In spite of what many people will tell you, plants are not the answer to everything, especially if you intend to keep fish. Plants do give off oxygen during the day, but they use oxygen during the night. Without something to move the water, the water will get stagnant. In nature, plants do complete a natural balance. But there is nothing natural about a liner pond. No matter how hard we try, as soon as we try to contain things within a liner, we cannot duplicate a natural pond. So we must add pumps, filtration, aeration, etc.

Read your comments:

We have a pressure filter with UV, pump &waterfalls .

We have the scum and small bubbles in my pond as well. Conducted water test. The results showed all within the requirements specified per the test kit instructions and color cards..

Possible ? the rain the last few days or dirt coming from the waterfalls rocks.?

I am going to Wait a few more days until clear weather and then re-test the water. remove needles from the pond, which had dropped from the evergreen.

Note: My pond has eight (8) fish (4)Koi, Gold (4) gold fan tails the pond as been in operation for over two years and this is the first time for scum/bubbles

Don