Question
Hi.

Being a first time "ponder" I made the classic mistakes.I did not quarantine before adding any of the fish or plants.

It is an above ground Plastic type, I figure 50 gallons. The many plants are growing like crazy.There are 3 "bog" ,type plants and "lettuce"= 40% of water area  I have it in a mostly shaded area, and it is not heated. I do have a small water fall, but am not running a filter.

One of the fish has the classic white spots. There are 32 fish, all small gold fish. 10 snails and 10 clams. There is algae growing pretty good already. Pond is 2 months old.

My questions are

I have no water test kits (crazy I know) what should I get?

Will the Ich treatment harm the snails and clams. If so I would have to catch the fish and treat. The snails stay in the pond, as I read you do not recommend snails. Those guys eat up the algae like crazy.

I small UV filter couldn't hurt could it?

It rarely if ever freezes here in coastal /central CA so I don't think  need a heater?.

I know it's a lot but could use the help. I know it may have been asked, but I did not see a search to use.

Thanks a bunch

Joe

Answer
I would avoid using any sort of ich medicine.  With proper water conditions, the fish should be able to naturally fight it off, while building a future immunity.

If you do decide to use an ich medicine, it may have an adverse impact on plants.  Also, if it is copper sulfate it may hurn invertebrates.

I would recommend a pH, ammonia, nitrate, phosphate (for algae), alkalinity, and salt test kit.

The salt can be incredibly helpful in fighting disease.

A UV filter can be set up to do a few different things.  If you set a slow flow through it, it will kill parasites, etc but if you have more flow it can take care of green floating algae.  It all has to do with the level of radiation exposure, which varies by setup.