Question
Hi! We are moving into a house where ther is already a fish pond, I can send you a picture.  We found that there were some small orange fish in there, some 5" long, some smaller, some had black speckles on them and a couple that I could see were blackish grey. They were thinish, not plump at all.  This house has been unoccupied for quite some time and there are lots of leaves and some other lawn debris in the small pond.  I am wondering if you could help me figure out what kind of fish they are and what I need to do to clean up and fix up the pond.  Thanks!

Answer
Hi Katie,
Thanx for your question.  It sounds like some kind of koi or goldfish to me.  In the spring, I would remove the fish to a tank and drain the pond and totally clean it out.  Fill it back up with clean water and allow the water to sit for a couple of days.  Buy some marginal plants (plants that grow about 4-6 inches deep at the sides of the pond like cattails,sagittaria, horsetail and other reedy plants, a water lily or two and then some floaters like water hyacinth and water lettuce (which aren't hardy in the north and forbidden in Florida and California).  I hope this helps.
Tom