Question
Hi Tom  I have just moved into a house that has a 6' x11' x18"deep concrete pond. It was full of 10 yrs growth of cattails. I cleaned it  and drained it out and it has been dry for 1 week now. Concrete is in very good condition but I would  like to know what to use in order to fill it and have  a few goldfish  and plants in it . It has no drainage or filter or aeration system , just an old kidney -shaped concrete bowl in the ground lol. Would appreciate any advice........

Answer
Hi Patrice,
Thanx for your question.  I apologize that I couldn't get to your question sooner.  I am estimating that you have a pond of about 740 gallons with 66 square feet of water surface.  One inch of fish per square foot of pond surface.  Go to your local nursery or DIY store to the garden department and you can buy a pond filter and pump but you need to know how many gallons your pond is.  I've estimated for you at 740 gallons.  I would get a hardy water lily and maybe a lotus.  Use horsetail, sagittaria, water iris, miniature cat tails around the rim of your pond.  If you live in a frost free area your choices will be different and you can find these plants at your nursery.  If you live in colder areas of the country 18 inch deep pond is probably fine unless your in the northern 1/3 of the country or in mountainous areas and then 24 inches is safer.  Use barley bales if you have string algae problems. Here is a link to a site that I hope you will find helpful.
Tom

 http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/watergarden/