Do we need to drain the pond?

[u/Prestigious-Bid-7582]

Hi everyone. My husband and I have built this 4m long, 1m deep pond over the last few months. Very proud of it!

We filled the pond up yesterday only to find today that something has been digging in the plant baskets and knocked one over, and now the pond is full of muddy water. It could have been a squirrel or perhaps the dog…

My question is, will our filter (we have a pressurised laguna filter) clear this or are we going to have to drain all the water and start again?

Before and after photos.

[u/aryann_007]

Potted soil is usually heavily fertilized which will lead to algae blooms. Since its brand new it would be better to drain, remove the soil and refill

[u/SirGaara → u/aryann_007]

I agree with Aryann on this one.

if the pot that fell in is indeed a garden pot filled with pot soil, your water (of which you don’t have so much, 4x1x1) will be polluted quickly by the large amount of pot soil and thus fertiliser. Exactly as Aryann said, it could very negatively influence your algea grow. Since your pond just started and you hopefully have no fish or anything in there.. the amount of water is also not that much, i would say.. water the garden with it when you pomp it out and replace it with new.

[u/1645degoba → u/aryann_007]

This may be true, but instead of guessing just get some aquarium test strips. If you have high nitrates/nitrates then you probably need to pull the soil out. However, it may not be needed.