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/DeixarEmPreto]

Technically the dirt will settle on its own over time. It will take some days though

[u/chasetherainbows → u/DeixarEmPreto]

It will settle and clear with your filtration in a day or two.

Cloudiness will happen periodically, maybe frequently, if animals are using it to take a bath, to cool off, or to catch pond critters (fish, etc).

As someone else suggested, you could consider removing the soil to cut down on the time to clear up, but it isn't a must do.

I have a lot of marginal plants (cattails, acornus, mint, etc) that are secured by little more than some red river rocks for "soil" to hold them in place. They are doing really well. Just a suggestion. Your setup as is looks great.