Scenes from past shows: April, 2005: In the theme of spring clean-up around the yard, ponds is one task to deal with. My style of pond is natural, with the entire liner covered with beach rock, as well as the pump and all piping, etc, so you don't see anything to remind you this isnt a natural body of water. The bacteria that grow on all that rock surface remove excess nutrients from the water, which prevents floating single-celled algae from growing excessively, and they are the main thing that causes cloudy water. The only cleaning I do to the pond is once a year, now in the early spring, I drain it down and hand pick all the leaves and debris off the rocks, hose them down, pump out that dirty water, and refill the pond. It clears up in a few days. Start up your falls or brook pump to keep the water well oxygenated, and it should remain clear all season. Oh yes, avoid feeding the fish, except tiny amounts on rare occasions (every other day or less), as it is so easy to overdo it and cause cloudy water through excess nutrients from uneaten food or fish wastes. The goldfish and koi graze algae off the rocks for their main food source, and add worms and bugs for protein. After all, no one feeds the wild ones!