How to Turn Wading Pool into a Pond - HELP!!!

[SumoNinja]

I'm buying a house and we just went into escrow. In the backyard there's a 2.5 ft deep pool. It's about 10 ft wide and about 24 ft long.

The home is a bank repo so there hasn't been anyone in the home for a while now. The pool has been empty but the FHA loan I'm getting the house through requires that the bank makes the pool operational for me.

My questions are:

Since it used to be a pool with all the chlorine & stuff in it, although it's been empty for about a year, what do I need to do to get it safe for fish?

Should I use the pool's pump and return?? How do I go about doing that and adding the filtration??

Or should I just not use that at all and put in my own pump and filter??

I'm in the Inland Empire so what kind of fish can I keep in the pond without using a heater in the winter?

If I need a heater, what kind of heater and where does the heater go?

What can I stock??

What other factors do I need to think about or other things I need to do??

 

[Muske]

Buget?

Since it is empty just rinse and scrub to clean it up.

A DIY maybe the best way to filter. If you want to get it cycling, fill it and get it running w/ the exsisiting pump til you get your filter of choice rolling.

The types of fish you want to keep should determine the need for a heater or not.

 

[SumoNinja]

Buget?

Since it is empty just rinse and scrub to clean it up.

A DIY maybe the best way to filter. If you want to get it cycling, fill it and get it running w/ the exsisiting pump til you get your filter of choice rolling.

The types of fish you want to keep should determine the need for a heater or not.

I'm most likely gonna put in a DIY filter

When scrubbing, do i use any cleaning agent? or just add water, scrub, rinse, drain and repeat??

What types of fish do you guys recommend if I don't want to add a heater??

 

[Nic]

just need to add water and a filter.....

 

[skiptomyzoo]

Depending on the pool walls, as it could be a liner, or more concrete in nature, I would just skip the scrubbing and break out the powerwash if it looks that bad.

 

[likestofish]

i would say that be bad ass for rays but your in cali so i recomend koi .

 

[TheFishWrestler]

I would just hose it down to get any build up off. Then fill it. Any traces of chlorine are long gone.

As far as fish go: You could stock it with Koi/Natives for the winter. And add any of your tropical fish into it during the summer. I live up in nor cal and thats what I do. I put my Lei/clown loaches in my pond over the summer and the lei came out with awesome red coloring.

 

[kntrygrl4lyfe]

^ I agree with the fish. Anything Native, like bass, channels, etc.
Like stated above, I put some of my tropical fish out side during the summer. They seem to grow like weeds out there.

 

[SumoNinja]

ok so as stated by someone above, the traces of chlorine should be gone after sitting empty for so long right?? is this true??

and if the pool is only 2- 2.5 feet deep, it's ok to put my pbass in for the summer?

 

[Muske]

Pbass will be fine as long as the tank they will be in for the winter can house them.
Just scrub the pond w/water, no cleaners or chemicals.
For fish that will over winter it is pretty limited to goldfish/koi and natives.