I hope one of you can help.

I have a garden pond that needs some work doing on it. In the pond are koi carp, goldfish and those white and orange ones (can't remember their name ).

Each year there is a bit of hanky panky and I get new fish (I don't know which ones are doing what with whom), but so far new goldfish have turned fully orange and the orange/white ones have turned orange white.

I need to do some structural work on the pond which will require partial or total draining and disturbance of habitat. The question is when is the best time to do this? Any other guidance?

Thanks in advance.

SAB

I don't know if you have any Orfe, but I found these used to breed more than once during the summer so I always did my pond maintenance around late March early April. Also the fish are not as active as during this period so they are easier to catch if you need to remove them temporarily.

Out of interest, what are you doing to your pond?

Hi Simon

The pond is probably best described as 'formal'. The liner has sunk and as a result the coping slabs around the top have all moved and are on angles. I want to lift the liner out, pack it up and re-seat the edge stones.

SAB