goldfish pond

Question
QUESTION: pondI live in Fairbanks, Alaska and have a 55 gallon outside pond and waterfall.  We laid in a rubber liner in a pool shape and lined sides and bottom with rocks causing a lot of hiding spaces.  My son convinced me to put in goldfish to help eliminate algae in the water.  However, the problems have gotten worse with my point.  About 1/3 of the fish have died and been taken out.  About 1/3 are still swimming visibly around the pond and 1/3 are unaccounted for.  I can only assume that they have died and are in the hiding places in the rocks.

I want to take the live fish out and give them away but I am not sure what to do next to get rid of the dead fish.  Is there something you can think of that can decompose the fish and then they can be sucked out of the pond?  I can't really take the rocks out without a great deal of hard work and heavy lifting which I am really not able to do at this time do to a recent surgery.

Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

ANSWER: Hi Cheryl:  how new is the pond?  What do you think caused the goldfish to die?  does the pond have a filter???? Have you had the water chemistry checked???  The reason I ask is because if the pond cant sustain goldfish there is not much else besides algae that will live in it for long?  What was it you had hoped to accomplish with this pond???? What else is in the pond besides goldfish and rocks?  let me know because I have a couple of solutions that may help...dave

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: The pond itself is 3 years old but this is the first year with any fish.  I usually just put clorox in the pond to kill the algae and partially drain and refill.  The pond is drained each fall and sets empty for about 7 months.  All  the rocks were removed and the pond was clean when we started using it the spring.  

I had no real intentions to put fish in the pond.  I only planned on it for the waterfall that we built to empty into the pond.  As far as what may be causing the fish to die, I rally don't have a clue.  The pond has no filter.  Only aeration in the pond is from the waterfall.  

There is nothing else in the pond.  Rocks and water...

Thanks for your help.  I really appreciate it.
Cheryl

Answer
well this is very simple then.  Just take out the goldfish that are alive and give them away.  the fish that may be dead will decompose fairly quickly but wait a few weeks to make sure that they are actually dead and not just hiding.  It may also be possible that you have a small predator such as a heron or possum, etc that has eaten some of the fish. So you will need to check the pond carefully to see if they are indeed there... sometimes goldfish become very shy and as soon as they see you they hide... keep me posted... dave