Personally, I would leave it alone.
The goldfish may eat some of it.
If you try to clean it off it will just muck things up and the algae will simply grow back.
Your best bet if you want to eliminate some of it for a while is to get a sponge and rub it off the sides of the pool but if the wall of the pool is thin then I would not do even this.
Maybe get some water hyacinth and cover over the entire surface of the pool for a season. Just remove the hyacinths before the first freeze and toss them. This might cause some die back because of lack of light but ??
it will not get rid of the algae.

You are lucky. While we did not build the pond we inherited it when we bought the house. The first year I drained and clean the pond. As you did we bought a couple of dozen feeder fish and as you all but four died.

The following spring I cleaned the pond, and then shut off the pumps since we were going on about a 2 week vacation. They must have spawned while the pump was running, as when we got back their were hundreds of half inch fry. That was six years ago and the population has stabilized at about 60.

It will just come back if you scrub it but you can try and take a clean toilet bowl brush and twist the algae around it. I will end up putting Clarity Max in my pond when it warms up. If you don't know what Clarity Max is just google it. Good luck!

Covering the pond with plants will help but carpet algae is good for pond balance and fish. You could feed your fish less and they will also eat the algae. Otherwise string algae, yeah the toilet brush works best! Good luck.

I have added a picture so you can see the algae. Not sure what type of algae this is called but I don't think it's string algae.

It looks a little unattractive to me, but a couple of you have said it's good algae. I guess I have to think if I want to try to get rid of it or leave it.

Any opinions are welcome.

Here is a link that might be useful: pond picture with algae

Yeah, that is carpet algae. You could probably just scrub it off if you don't like it but it will always come back. I would suggest just shading the pond more with plants, water lillies and floating plants, which should help and also hide the algae. Your water is nice and clear for such a little pond and I'm guessing that is partly because of all that green stuff;) Cute fish!

I think it makes the pond look more natural but that is just my opinion.

Get an alge eater. They like warm water, so in the winter if it gets below 45F you need to bring them in.

Ask for a 'Pleco' at the fish store. Usually run around $5/each.

They can grow quite large but really love alge.

I agree with all of the above, the algae you have isn't harmful, you can brush it off but it comes back, and while it looks natural it also looks a little gross to me. In my little pond I used to drain it and scrub it in the spring but this year just went with a water change. I have a modest amount of algae on the walls and I like how it looks, but yours is getting heavy.

If your going to go the scrub it out route I would consider getting a kiddie pool and pumping the water pond into that, scrub and remove the algae, then replace the water and fish. That way your fish stay in the same water for less stress. Be prepared to do that every year.

Do be careful with your filter so you don't kill the good bacteria you have in there.

Thanks for all of your tips. I am trying to see it the way some of you mentioned, that it doesn't look that bad and it is beneficial.

Well my pond plants are finally coming back in (I can see them sprouting from the bottom of the pond), so hopefully this will give a little more shade. Plus I have a birch and maple somewhat nearby enough that in a few years they might give more shade as they grow. You were right that scrubbing is a lot of work and really does nothing. I looked into one of those algae eater fish, but I really don't want to have to bring it in over winter. A friend recently gace me a cup of barley pellets to try out, so maybe I'll try that this weekend.

Some great news though... we saw 5 American Toads were having a nice time together in there this past week, calling so loud all day and night. Now we have tons of eggs in there! I attached a link to a picture. Maybe they can eat some algae when the eggs hatch.

Here is a link that might be useful: toad eggs

Don't be surprised if the fish eat most of the eggs and tadpoles. I always dip out a few eggs to raise in a container so the granddaughters (and PopPop) can watch them develope.

If the "dirt" is bothering you, you might try vacuuming the bottom of the pond to get out any loose algae. If you decise to do this, you might loose some of the eggs/tadpoles though.

My fish never bothered my toad eggs, I have koi and goldies.

I agree with the others about leaving the carpet algae alone... :-)

Our old pre-formed had that algae on all sides, the fish loved it for snacks and it helped keep the water clear. Unfortunately, the pond developed a large un-fixable crack and had to be replaced.

The old pond was in almost full sun, but had a skippy filter which also helped the water stay clear.

Now we have to wait awhile for the new pre-formed to grow algae on it like the old one...

Carpet algae is good algae.

Clear water with carpet algae is better than pea soup algae you usually get after you've scrubbed all the carpet algae away....