Marylyn - I don't use a pump on either of my 35 gallon pre-formed ponds. They are still-water ponds. And I agree with what others here have said ... it takes time for the water and plants to balance out. I always get an algae bloom when I have to change out the water in the ponds (which is what I am having to do now because of the destructive raccoon attack). So I know that the water will get worse before it gets better. Eventually the plants will clear the water and it will be beautiful! It will become the perfect balance of plants and water environment in time. I like having fish, too. But beware that water birds and raccoons will attack your pond if they see a food source. I had no critter issues for years, but this year the raccoons discovered my ponds and literally destroyed the plants and ate almost all my fish in both ponds. So I will now be covering my ponds with plywood every night to try to prevent that from happening again.
Water gardening is my absolute favorite kind of gardening. Also the easiest once your pond is established. I buy hardy waterlilies for my ponds. Even in zone 9b, the cold winters usually kill any tropical waterlilies because my ponds aren't very deep. So I've learned to only use hardy waterlilies here even in tropical Florida!