Clean or not to clean?

HI,
In the spring when I got algea bloom I read alot of articles and battled it with little problem. The learned that the bad algea gets a head start on the good algea and is one of the causes. Now that the pond is crystal clear I still clean the filter every 3 to 4 days. I notice alot of green algea (I'm guessing good algea since the water is in good balance) in the filter pads and bio balls. My question is should I clean the balls of this algea or just the pads? Clean both? The algea grows back buy the time I clean it again so I'm thinking just clean it so it doesn't get out of control.
Thanks.
Steve O

Steveno

I had a lot of pea soup problems with my pond. The biofilter and the chemicals didn't do much more than stop the problem temporarily, and it was getting expensive. I switched over to using an ultraviolet sterilizer and it ended that problem permanently. They come in different sizes.

It only kills the green algae and the bad bacteria. It's well worth the money.

I've always heard that you shouldn't clean the bio balls. In fact, I leave mine uncleaned & submerged over the winter when I take out my pump so that I have a headstart on good bacteria in the spring. I do clean the filter pads until the water runs pretty clear - if they're too clogged, they won't filter.

I agree with not cleaning the bio balls. The filters do need to be kept clean so rinsing them is a good idea. If you filter is large enough fo ryour pond it should need to be rinsed as often. What size filter and what size pond do you have? Plants will also cut down on the pea soup algae.

I've also found that water running over lava rocks is very effective for cleaning & water cress & water lettuce also help enormously.

Try Skippys Stuff. I have one and it's every effective in getting rid of bacteria. http://www.skippysstuff.com/ Just scroll down to the bio-filter and take a look. It's cheap to make so you can experiment if you want to.

Spring is a tough time for algae bloom, the best advice is to not over react, or micro manage the algae. There is lots of good advice here rgarding spring timr issues.

The best way to head off problems in the spring is to have a healthy bacteria colony. You have many choices to establish the colony. You can let nature takes it's course and add fish very slowly. Or you can use natural products from Microlift http://www.richdeer3pondsupplies.com...46/page/885741PL GELhttp://www.richdeer3pondsupplies.com...product/Eml025 is one of the few products that sticks to the filter media itself. Using a year long program http://www.richdeer3pondsupplies.com...product/Eml082slimplify pond care.

Originally Posted by crowbar

I had a lot of pea soup problems with my pond. The biofilter and the chemicals didn't do much more than stop the problem temporarily, and it was getting expensive. I switched over to using an ultraviolet sterilizer and it ended that problem permanently. They come in different sizes. It only kills the green algae and the bad bacteria. It's well worth the money.

Yes, verily right! I also do same because it is very expensive to clean it all the time.