44 replies to this topic

[noob9876]

I'm having an algae control problem and not quite sure what to use to get it stabilized. The pond is one of those 250 gallon pre-formed in-ground setups and I've had it in place for about 7 years now with no major problems...Well, I've had Koi jump and and commit suicide in the past and recently had an owl eat over 1/2 my fish in 2 nights (caught it in the act one night) to the point that I was left with only 4 large goldfish (8"). I'm running a 500 gph pump and a PondMaster PMK1250 filter system (so the pump probably runs at 300 gph or less due to the filter) and a "bell-style" fountain in the middle for oxygenation. The pond gets direct sunlight in the morning and evening with partial sunlight during the day. Other than fighting some string algae this year it's been fine.

Well, a month ago, we went on vacation and had a friend of my wife and my mother-in-law watching things around the house and something happened where 80% or more of the water was ejected from the pond before my mother-in-law caught it and fixed it (and refilled the pond....The water for the refills would be softened water in most cases and has been the norm for years). Unfortunately, the water got under the pond and floated one side up so it was now at an angle and the only way to fix it was to completely empty it, remove it, and fix the underlying issues. This was done the next weekend and the pond water was pumped into a kiddie pool along with the fish. Pond and rocks (river rocks on the bottom) were removed, pond was scrubbed to get rid of the string algae, rocks were cleaned and it was all put back in. I transferred the old pond water and the fish back into the pond and everything seemed OK for a week or so. Then came the algae....

The algae seems to be a plankton-style algae. We treated it with PondCare AlgaeFix to no avail and then tried Tetra Pond Algae Control and that did not seem to work either. This stuff went from light green to "I can't see anything" within a 24 hour period. 3 of the 4 remaining goldfish died due to lack of oxygen in the water while the wife was trying to treat it with the chemicals. I performed a 3/4 water replace and after 24 hours it started getting green again and sediment forming on the sides and bottom. I pulled another 3/4 of the water off again yesterday after I scrubbed the sides and treated it with AlgaeFix and it seems to be clouding up again. The one remaining large goldfish seems to be having difficulty getting oxygen at times even with the water pretty clear.

Any thoughts to what I can use to "fix" this issue?

Thanks

[DrDave]

Welcome to the Forum
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I think that patience is your best fix. Most new ponds, or freshly cleaned ones go through blooms. I do not use or advocate any chemicals and my ponds have been clear for years. the exception being the spring when string algae appears, this is normal and will fix itself with time.

[Canardroti]

Do you have any plants in there? They will do wonder keeping the water clean without adding chemicals. Also get some snails to help out.

[koiguy1969]

try some barley extract

[noob9876]

Thanks for the reply's....

At this point issue is over as it seems something took the final goldfish last night (hope he choked on it). I will probably wait a month or more before trying to put new fish in the pond which should ensure the environment equalizes. Nothing left but a trap-door snail....

[DrDave]

Please add your location in the User CP at the top of this page.

It was probably a raccoon if it happened at night.

[27goldfish]

I got green water outta no where!!!! Clear as could be 2 weeks ago:banghead3: Any help. Full sun about 1100 gallons. It is the pea soup colored stuff. The temperture jumped to and 90's. HELP!!!!

[DrDave]

Do you have a Doc or Skippy filter?

[27goldfish]

no. The algea doesn't float, its just green.

[koiguy1969]

noob9876 said:

Thanks for the reply's....

At this point issue is over as it seems something took the final goldfish last night (hope he choked on it). I will probably wait a month or more before trying to put new fish in the pond which should ensure the environment equalizes. Nothing left but a trap-door snail....

thats too bad,, have you considered buying a flexable liner and building a bit bigger pond? i ask because you'll find the larger the pond the easier the maintainence, because the larger water volume is much more stable both in temoerature variences and in its chemical and biological makeup. things like alge and biological waste, and overall water quality are much easier to establish and keep consistant.

[27goldfish]

This is a pvc liner. Also, it was good all spring. Just started two weeks ago.

[Billkeyups]

I agree with Koiguy, bigger IS better. You will enjoy your pond more if you do not have to worry about sudden changes.

[noob9876]

DrDave said:

Please add your location in the User CP at the top of this page.

It was probably a raccoon if it happened at night.

Do you have a Doc or Skippy filter?

Last time it was a large owl as I scared it off from the pond one night. I simply have the PondMaster PMK1250 filter system and I'm currently not using the waterfall nor "bell" fountain as neither seem to oxygenate the water adequately when the algae takes over. The pump is shooting water about 12" straight up right now and that seems to be working OK as the fish ended up NOT being gone (was hiding under the filter). He's just lonely

[noob9876]

koiguy1969 said:

thats too bad,, have you considered buying a flexable liner and building a bit bigger pond? i ask because you'll find the larger the pond the easier the maintainence, because the larger water volume is much more stable both in temoerature variences and in its chemical and biological makeup. things like alge and biological waste, and overall water quality are much easier to establish and keep consistant.

This one fits the area right now and I've had it for 7+ years with no real issues.

Still dealing with the algea but holding it back with the Tetra Pond Algae Control. It clouds, clears a bit, gets bad, and repeats. Cleaning the filter does show plankton-style algae coming out.

[koiguy1969]

if your using the algecide, use tetraponds water clarifier too..its a flocculant it gathers the dead alge and other floating particulants together so your filter can catch them easier. the rest will settle so you can net or vaccuum it out.