Allow Me to Introduce Myself

[C-Note]

...because the forum said I should! I just signed up today. I have a very square, 360 gal. pond. 4' x 4' wide, and 3' deep, edges straight down, with a frame of rectangular stones than overhang the water slightly. Oh, or I guess you can look at my avatar picture, and you'd be like "Look! A tiny little square pond!"

We've had this one set up since last Spring. We made some serious rookie mistakes, but fared the Summer pretty well, overall. Then, near the end of Summer, there was a heat spike, a mega-algae bloom, and a sudden depletion of oxygen. We sadly lost many fish, as we scampered to fix things (stuck a nice-sized aerator in the pond). The 3 survivors actually did great through the Winter, and then... Spring brought back issues, even with the big aerator. Our lethargic, and struggling fish were up by the surface, and dying slowly. A crow took most of them.

Now we are balanced out again. 2 pumps, 4 points of filtration (bio and mechanical), healthy water, happy and healthy fish: 2 koi (about 6" each), 1 Shubunkin (about 7"), and 2 small (2") Ryukins. I also have 4 Trapdoor Snails, about 2" each, vacuuming for me. 2 water lilies producing nicely already, and a bunch of water hyacinth that are doing awesome so far (reading many forum posts here makes me expect the worst for them?)

Only one "oddity." We recently added a Turbo Twist UV clarifier, and it quickly cleared up the single-cell algae. However... the water now has a strange "grey-blue" appearance. I have to admit... I'd prefer crystal clear! Has anyone experienced the greyish-bluish cloudiness? I can see fairly clearly about 18" deep. Advice is welcomed!

 

[RobAmy]

Welcome, sounds like you have some nice fish

 

[C-Note]

Welcome, sounds like you have some nice fish

Thanks!! Oh.... Rhode Island! I lived in Providence for 5 years, and I really miss it.

 

[Mmathis]

Welcome to the group!

 

[Priscilla]

Welcome, no I have not seen blue grey cloudy water before. Strange.

I am one of those water hyacinth causalities. Why oh why won't they grow for me??? lol!

 

[C-Note]

Welcome to the group!

Thanks! Excited to be among those who share my passion, and can share information!

 

[C-Note]

Welcome, no I have not seen blue grey cloudy water before. Strange.

I am one of those water hyacinth causalities. Why oh why won't they grow for me??? lol!

Oh no! Well, I am in Seattle, so we never get TOO hot or TOO cold. But I've only had them for... a month? My hyacinths have all sprouted off-growths and doubled in size in that time, so I would dare to say they are thriving. Time will tell!

 

[j.w]

C-Note
You are not too far from me

 

[dieselplower]

Welcome. Nice pond. I can't help you with the tinted water other than ask did you put anything into the pond that may have leached its color? Or maybe the flowers from the hyacinth are dying the water?

 

[C-Note]

C-Note
You are not too far from me

Excellent! Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[C-Note]

Welcome. Nice pond. I can't help you with the tinted water other than ask did you put anything into the pond that may have leached its color? Or maybe the flowers from the hyacinth are dying the water?

The hyacinth have yet to bloom. The weird color change was just days after installing the UV. It cleared all the green out, but then had the greyish cloudiness. I feel like it's somehow related to the UV, but that doesn't make sense...

 

[dieselplower]

The UV will kill the algae as you have seen. Maybe it is still floating around and needs to be filtered out?

 

[j.w]

I had no luck one year buying the Hyacinth for my pond so I gave up. Mine just turned yellow and died. I wonder if it is just not hot enough here for them to bloom? I have heard of people here getting them to grow all over their ponds but still they didn't bloom if I remember correctly.
I have heard you should crowd them together and put near some moving water so it flows through the roots and also if they were grown in a shadier place before you received them you should start them in shade and work up to more sun. I wish I had known this when I purchased mine..............they might have lived. Also read that when the foliage starts to die back you should remove it as it will add nitrogen back into the water that the plant has sucked up so nicely.

 

[C-Note]

The UV will kill the algae as you have seen. Maybe it is still floating around and needs to be filtered out?

That's possible! I have 4 different filters in place, so I wouldn't have expected it to take this long (2 weeks tomorrow), but that is definitely a possibility! Thanks! In the coming weeks, we are replacing our haberdashery of filters with one Eazy Pod system. I'm pretty excited about that! Expecting nothing less than nice, clear water with that running.

 

[C-Note]

I had no luck one year buying the Hyacinth for my pond so I gave up. Mine just turned yellow and died. I wonder if it is just not hot enough here for them to bloom? I have heard of people here getting them to grow all over their ponds but still they didn't bloom if I remember correctly.
I have heard you should crowd them together and put near some moving water so it flows through the roots and also if they were grown in a shadier place before you received them you should start them in shade and work up to more sun. I wish I had known this when I purchased mine..............they might have lived. Also read that when the foliage starts to die back you should remove it as it will add nitrogen back into the water that the plant has sucked up so nicely.

Ahhh, yes. Mine are clustered nicely (they are mostly doing that on their own), and plenty of water motion flowing through the roots. I have been super-diligent about pulling off the dead parts.