Another green pond thread!

[max384]

This is now the second year since I dug my pond. It's a 400 gallon pond with an 800gph pump and 29 gallon homebrew green scrubby pad filter. It is in full sun for half the day and then full shade for the other half (right up against my house). Ever since getting the pond started, I've always had crystal clear water. I've screwed up plenty of things, but my water has always been very clear. However, for the past month or two, I can't keep it clear. There is a lot of algae on the rocks (despite my trapdoor snails) and the water is green. I'm wondering if it's just this abnormally hot and sunny summer we've been having? Maybe it'll pass once it cools down? Last year it was fine.

Anyhow, I've been doing 10-20% water changes every four or five days to try and cut down on the cloudiness. It clears up the water somewhat for a day or two and it goes back to being green. What's the maximum amount and frequency of water changes I can safely do? I refill with chlorinated city water and use an appropriate amount of dechlor when doing water changes.

Last year I had hydrillia, water lettuce, hyacinths, two lily pads, a parrot feather, and some zebra grass. The hydrillia, water lettuce, and hyacinths went nuts and I decided to get rid of the surviving hydrillia and not add water lettuce or hyacinths this year. The zebra grass didn't grow in as high and thick as it did last year, the parrot feather is barely surviving, and the two lily pads are doing great. I wonder if maybe the decrease in ponda flora may be affecting this?

 

[addy1]

Might be, plants, imho, do a great job fighting algae growth. We are hot, miserable, but I have a bunch of lilies and other plants in the pond. No green water, minimal algae, pond in full sun all day

 

[Frankp]

I had that same problem Max. Bought a UV light and put it inline after the pump. The water cleared in about 5 days, removed the UV and the water has been clear ever since. My pond is shaded in the morning but gets some sun in the afternoon. THe UV was well worth it.

 

[adavisus]

Yup, reducing the competition between the plants has allowed the l'il green algae plants to take off.

The additional water changes have introduced fertility which is more yumyum's for algae, regular nourishment!

When a pond has some 60% volume well planted, that ratio usually crushes algae out assuming the plants shade the water and extract the fertility levels which algae relies on

Regards, andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21940871@N06/
http://swglist.wordpress.com/

 

[max384]

Thanks for the replies. I may try getting some more hydrillia and see if that helps. I don't want to do the suffocating water lettuce/hyacinth thing again. If the hydrillia doesn't help out, I will probably go with the UV filter.

Does the algae suspended in the water harm the fish in any way?

 

[Shoestring Ponder]

As far as I know, the only things that do not like the suspended algae in the water are us. The fish could care less, To them it is natural, and quite possibly medicinal.

:goldfish:

 

[sissy]

Does not harm them and fish seem to prefer murky water as it keeps them cool and helps them hide .We are the ones who like clear water so we can see them better .

 

[max384]

Hmmmm.... Maybe I'll just let it be a bit murky than. It's not so bad that I can't see the fish, it's just a bit hard to when they're down low. I'd imagine it will clear up later in the summer when the days aren't so long and it's not so hot anyhow.

 

[j.w]

Mine gets so I can't see them way down too but I don't mind if the fish don't mind. They come up to the surface when its warm out so I can see them except for my new shubbies in the bathtub quarantine pond...................they're still petrified and hide down under all the time. I think they sneak out to eat tho as the floating food goes missing. I think we worry too much about the green myself

 

[crsublette]

I think would take lots of algae, algae dieing and decaying, depleting O2 levels. This would take slot for that to happen.

 

[koiponder]

ok, ready for a very unconventional response? i am gonna catch some crap over this but here it goes: start your biological filter over again. **ducking the rotten vegetables being thrown at my head** pull out the filter media and replace it with new media. add beneficial start up bacteria, just like when you first built your pond. i use those puffy things that girls use in the shower, but those green scrubby pads are good too. just start it over. i've done it and i am not afraid to do it again, and i will if necessary. i will not ever touch them ever ever while they're functioning properly and keeping the water clear. however, yours is not doing it's job. therefore....start it over again. there is nothing wrong with that, and it will save you money and time and worry and trial and error. dig in, don't be scared. once the good bacteria get out of whack the water quality suffers terrible. you'll thank yourself for doing it and you'll save yourself from going nuts (i speak from experience lol).

 

[CometKeith]

Hi max384, Having green water is not a big deal. Try googling fish farms. Most of them raise their fish in pea soup colored water. A UV light is excellent and will keep the suspended algae away for good. Having more plants will help keep your string algae and blanket weed down. I don't think a little algae on the rocks hurts anything but you can try getting some apple snails. They will come out of the water and scrub your rocks where the trap door snails won't. I totally disagree with the above comment. What would be the point of starting over when you just need minor fixes. By starting over you will end up with the same problems and might lose a few fish waiting for the pond to cycle again. Good bacteria doesn't get out of whack. There are two kinds. The one that turns ammonia into nitrites and the one that turns nitrites into nitrates. Someone can use a test kit to check water quality to see if those are high. it doesn't sound like the ammonia-nitrite-nitrate cycle is your problem and I see no point in changing your media. You may have too high a bio-load or too much feeding as that can encourage algae to grow. Changing the filter media won't correct that.

 

[sissy]

I found the best thing to help keep water clear is put plants in your filters it really does work great my water has been clear and amazed I went to clean out the gunk at the bottom of my filter after all summer not cleaning it out and there was none .Water is clear and nice and clean ,amazing also because I have been redoing most of the pond this summer .

 

[addy1]

Great Sissy! I went to net the bottom of the pond, figuring I should do it at least once this summer, but not enough stuff to bother with. So waiting for the leaf drop and winter clean up. So down to a twice a year pond cleaning, once at spring start up, once at winter shut down. ow it is on its own! love it. And never green water or algae issues..............so far (disclaimer lol)

 

[sissy]

I just hope the leaves blow away from my pond .There are no trees to close to the pond but do get a few stray leaves now and then .But since I plan on rebuilding the water fall to resolve the leak and put in the new tank I will wait it out .I am going to have to make the waterfall area wider for the new tank and make the retaining wall wider also .I guess the new tank will have 2 tank adapters and have to turn up the water flow from the pump for the bigger filter .I wanted more plant space in the filter and figure oval would give me the biggest space .I could not find a square one or rectangular one and oval will fit in where I have to move the retaining wall block too .So much easier that way .I would have liked deeper though but the stock tank is only 2 feet high and hoping that will be enough for filter material and plant roots .I could not get the 100 gallon stock tank retaining wall block could not be moved out that far .