Brown algae and hard brown crust

[Flymac1]

My pond is 6 x 6 x 2. Accumulate overnight enough brown algae to clog my pump, it also forms a hard crust on my pump. I run hot water on my pond twice a day for an hour. The water stays crystal clear. Is my pump water causing my problem?

 

[j.w]

@Flymac1

 

[JamieB]

Post a picture of the gunk, and of the pond set up. And tell us more about your set up. How many fish, what kind and size, any plants, why/ how you run hot water on your pond( unless it’s frozen over, and that’s how you keep a hole open,) what kind of filter you’re operating.
My first thought is mulm, fish waste, which indicates you need to add more plants and probably do a clean out of build up by vacuuming the pond bottom or netting out the gunk with a fine net. But please post pictures so we can verify. Do you test your water? Mulm at that level would lead me to think you’d have high ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and that it’s not getting broken down properly by bacteria for some reason. What products if any do you use in your pond?
This may sound like a lot of questions, but it helps us find the problem so we can tell you how to fix it. It might be as simple as just netting your pond so leaves don’t fall in, adding more plants, or stop using a product, or it could be a bigger issue of finding out what’s in your source water.

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Why do you run hot water on your pond twice a day for an hour? Do you have fish, plants....?

 

[Flymac1]

Ok my bad for voice texting. It was suppose to say pump water, not hot water LOL The water pump runs for an hour twice a day. The algae clogs my filter and my pump up every other day. It takes a wire brush to remove the brown crust that builds up on the waterfall pump. Is pump water causing my problem? I have four Kois, 2 foot long and 2,

8 inches long. The filter is about a foot and a half tall 8 inch diameter with two phone filters inside, One is a course foam filter the other is a fine foam filter.

 

[brokensword]

Ok my bad for voice texting. It was suppose to say pump water, not hot water LOL The water pump runs for an hour twice a day. The algae clogs my filter and my pump up every other day. It takes a wire brush to remove the brown crust that builds up on the waterfall pump. Is pump water causing my problem? I have four Kois, 2 foot long and 2, View attachment 1353898 inches long. The filter is about a foot and a half tall 8 inch diameter with two phone filters inside, One is a course foam filter the other is a fine foam filter.

I would run your pump 24/7. I imagine the crust forms because you're NOT running it full time. To combat algae, put more plants in your pond, something which will out compete the algae, like water lettuce or water hyacinth. Water lilies aren't the best for clearing water, though your pic doesn't show an immediate issue. To help control the resultant nitrates, upon which the algae feeds, keep your feeding to a minimum unless you can increase your filtration. If your water is clear though, you're probably doing it right. If it's string algae troubling you, that's where more floaters will help.

Another thought; are you drawing water from the bottom of your pond? If so, raise it up and that should help.

Also, consider a bog for your filtration; there's many threads here to research and once established, is almost maintenance free.

 

[Flymac1]

hanks for the info, I will try the plants and raise my filter. I’m not familiar with a bog . I do run my filter and waterfall 24 seven, but my pump water runs one hour twice a day. My water stays clear but the filter and pump clogged up with Brown sludge.

 

[Mmathis]

hanks for the info, I will try the plants and raise my filter. I’m not familiar with a bog . I do run my filter and waterfall 24 seven, but my pump water runs one hour twice a day. My water stays clear but the filter and pump clogged up with Brown sludge.

I’m confused. How are your waterfall and filter running 24/7, if your pump doesn’t? How do you have your system set up? I think most of us use the pump to run waterfalls and filters....

A bog is a natural filtration system where the water flows through a substrate of gravel that is planted with water-loving plants. These plants (roots) function as the filter. AKA an eco-filter. A lot of us here have converted to this type of filtration.

 

[Flymac1]

My pump puts water through my filter system and then down the waterfall. I run my ground water pump on a timer twice a day. It overflows the pond but it’s clean ground water. The pond itself is crystal clear that way. I’m thinking maybe the ground water is causing my problem

 

[BKHpondcritters]

If I'm reading your posts correctly, you have 4 decent sized koi in a pond that's only 6' X 6' X 2' deep? If so, that's a big part of your problem (imo) - your pond is WAY too small for even 1 koi.

Other than that, I'm still not really understanding the ground water pump thing. What is your purpose of overflowing the pond twice a day with ground water? Have you done any testing of your water parameters? Are there any plants in the pond, other than the one water lily?

 

[brokensword]

A bog is a natural filtration system where the water flows through a substrate of gravel that is planted with water-loving plants. These plants (roots) function as the filter. AKA an eco-filter. A lot of us here have converted to this type of filtration.

@Mmathis just to clarify; the plants are only a part of the filtration, not the whole thing. The roots take up the NITRATES that result from the bio mechanism's conversion of ammonia to nitrite then to nitrate. Without the bacteria ON the bio material, the plants would have much less nitrates to take up, depending then only on what the pond itself converts.

 

[brokensword]

My pump puts water through my filter system and then down the waterfall. I run my ground water pump on a timer twice a day. It overflows the pond but it’s clean ground water. The pond itself is crystal clear that way. I’m thinking maybe the ground water is causing my problem

Turn off the overflow pump/mechanism for a while and see if your situation improves. You're doing a small water change, basically, and it probably IS helping your water quality a bit since as BKH said above, your koi are providing your pond with an abundance of bio load. If you do turn off the overflow system, start doing some water tests daily to make sure you've not worsened the water.

 

[Bluerooster]

Just curious, but when you say it clogs your pump, I assume the water stops flowing. Is that correct?

 

[Flymac1]

Down to a trickle

 

[Flymac1]

Turn off the overflow pump/mechanism for a while and see if your situation improves. You're doing a small water change, basically, and it probably IS helping your water quality a bit since as BKH said above, your koi are providing your pond with an abundance of bio load. If you do turn off the overflow system, start doing some water tests daily to make sure you've not worsened the water.

I’ll try that and see what happens thanks