brown water

[crazyforponds]

Hi all. Well we finally got our pond finished last fall but did not fill it since it was late in the season. This spring I picked out every leaf piece from the pond and we powerwashed all the rocks before filling the pond for the first time. The water was relatively clear and cleared up even more with 24/7 running of the pump and the water flowing over the biofalls. I placed several marginal plants around the edges and a couple of oxygenators in the bottom of the pond. The problem is in the last 2 weeks the water has turned brown-so much so that we can't even see the bottom of the pond. The rocks appear to be coated with slim?? I'm not sure what to do next. I was thinking of replacing the lava rocks with bioballs. The local pond guy told me to put the lava rocks in the base of the biofalls with the green pads (2) on top. Its this the right placement? How many bioballs would I need? My pond is 22 ft x 11 ftx 3 ft deep. Any suggestions? I have read so many articles on chemicals to put in the pond that I am totally confused.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Do you have fish in the pond?

If so I would steer clear of the chemicals.

 

[crazyforponds]

Yes we had about 40 and they have been doing very well for the last 2 weeks except we just had our first visit from the dreaded crane. the water is so brown and the fish (if any are left) are skiddish and at the bottom of the pond that can't tell how many are left.

 

[callingcolleen1]

Several things could be going on that would turn water brown.
If you have potted plants in mud, and if you have koi, the koi will want to spawn in the mud and make a mucky mess....
Or, if there are large trees by your pond, things from the trees could be falling in and turning your water brown. Set out a dish of water under the trees, and see if water in dish turns brown after a few days. Look in pond for clues, is there any thing you can see floating? It could very well be catapiller dung falling in your pond from the trees. Here in Medicine Hat, the caterpillers come in large hoards and eat lots of green leafs and make lots of little tiny brown dung, and when it falls from the trees it looks like small brown pellets. I get caterpller dung every year, it will not harm the pond, and it does go away once the caterpillers make a cocoon.

 

[Waterbug]

You want to be really sure of the color. You can push something white into the water to tell the exact color. Each color has a different cause and fix. What shade of brown or green is important. Otherwise you will be sent on many wild goose chases. Seen it a million times in forums.

Slime on rocks is normal. What kind of slime determines what if anything you want to do. Bio film is slimy and good. Algae is sometimes slimy and most are very good for the pond. Muck is slimy to some people and isn't so good for Water Garden, but certainly not a huge deal. So does the slime stir up by your hand or stay in place would be a clue.

It's possible the lava rock was causing the brown but I've never heard of any doing that. But for all I know what someone told you is lava rock is something else. I mean I don't know. However, bio balls have nothing to do with clear water, or lava rocks. That's just something people think because ponds do clear on their own, without any filter of any kind. But when they do clear people always assume it must have cleared because they were smart enough to add a filter. And a myth is born. Just human natural to pat ourselves on the back. Bio balls are used to convert ammonia. If you have near 0 ammonia (and have added chemicals to give you a false ammonia reading) then switching the lava rock for bio balls won't have much effect, other than removing some nitrifying bacteria and starting over.

 

[crazyforponds]

Thanks for the info. So any ideas on where I should start to identify the problem? I also was reading on retrofitted bottom drains. What is your thoughts on that?

 

[callingcolleen1]

get a glass jar and fill it with the pond water, then hold the jar next to something white and see what color it actually is... sometimes it can appear brown but may be really a tinge of green.... get a picture for us if possible...

 

[Waterbug]

Thanks for the info. So any ideas on where I should start to identify the problem? I also was reading on retrofitted bottom drains. What is your thoughts on that?

OK, so you want to fix the problem before figuring out what the problem actually is. That is the most complex, costly and by far the most common way people handle these things.

A bottom drain is part of a system. The drain itself is the easy part. You also need water flow sweeping the bottom so stuff gets to the drain. You also need a filter, like a sieve, that will remove the waster from the water. If the waste sits in the filter waiting to be cleaned out it would still be decomposing and coloring the water. The odds of even a functioning BD system clearing brown water is pretty close to nil.

Since you don't want to narrow down the actual color here is the 411. Brown = tannin. Basically the same thing tea and coffee produce. It's produced from specific types of bark, mulch, leaves. The easiest solution is to remove water and replace, either all at once or many water changes. Long term it will decompose and the water will clear if the source of the tannin isn't still being added to the pond. Some people add activated charcoal filters to clear tannin. And they will work as long as they're large enough and activated charcoal is replaced often enough. A few hundred times more expensive than water changes but there you are, most complex and costly solutions are often the first choice.

Some people add different things people sell in bottles. Bacteria, oxidizers, copper, barley, you name it. These are all easy solutions and pretty cheap. Most don't work but most people don't seem to mind that too much.

Tons of options.

 

[CometKeith]

Every year I get a brown muck on my rocks in the spring and every year it clears up and everything goes greenish with algae. There are a lot of trees over my pond so maybe it has something to do with that. I think this stuff bother pond owners more than it bothers the fish. I wouldn't rush to do too much that would upset your fish and it will probably clear up over time. if your water is actually brown its easy to do 15-20% water changes over time that will clear it up assuming any of the organic materials causing it has been removed.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I agree with water changes. In my opinion the best and safest way to clear up your water without possibly harming your fish.

 

[crazyforponds]

I did the water in bottles test and the water is actually green. I got a pond test kit and ph is good. No nitrates or ammonia. So do I assume it's algae. Pond is in the shade. Unfortunately when we designed the pond we were told that if we rocked in the whole pond it would be better. Now I'm reading that
you shouldn't rock in the pond because it increases algae. What's my next step? Thanks.

 

[Waterbug]

I did the water in bottles test and the water is actually green.

It's very common for people to say brown and then test to find it's green.

The difference is kind of important because brown = water changes, but with green water changes would likely make the problem worst.

I got a pond test kit and ph is good. No nitrates or ammonia. So do I assume it's algae.

It is indeed algae. The fix is to add properly sized and installed UV filter. You want to be able to control the flow of water thru the unit so as you turn down the water to the unit excess water can bypass. You can normally clear a pond with the sized units manufactures say by turning down the flow and turning it back up later. Units are sized to keep clear water clear. Already green water may take the flow adjusting. Or if that sounds too complex you can buy a larger unit than recommended.

Pond is in the shade.

Yes, that's one of the many myths about ponds, that shade will stop algae blooms. Now you've gotten to see it for yourself. Less sunlight only means the pond might be less green than with more sun, but algae is also limited by food so hard to tell. Bottom line no one cares if their pond is green or super green. Green is green.

Unfortunately when we designed the pond we were told that if we rocked in the whole pond it would be better. Now I'm reading that you shouldn't rock in the pond because it increases algae.

Another myth. although that's a bigger whopper than normal. Normally people say rocks produce toxic gases and will kill all your fish and try to scare people. The issue is muck, decomposing organic matter on the pond bottom, does produce toxic gases, but Water Gardens can handle that, high fish load ponds can have issues. So the myth goes muck will collect between the rock and kill fish. But it has nothing to do with rocks. Many of the same people spreading the myth almost never clean their bare liner ponds so they have just as much muck as they would with rocks. The myth is just all about winning petty forum wars. People want their pond to be the best so they just make up whatever they kind to make their junk better than everyone's junk, Has nothing to do with actual pond keeping.

The algae angle goes even further into made up stuff.

The bottom line is ponds do have to be cleaned at some point. Whether that's once a week, month, year or every 5, 10 years is each owner's choice. I like to see rocks in the pond, I don't like bare liner. And I prefer a clean pond so I like to vacuum every few weeks. Mortaring the rocks over the liner makes vacuuming easy and allows for no muck. But that's just me. Many people with bare liner prefer to allow the muck to cover the liner because it looks better and their ponds are perfectly fine.

Mortared rock pond.

What's my next step? Thanks.

UV. Or you could consider the hundreds of things people will tell you to try. It's endless. A few do have a chance of even working. But UV is 100% effective when sized and installed correctly.

You have 0 ammonia. That makes sense. Algae consume ammonia directly so they consume it as fast as the pond creates it. Ponds are ammonia factories. Whatever you do to clear the pond consider that the thing that was consuming ammonia will then be gone. So you want to watch ammonia levels for at least a couple of weeks afterward.

One of the big green water cure myths out there is to add plants. The plants consume the nutrients and starve the algae. But you've seen why that's a myth, you have zero ammonia and nitrates already and still have algae. Plants won't be able to lower ammonia and nitrate below zero. There are just tons of myths.

Instead of pH consider testing KH and learning about pH buffering. pH test results can be very misleading which can send you down bad paths.

 

[crazyforponds]

Thanks for all the good info. I know nothing about uv lights but I will try to learn. Do you use a pond vac to vacuum?

 

[Waterbug]

I like vacuums. But depends on the pond size.