Can you have a UV in a wildlife pond?

[Gags]

I'm impatient ...currently I have added loads of plants to my pond I built last October...I have a filter in place...no fish yet...

Tonight I added some frogbit, two water Lily's a water hawthorn and Brandy bottle lily, 5 water soldiers, bogbean and some curly leaf pondweed

Already in there was marsh marigold, iris, Brookline, marestail...and few others...

I have clearish water around the margins and the deeper I look into the pond the more visibility is lost...

I'm enjoying watching the newts and the toads...but I'm worried my plants won't grow in time to battle the algae...and my pond may turn even more green...

Is it a question of patience or could I add a UV and enjoy the best of both worlds ?

I know it's early on in the season but I would like to enjoy the pond and be able to watch the wildlife!

My pond this evening

Thanks...

 

[ShawnInfirmity]

The answer to the question is yes you CAN have a UV in a wildlife pond but I would venture to guess that most wildlife pond people would encourage you to be patient and let the pond do its thing. I am also not the most patient person in the world which is why I put a UV on my 450+ gallon above ground pond. It worked to clear it up very well, but now that the pond is established I'm not sure if I would need it any longer.

 

[MitchM]

The pond water doesn't look too bad.
I don't think a UV unit would help much and it's not a good long term solution.
It does look like you have some foam on the pond, which is made up of dissolved organic compounds (DOC's), so make sure you have good circulation, aeration and all your water tests are within recommended levels. (especially KH, GH and phosphate)
Bacteria will be busy breaking those compounds down.

 

[Gags]

The answer to the question is yes you CAN have a UV in a wildlife pond but I would venture to guess that most wildlife pond people would encourage you to be patient and let the pond do its thing. I am also not the most patient person in the world which is why I put a UV on my 450+ gallon above ground pond. It worked to clear it up very well, but now that the pond is established I'm not sure if I would need it any longer.

I guess I'll just have to play things by ear...it's still early days..

 

[Gags]

The pond water doesn't look too bad.
I don't think a UV unit would help much and it's not a good long term solution.
It does look like you have some foam on the pond, which is made up of dissolved organic compounds (DOC's), so make sure you have good circulation, aeration and all your water tests are within recommended levels. (especially KH, GH and phosphate)
Bacteria will be busy breaking those compounds down.

Yeah I have good circulation and the waterfall and pump are doing a good job at circulating the pond..the foam I think was cause I was in there up to my waist planting water hawthorn brandy bottle lily and alba Lily's along with a few others so I think I disturbed some silt and stuff...it's not usually foamy...

I did a water test and all came back ok...

 

[MitchM]

Ok.
Keep in mind that with a wildlife pond a slight tea coloured tint is healthy as the colour is a result of dissolved tannins and humic substances which act as an antibacterial and helps prevent nuisance algae.

 

[Gags]

Ok.
Keep in mind that with a wildlife pond a slight tea coloured tint is healthy as the colour is a result of dissolved tannins and humic substances which act as an antibacterial and helps prevent nuisance algae.

Ok thanks for the reassurance. Just been researching DOCs and it can be caused my spawn ... I have a bit of that in the pond could it be excess protein ?

 

[MitchM]

DOC's are the result from the decomposition of any organic matter so, yes.

 

[GoPond2018]

Yes from all my research online and loads of YouTube videos - chemical reaction, beneficial bacteria all takes time for it build and grow naturally. Can't wait to see your pond flourish when it's completely cycle through one season.

 

[Gags]

I had a bit of disaster...Genuinely gutted by it....I put some Barley straw bales in the top reservoir about 10 days ago and weighed them down with rocks. All seemed fine or so I thought when I came home from work yesterday to find The pond water level had dropped by about 6 inches...last week I noticed a slight drop but I just thought it was the warmer weather and maybe the grass drinking the pond more than usual.

I genuinely thought I had a leak in the liner. The plant roots in the beach end were just lodged between dry rocks...
I panicked for a bit and couldn't work out were the water was being lost from..Anyway I checked the top reservoir and couldn't see any issues...To cut a long story short I removed the rock covering the filter outlet pipe and to my horror the rubber preventing the back wall leaking had come off I presume a frog or toad had dislodged it and a tiny trickle of water was ebbing backwards out of the reservoir and leaking into the ground down the filer hole in the ground.

So over a period of time unknown to me I was loosing water from the pond without my knowledge

We have had little rain over the last few days so I didn't have hardly any water in my 400 litre water butts...So I had to use the garden hose and tap water...Guess what? I had lost 1400 litres..The pond is around 12000 litres...The pond was clearly nicely..It was teaming with life and now I'm worried I may have killed my tadpoles and upset the balance of the pond... What do you think? Do you think the pond will be ok?

I'm dreading the next few days as I'll probably get an algae bloom and be back to square one with my pond...
The only positive out of it all is the fact the pond liner is not leaking..I have caught the problem and fixed it..But I genuinely feel sad about having to use the hose and tap water...

Do you think with it just being over 10% water change with tap I'll be ok?

Thanks for reading