I installed a 35 watt UV light last Saturday the 5th.on my 3000 gallon pond which was pea soup green. It is clearing the water but the water is still a little cloudy. I can't see the bottom just yet. Should i just give it more time or should i do a water change?
Cloudy Water
- Thread starter beachywoman
- Start date
You need to do water changes every week (at worst every other week) of 20%. Unclean water will not ever clear unless your remove and replace it. If you have muck on the bottom of the pond, every time a fish swims by it, they will also stir that up and things will look slightly cloudy, so that muck would need to be removed. Can you see if the pond floor is clean, or is there detrius on it?
Glad to hear you are cleaing up though! Nothing better than seeing the pea green go away!
Glad to hear you are cleaing up though! Nothing better than seeing the pea green go away!
jethro13
jethro13
I would give it a couple more days. 3000 gallons of water might take a little while longer than usual. I am just a little surprised it is taking this long and a partial water change wouldn't hurt.
I do water changes every week at least 20%. there isn't any muck on the bottom,it is very clean. I am thinking a larger water change maybe.
Thanks! 
Try a 30-35% one, and then give it a few more days. As Jethro said, when you're going from pea green to clear, it could take a bit of time. If you had pea green, your bacteria colony also wasn't properly established (I'm making an assumption that you have good mechanical and bio filtration), so it can take a good 4-6 weeks for that to grab hold well. Just be patient and continue your water changes. I bet you'll see it clear for you in a bit of time.
You're doing all the right things to make it happen. If you'd like to tell us about your filtration, please do.
You're doing all the right things to make it happen. If you'd like to tell us about your filtration, please do.
it takes a few days for the water to clear up you have a pretty big pond.so it will take time and make sure you have a pump that
has a lower gallons per hour. if you have a 1000 gallon an hour
pump it will take longer for the water to clear up because
the water goes though the light to fast and it wont kill the green,
but give it time
has a lower gallons per hour. if you have a 1000 gallon an hour
pump it will take longer for the water to clear up because
the water goes though the light to fast and it wont kill the green,
but give it time
I have a 100 gallon filter I built. Based on a skippy filter. The water is piped in through Skimmer and another pump in the bottom of my pond. It runs into the bottom with circulation. Then the filter media sits on top of a shelf that seperated it from the sludge. It is filled full with poly flo material and also some bagged lava rock. The water hits the UV light before the filter. It leaves the filter down through a waterfall.
Do you empty the sludge or so do you just leave it there as Skippy describes.
Interested that a skippy gave you pea green soup. I always found his never-clean formula far-fetched. The whole sludge turns into sand pebbles miraculously was something I never bought into. That sludge sits in the water column, and until you remove it, you've got dirty water.
Interested that a skippy gave you pea green soup. I always found his never-clean formula far-fetched. The whole sludge turns into sand pebbles miraculously was something I never bought into. That sludge sits in the water column, and until you remove it, you've got dirty water.
koikeepr said:
I do clean the sludge out. I just do not remove and clean the filter media unless it is really bad. I would only knock out some of the algae from it or rinse it in pond water to not disturb the good bacteria colonies. It does end up a little gritty but not sand. It was green from free floating algae because my pond is in direct sun all day long. The plant coverage was just not enough shade to help it starve out the algae.
Gotcha, yes, Skippy does not recommend cleaning the media or even touching the filter at all. I think there are some folks on this site that just flush the barrel, but don't touch the media either and they have clear water. A pond in direct sun all day is truly a whole different ball of wax, for sure. It has added stress on it that other ponds do not have--and green water can be a common threat in these locations.
I do clean my media once per month with a pond water rinse in a bucket. Have never had any problems with my bacteria colony and have crystal clear water. My pond does does not get morning sun, but gets sun all afternoon. My old pond was the opposite, and I got early morning sun only and then it was shaded most of the afternoon.
Give your UV a chance to so some more work and try a bigger water change. I look forward to hearing your results in another week. it does sound like you're on to clearer water....
What size is that filter on that 3000g pond you've got there, by the way? And how long has it been running on your pond? Sometimes if a filter is too small, you can get clarity issues too.
I do clean my media once per month with a pond water rinse in a bucket. Have never had any problems with my bacteria colony and have crystal clear water. My pond does does not get morning sun, but gets sun all afternoon. My old pond was the opposite, and I got early morning sun only and then it was shaded most of the afternoon.
Give your UV a chance to so some more work and try a bigger water change. I look forward to hearing your results in another week. it does sound like you're on to clearer water....
What size is that filter on that 3000g pond you've got there, by the way? And how long has it been running on your pond? Sometimes if a filter is too small, you can get clarity issues too.
It is a 100 gallon rubbermaid water trough.It ran last year all summer. This is it's 2nd season. It is a very large filter. The water in the filter is pretty clear and coming from the waterfall is really clear also. I think that I will give it a few more days before I get worried. At least i can see my fish swimming around now.
Yep, I know the one you have. I have the 150 gallon one. Good choice!
Looking forward to seeing you clear up. Keep us posted.
Looking forward to seeing you clear up. Keep us posted.
I sure will. Thanks for the Advice!