Dirty Water

[mrteach3]

Hi all,

I have read several threads about dirty, green or cloudy water, but none of them seem to describe my problem perfectly. I have recently used Pond Balance, and Green Clean to rid my pond of string algae. While not all of it is gone, the two products together have done wonders to rid the string algae.

The problem I have now run into is that the water is incredibly dirty. I can barely see 6 to 12 inches into the water. Even the water than runs down the waterfalls is dirty. What could this be from??? I am guessing it is the immense amount of dead algae now dirtying the water, but I could be wrong. I have used a clarifier with no results.

My last resort is to drain the pond and start over with new water. I would rather not do that if it isn't needed, but I just don't know what else to do. Any ideas???

Thank you in advance.

Tyson

 

[koidaddy]

How are you filtering it?

 

[mrteach3]

I have a filter, open weave type, at the pump box and three filters at the top waterfall box. Those are white tighter weave filters. There are also bio balls in that filter box. Just don't know why everything got so dirty. Never had that happen before.

 

[DrCase]

Its time for a laundry basket with pillow stuffing in it
Put it under the water fall....on a bucket, above the pond water level but under the water fall

 

[mrteach3]

Forgive my amateur understanding of ponds, but do you literally mean take a laundry basket and put pillow filling in the basket??? Or is that some type of product out there. What exactly will that do??? I have room to put it under the top fall, so that shouldn't be an issue. And do you think this will clear up the water for me??? Thanks.

 

[koiguy1969]

Its called a diy fines filter and yes it will help.

 

[mrteach3]

Thanks guys. Here are a couple of pictures of my pond so you can get an idea of what I am dealing with. It is about 1400 gallons. Any other information you can give me about the fine filter would be appreciated. I am willing to try anything at this point.

 

[jason081180]

one thing i see is that you have rocks in your pond. a lot of people on here will say that there should be no rocks in your pond as its almost impossible to keep them clean. gunk is always getting trapped between and under them.

 

[mrteach3]

Thanks Jason. I didn't know about that when we built my pond. In hindsight, I wish I would have left the rocks out and just had the liner in the pond, or something else. Such is life. I have to live with it now. Trying to figure out the best way to keep it clean. Thanks again for the input. I appreciate it.

 

[DrCase]

This is for real ..go to walmart get a laundry basket that will fit under your fall..
Go back to the sewing dept and grab a couple bags of stuffing 3$ a bag
Put the basket under the water fall with one bag of stuffing when that one gets real dirty change it and put the new bag in ..
It will take out all the fine particles

 

[mrteach3]

Totally amazing. Thanks. I will give that a shot. I really appreciate it. Learning more every year with this pond. I love it. Thanks for your patience.

On another note, is it a bad idea to drain the pond every few years and replace the water. I was wondering if that would be helpful since then I could clean the rocks and maybe even vacuum out some of the junk on the bottom of the pond.

 

[koiguy1969]

With the stone bottom its not only a good idea its pretty much a mandatory maintainence routine... IN FACT powerwshing is a good idea...pond building and maintainence companies make good money doing it...thats wehy they always want to put in stone.

 

[mrteach3]

Awesome. I think I might try to go that route as well. I have a fountain pump(210 gph). Wonder if that would be enough pressure to push the water through a house to the sewer. What should I do with my fish???

By the way, you guys are great. I know I keep saying it, but I really appreciate it.

 

[mrteach3]

I obviously meant hose, but house. Oops!!! I have a pressure washer, so I will try that as well.

 

[3qtkidz]

I am a believer about NOT having a bunch of rocks in the bottom of the pond. I made that mistake too, but I am very happy to say I paid my kids 20 bucks to dive in my pond and get every pebble out. It was a gross job but I'm glad I, I mean they did it.