Foam and Algae

[sknichols]

Hi Everybody, Springtime here in Oklahoma has been kicking my ponds butt. I'm not sure what to do short of draining, scrubbing and refilling. With the drastic swings in temperature I've had algae blooms and with the rains brown mucky water. It smells because of decay on the bottom and the rocks on the stream are covered in algae as well. Can anyone offer some starting point on what do do? In the mornings the pond will have alot of foam but then its gone by evening. No fish have died and my lillys are growing well.

Thanks!

sknichols

 

[Waterbug]

Clean the bottom. Click her for options.

UV for algae blooms. 100% effective.

The foam is caused by DOC which stands for many things but just means really tiny bits of organic waste. DOCs can be removed by a foam fractionator which is pretty cheap and easy to build. However, once you clean the pond and keep it clean, the DOC level will likely fall on its own (continue decomposing into elements rather than DOC) and you will stop seeing foam. There are also other factors that can cause DOCs to stop foaming so it can just stop. So whether you want to go to the trouble of building a foam fractionator is your call.

Draining a pond in spring to clean is a common practice, the most common cleaning method, but not needed if a pond is kept clean using other methods. Scrubbing like with a brush isn't really needed, a power washer is normally used instead. Better job, way easier.

Pretty simple really...but still has to be done.

 

[HTH]

Nice to see someone else from OK.

A picture or video of the pond would be helpful.

I let the pond liner grow whatever it wants to. The liner is part of your total bio filter.

Rocks on the bottom collect crud that you can't get to and clean out. Chances are the crud is a contributing food source for the algae.

If it were me I would empty the pond and get rid of the rocks and muck. With a bare bottom particles stand a better chance of making it to the filter too. Do you have someplace to keep the fish while you do the cleaning?

Once you get the rocks out you should be able to do future pond maintenance without draining using a pond or shop vac.

The bio filter may also be playing catch up with the ammonia as the fish increase their metabolism.

After the pond has been cleaned add a UV if you want but watch for ammonia spikes while the water is clearing.

 

[Dave 54]

To avoid this in future why not give the pond a clean prior to winter as well as your filters then do the same again in spring its a maintenance regime we British koi keepers do each year.
We have no losses and everythng then is ready for the two most important pond events Summer and winter.......
Microbe-lift PL is what we use to kick start the filters again
Weve been doing it this way with no ill effects since we moned outdoors from our indoor koi setup and it works each and every time no problem

rgrds

Dave

 

[crsublette]

Hi Everybody, Springtime here in Oklahoma has been kicking my ponds butt. I'm not sure what to do short of draining, scrubbing and refilling. With the drastic swings in temperature I've had algae blooms and with the rains brown mucky water. It smells because of decay on the bottom and the rocks on the stream are covered in algae as well. Can anyone offer some starting point on what do do? In the mornings the pond will have alot of foam but then its gone by evening. No fish have died and my lillys are growing well.

Thanks!

sknichols

Exactly why ponds are routinely cleaned. I'm not talking about cleaning it like being an obsessively compulsive, but clean enough to remove the plant decay and majority of the settled muck.

Be careful while you are cleaning with fish in there. For an explanation why, then read post#4 in the story of the pond's ecosystem.

You're fortunate the fish appear fine at the moment

 

[sknichols]

Thanks everyone. This was our first winter with the pond. And we have alot of wind that carries acorns and leaves into the stream and pond all winter and spring. Even yesterday with the severe weather we are having. I continuely use my net to dip out leaves but It's hard to keep up with. I plan on putting in a new skippy filter to help out with it as well.