frothy pale green bubbles on surface of pond - how to make it go away!

[djoliver1]

Great to hear you had a similar problem and got rid of it, Pecan. Did you try buying a bottle of good bacteria and dumping it into your pond? I'm tempted to do that to see if it does any good while I put together a bio filter. Is a skippy filter the same as a bio-filter? I've been reading how to make bio-filters on this site in the DIY forum and also on YouTube. Nobody mentions pouring bacteria into the filter. I guess they just take up residence there on their own? I haven't found really clear directions on how to make a filter yet, although Koiguy put a couple articles out there about it, but I'm the type that needs really detailed directions with drawings or photos. Have you found any clear directions for building these things. It seems that some designs bring the water in through the top but guide it to the bottom of the container and let it bubble up through the filter material, while other designs bring it in through the top and let it filter down and out the bottom. I'm not sure what the advantage is of one design over another.

 

[djoliver1]

by the way, how many gallons of vinegar do you think you dumped into your pond? how much did it take your ph down? I wonder if a lower ph reduces the tendency of algae to grow?

 

[koiguy1969]

when you use a trickle filter,the type where the water enters thru the top and trickles down thru the media and it leaves thru the bottom. the entire filter must be above pond level. when you use an upflow such as mine, skippy style, the filter can be buried up to the weir or other type outlet. this makes hiding the filter easier. its hard, if not impossible to make a reallistic, natural looking waterfall out of a container trickle filter. ..i'm suprized that you'd find it difficult to build a filter by my instructions. i believe them to be quite detailed and easily followed. either way..." BEST OF LUCK IN YOUR PONDING ENDEAVORES"

 

[djoliver1]

Your 70 gal filter was the first one I read, Koi-guy, and since I didn't know anything about them, I felt a bit confused. It was too succinct, for a total newbee without no idea what the filters looked like or how they should operate, like me. But I just went back and reread what your wrote, and I can understand it better now. The photos were really good and the design for a bottom up filter that you can bury is pretty elegant, really. But since my pond is attached to a stream whose source is up in some cypress trees at the top of a hill in the corner of my yard, I can put a filter above ground up there and it won't be visible. The pump pumps the water from the pond up the hill to the top of the creek and it flows back down into the pond. In my case, I can put the filter above the top of the creek and bring the flexible hose into the top of the rubbermaid container with a pvc pipe that ends with a downward pointing elbow joint in the center of the top of the filter container. The water will flow down through the filter material and out through 2 exit hoses at the bottom that will go into the top of the stream. So that brings me to some questions:

1 I can put several layers of furnace filter material in the container, but I wonder if I should put some kind of other filtering material under that, like some kind of filtering stone or sand or something? I know you said that lava rock gets contaminated too easily and then has to be back flushed or cleaned? What do you think? Would I be better off with just a container full of the furnace filter pads? Or a mixture of different filtering mediums?

2. If I can get the furnace filtering material in 2 ft. by 2 ft. squares, is there any reason to cut it down to 4 inch by 4 inch squares? What advantage does that give me? I guess I think that if the pads are bigger, the water more like go through rather than around the pads!

3. In this kind of top down filter, is there any need for a shower drain at the bottom, since the exit hoses are at the bottom already?

4. Once the filter is made, do you pour something like MicrobeLift bacteria into the filter? Or do you just pour it directly into the pond? Or both! (I'm impatient to get rid of those frothy bubbles!!!) Or neither?

Thanks for all your continued help. I've learned a lot already!!

 

[Waterbug]

Dj, you're learning the most important lesson in ponds...ask 100 people a question and you will 100 answers. If you keep assuming people know what they're talking about you're in for a really long and bumpy ride. Much of what people tell you will be 100% true...for their pond, based on their experiences, many times very limited experiences.

Hydrogen peroxide for example is a favorite chemical for curing pretty much everything. Check the web and you will find people who drink it and swear it saves their lives. They can cite many "facts" that they say proves it works. And in their heads it's absolutely true. I must admit using hydrogen peroxide to raise pH was a new one for me. There is simply no end to human imagination.

Cement is not a problem in ponds. It has been used in ponds for decades. Fish are fine in 9, 10 pH water. Swings in pH is what kills fish.

There are algaes that grow on the surface of water. They're generally short lived, a few weeks. UV doesn't kill that type of algae. Generally a skimmer is effective in killing this type of algae.

Foam can be created from DOC...this is the standard answer you'll hear. But there are also many other substances that can foam. Some combinations of minerals from soil or rocks. Substances used in the building of a pond. Something you've added while trying to cure something else. Because your pond is so young DOCs wouldn't be my first guess. And the foam in the pictures is too fine for DOC imo, but hard to tell from pictures.

Over time most foam will dissipate on its own, no matter the source. However, it can be a reoccurring problem in many ponds. To speed removal do a search for "protein skimmer" or "foam fractionator". Very easy and cheap to build, very effective for any kind of foam. Another thing I've seen Koi owners do is float a 1" hemp rope on the surface around a waterfall. It contains the produced foam and also quiets the water surface in the rest of the pond for better fish viewing. Along that line I build a catch basin around waterfalls as pictured below. It acts as a foam fractionator and you're guaranteed never to have foam. Plus you get a flat surface for better viewing.

No other filter, no bacteria in a bottle, will remove foam. As I said, foam will dissipate on its own, and that can happen by chance after dumping somthing into a pond in which case you will be convienced whatever it is you did solved the problem. But it didn't.

 

[sissy]

.You can also use buffing machine pads .Have you tested your water ,that will give you the best idea of what to do next .With my rock I use a small sump pump in the bottom of my filter and plug it in and hose the media clean ,but I have well water so not so bad for me ,but my lava rock is in laundry bags also ,so that I can take it out and soak it in peroxide .The quilt batting really picks up all the fine stuff .To low a ph will cause problems also for the fish ,for koi I keep mine in the range of 8 .I know gold fish are not fussy .But to me just adding lots of oxygen to the water really cuts down on the algae the best .I have my oxygen pump so that it oxygenates the bottom of the pond more .I guess some day someone will envent a really easy to work with filter media that will not cost a fortune ,but when .I know if you keep ontop of the quilt batting fold it neat hose it off and soak it in peroxide and then put it back in it helps .But you have to work at it ,I do it every two days and have some ready to go in when I take the dirty stuff out .I have tried every filter media I can think of and it is hit or miss .Actvated charcoal does help and so does the crushed oyster shells once you get it all balanced out .I just got back from a week of working on the other house so time to test pond but so far it looks fine .

 

[pecan]

I put about a gallon a week in. 1/3 of a gallon white vinegar about 3 times a week. my pond is 5000 gallons. The vinegar is a temporary solution to the problem and from hwat I have heard only lowers the ph for about 48 hours which is why I added it 3 times a week. I did it because the plants weren't flourishing in the high ph. I figured if I could lower it just enough for the plants to get established, they would help balance the pond. It lowered the ph about one half of a number, I think it went from 8 to 7.5 if I remember correctly.

Yes, I used good bacteria. Good bacteria, de-chlor and vinegar are the only things I have ever added to it. I started the pond with the heavy does of good bacteria as the instructions said then went to smaller weekly does's.

Skippy is a biological filter (I think that is what it is called), that provides an area for good bacteria to flourish and break down the stuff in the water.

 

[djoliver1]

Thanks for the very thoughtful advice waterbug. It helps put things in perspective. I like the catch basin around waterfall but too late to build that, since my pond is already done. I'll try the rope... any reason why it needs to be hemp rather than polyester or something else? and 1 ". 2 " would also be ok, if I can find it right? Anyway, thanks again.

 

[j.w]

Waterbug for that catch basin does the water just come through holes that you have made in the stacked mortared rocks below the water line and if so how many holes for that size of basin? Looks like one could use that basin for adding filter floss to rid the water of a lot of fine particles now and then for a clearer pond also.

 

[djoliver1]

thanks for the details, Pecan. it makes sense.

 

[Waterbug]

DJ, anything that floats would work. I don't know the reason for the hemp, but that is all I've seen. I never asked.

J.W., there are two 4" diameter holes at the bottom, about 3' deep. The outflow pushed muck to the bottom drain, although I never used the bottom drain. It did keep the rocks on the bottom fairly clean for about 4' out. It could indeed be used for bio or mechanical filtering but in this case access was poor so I didn't add filtering there. The several times I did have DOC foam the basin would almost fill with foam which I netted out.

 

[j.w]

Thanks Waterbug!