Hi all, This is the second year i have had my small 2 sq meter garden pond. It has no pump or filter in it as i wanted a natural pond and i read that frogs like still water and they were what i was trying to attract. I'm not interested in putting fish in there . Last year the water was crystal clear and 4 frogs took up residence and gave our family hours of enjoyment. I made sure there was a hole in the thick ice without fail every single day during the bad weather but sadly lost one frog (Mildred). My problem is this, When the ice melted and everything settled down the water was all murky . On seeking advice at our local aquatic center i put in a small amount of pond clear , but no avail. Now the pond colour has turned a rather nasty green , but the pond is teeming with wildlife. The frogs are still there and so are a zillion little fat tadpoles as well as a newt ( a female Palmate , i believe ) . On doing some research i have discovered that there are also efts in there as well as the taddies. All manner of other swimmy creatures have taken up residence as well. The birds drink from it as does the family dog and so my questions are , is it safe for the wildlife and the birds and the dog in that water and how can i get it to a decent colour without putting in anything that will harm the wildlife ? I have all the correct plants in there ( i think and hope). Water soldiers, oxygenaters, marginals , a lily etc in the correct numbers so i'm wondering where it all went wrong , or is it right. The water has no nasty smells and it's in partial shade . I want to carry on having George , Terry and June (the frogs) in my pond safe and well. Please help. I look forward to any replies i may get. Annette
Green and murky but full of wildlife pond.
- Thread starter lovingmypondgirl
- Start date
Well..... I am no pond expert because mine is still a semi-dry hole under construction but the Pond clear type products usually don't work without some type of mechanical filtration. They are typically cleating agents that make the tiny particals in the water that cloud it attach themselves to each other so they become big enough that the filter can catch them. I wouldn't use them filter or no filter. Since your goal is to have a natural area pond, I'm sure adding chemicals wasn't in your game plan. A natural pond created by nature is it's own eco-system that developed gradually over time. It has all the elements that keep it healthy and clean. If you make your own pond you have to supplement what doesn't naturally exist since the pond itself didn't exist before you made it. One supplement is filtration and some type of water movement. With all this said, green water algae blooms are a result of excess nutrients and organics in the water column, add sun and warmer weather = green water. You have a winters worth of nutients in and around your pond. Physically remove and replace as much water as possible to dilute those nutrients. You can do it gradually like 25% - 50% daily if you like. This should then be a weekly or more if needed ritual of at least a 25% water replenishment. That should help the most.
OOh great that was a quick response, Would i replace it with rain water from my water butt as i'm thinking of all the chemicals that come from tap water . Everything you said makes perfect sense, but i'm just worrying about all my little creatures in there that i've become so attached to. Annette
Usually people use a reliable dechlorinator to make the chemically treated municipal water supply. Prime for ponds by Seachem. You can go to seachem.com to see where it is available in the UK. This is one chemical that you can add that is useful. It removes all sorts of otherwise toxic metals and ammonia as well as the chlorine. Rain water is fine I guess, thats what goes in there. Just make sure it's collected where it isn't running off a rooftop or ground. With that water it is uncertain what can leach into it. Smaller bodies of water are affected quicker then larger ones because they can't delute things as easy.
Squidhead is 100% correct here. Usually when ponds end up in this condition, they either have no or insufficient filtration. If you don't have a filter, you'll need to get one.
Also, lack of weekly water changes of 25% is also required to keep water in good shape. Our ponds are like toilets, unless someone gives 'em a good flush once per week--they just get rank and it's not healthy for the inhabitants and they get infested with mosquitos.
Also, lack of weekly water changes of 25% is also required to keep water in good shape. Our ponds are like toilets, unless someone gives 'em a good flush once per week--they just get rank and it's not healthy for the inhabitants and they get infested with mosquitos.
Sounds a lot like my pond! :frown:
Should have a post count high enough to post pics in my introduction thread soon...
Heath
Should have a post count high enough to post pics in my introduction thread soon...
Heath
Hello all, just to finish of the thread on a positive . I went to my local Water World Center and took your advice and bought a pump with a built in filter and UV light after some gentle persuasion. It's been in the pond 4 days and i can't believe the difference it's made. I've got it on a light waterfall effect so it doesn't disturb the wildlife too much and the guys in the aquatic center said to rinse out the sponge filters when the waterfall started to look like it was failing (clogging up) , which it did today, so i cleaned them out in a bucket of the pond water . Really dirty filters just after a few days, but i can see the bottom of my water soldiers now and other plants growing up under the water which i didn't even know were there before. Frogs and taddies and Mrs newt still seem happy , so all is well . Apparently it could take a couple of weeks in all for the water to clear completely, but i'm so pleased so far and i wouldn't have put in a filtration unit without coming on this site so cheers everyone . Piece of kit was £80 by the way for anyone else with similar problem.
Wonderful news! Yeah, UVs are great when it comes to getting clarity. It feels like magic sometimes.
Just keep up with water changes every week, particularly as the summer heat increases. And you will continue to have clear water.
Just keep up with water changes every week, particularly as the summer heat increases. And you will continue to have clear water.
What happens if your pond is too large, 25% changes can really rack up that water bill!
Water changes are the cost of doing business. It's gonna be way more expensive to lose fish to ammonia and have your pond sour. At worst, do a 20% water change every other week.
mikecoscia said:
Guess you didn't think of that before you started the pond? What happens is determined by the number of fish stocked, your water parmeters to start with and other variables like plants and health of the pond in general. Eventually your nitrates build up from the fish crap being turned into nitrogen. Then there's the dissolved solids and organics that build. Your pond turns a beautiful emerald green. Eventually your biological filter crashes and everything starts to die. You then have a choice to save the pond which is a pain in the a$$ because now you have to spend more time and money to clean it up then you would have if you had just done what your supposed to do in the first place. That's usually what happens, just like anything else you own that you don't maintain properly. Pay it now or pay it later. If it's too much give away or eBay what you got and wait until you can afford it again.
koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
mikecoscia said:
whats a large pond? and hows it stocked? hows your filter? do you ever have water quality problems?..
mikecoscia said:
Just get a good test kit with a Nitrate test. That's if the pond is established and in cycle. When the Nitrates near 80ppm change out enough water to bring them down below 40 or 50 ppm. Not the best plan, but it can work. Another thing to do is evaluate your equiptment and it's cost to run it. Jersey power bills are off the hook! get a pump that uses less electric. It can pay for itself in as little as a few months. Aquatic plants will reduce nitrate and keep the algae in check.
mikecoscia said:
Use the water for your yard and reduce your irrigation time to offset it.
as a worse case scenario, you could collect rain in rainbarrels, as long as it's not from roof runoff.