I’m desperate for help! I’ve had an algae problem for 3 years and finally got a uv clarifier. It removed the algae but the water is brown and heavy looking. I just want to have a clear pond! Any input would be helpful!!!! It’s 2-3 feet deep and about 1500 gallons.
Green water to brown water
- Thread starter Kathi
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@Kathi a bit more info would be helpful. I'm assuming you have fish in your pond - how many and what size? What kind of filtration is on the pond? Is there a waterfall? Aerator? Are there plants in the pond? What kind of algae were you dealing with? If you take a glass of water out of the pond, will the brown settle out and leave clear water? Is the water essentially clear but just stained brown? Some photos will help if you can post them.
In a nutshell, algae is caused by one simple thing - excess nutrients in your pond. Too many fish, too much food, not enough plants, decaying organic material, etc. The UV filter kills the algae, but it leaves your pond full of dead algae, unless you have filtration that can capture it. And UV only works on "green water algae" - the single cell floating stuff that gives you pea soup water.
In a nutshell, algae is caused by one simple thing - excess nutrients in your pond. Too many fish, too much food, not enough plants, decaying organic material, etc. The UV filter kills the algae, but it leaves your pond full of dead algae, unless you have filtration that can capture it. And UV only works on "green water algae" - the single cell floating stuff that gives you pea soup water.
I have about 10 goldfish and I have a waterfall filter with some bio balls on top. I wonder if the filtration is lacking. I don’t have any plants. How could I get decaying organic matter out of it. Should I make another way to filter the water? It looks like brown waves in the water.
Thank you for your input
Well 10 goldfish in a 1500 gallon pond is certainly not overstocked, so it's not that. Do you feed the fish? I would suggest stopping until you get the water situation under control.
Are there any filter mats in the biofalls? And plants are a must in a pond! That's an easy fix and will help tremendously! What about aeration? Do you have an airstone or bubbler?
I'm not sure what you mean by "brown waves". Can you scoop the water out in a clear glass and get a picture of it? Or even a picture of the pond. It sounds like it could just be dead algae - if you don't have any filter mats in your biofalls, there's no way for that dead algae to get out of the pond.
Are there any filter mats in the biofalls? And plants are a must in a pond! That's an easy fix and will help tremendously! What about aeration? Do you have an airstone or bubbler?
I'm not sure what you mean by "brown waves". Can you scoop the water out in a clear glass and get a picture of it? Or even a picture of the pond. It sounds like it could just be dead algae - if you don't have any filter mats in your biofalls, there's no way for that dead algae to get out of the pond.
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Your profile don't say where roughly you live. Is water temp reasonable One thing I do when I get a quality problem, like 6 weeks ago before I put my uv light back in and it went green, is to pump out about 25% of the water and refill.
Thank you for the info. I have a question about emptying the pond this late in the year. Since I have my uv clarifier the algae is gone but I can’t get rid of the dead algae in the pond it’s brown and it kind of has a oder to it now. What are you thoughts about that?
I live in Wisconsin
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Here we are still hot. What is the water temp where you are at. My pond is at 73f right now. If it was sinking into the 50's I would not drain and refill. The fish will be dropping into winter slow down.
Do you have any mechanical filtration on your pond? A filter box with mats that can be rinsed? This is one reason I'm not a fan of UV filtration - you're left with dead stuff in the pond. More plants in the pond is a better way to address overgrowth of algae (or fewer fish, less feeding, keeping dead organic matter cleaned up in the pond - or a combination of all of the above).
You could rig up a temporary filter and pump pond water through quilt batting by using a crate or a bucket with holes drilled in it or any container that can hold the batting and then let the filtered water flow back into the pond. The quilt batting acts as a fines filter to capture all that dead, floating stuff. You have to rinse the quilt batting out repeatedly through the process - frequency depends on how much matter is in the pond.
How far north are you? We still have plenty of warm weather left here in northern IL.
You could rig up a temporary filter and pump pond water through quilt batting by using a crate or a bucket with holes drilled in it or any container that can hold the batting and then let the filtered water flow back into the pond. The quilt batting acts as a fines filter to capture all that dead, floating stuff. You have to rinse the quilt batting out repeatedly through the process - frequency depends on how much matter is in the pond.
How far north are you? We still have plenty of warm weather left here in northern IL.
Thank you for all your info! I’m near Madison wi. The only reason I used a uv clarifier is because I couldn’t get rid of this algae for 3 years. I can’t enjoy my pond without clear water and now it is just brown instead of green! Ugh I am filtering the water it looks clear when it renters the pond but the pond itself looks brown. It actually looks just like the algae did.....but dead. Kinda of wavy looking . I really don’t want to empty it out . I will get some batting to add to my filtering and see if that doesn’t work. Thank you any other ideas are welcomed!
Ah! Not that far north of me, then! You have plenty of time to get things under control. Plants are an absolute must if you hope to keep your pond clear (without adding major filtration). Did you post a picture of your pond on another thread? Do you have planting shelves in your pond?
So is the water just stained brown? Or is there actual floating debris? When you say "clear" do you mean so you can see the bottom, or so the water has no color to it? If you scoop a glassful out of the pond, is there debris that settles or is it clear but tinted?
So is the water just stained brown? Or is there actual floating debris? When you say "clear" do you mean so you can see the bottom, or so the water has no color to it? If you scoop a glassful out of the pond, is there debris that settles or is it clear but tinted?
What type of plants do you have that are the most beneficial? I did not post a picture.....I do have planting shelves......it’s not stained water it’s like dead algae......I do mean able to see the bottom or at least 12 inches down......the debris seems like it’s suspended in the water. I’ve been washing out the filter everyday for the last 3 days sometimes twice and it appears to be almost muddy like. Ugh I just wish I I could remedy the problem.
ALL plants are helpful. Irises, sedges, reeds, arrow plant, lizard tail, bog bean, obedient plant, water lilies, floating hearts, parrot's feather, forget-me-nots, creeping Jenny, Joe-pye weed, cattails, water hawthorn, swamp milkweed - all are growing in my pond and probably more that I've forgotten right now. Anything that will grow with it's roots in the water is going to help your situation immensely. Basically you want plants that will compete with the algae for nutrients and choke the algae out - no more killing the algae because it just can't grow. You should expect and welcome a nice carpet of algae on the liner or rocks in your pond - that's part of the natural filtration system. But floating algae or string algae, while not harmful, isn't necessarily what you're looking for in a garden pond. But remember - that algae is telling you something. Your pond is high in nutrients. Until you address that, you will continue to have algae overgrowth.