I know this is a subject that is covered to death, and I guess I'm mostly just looking for some reassurance...
I've got a 1400 gallon pond, 6 feet deep (2 feet above ground, 4 feet below). It's been up and running for close to a month now.
My water is green - like pea soup. Can't see more than 2-3 inches down. Looks really pretty on the surface, but sucks for observing fish.
I'm running a 2100gph pondmaster pump, and have stuck a Laguna Powerflomax on the intake as a prefilter.
I have lots of plants, including hornwort, parrot feather, water hyacinth, and salvina. The latter three are spreading like crazy. I've got a couple of lilies too, and so there's some shade from lily pads.
At this time, I'd say 1/4 to 1/3 of the surface is shaded by plants. The pond sits on a south-facing wall, and gets morning shade from a nearby dogwood tree. The pond gets full sun for about 8-10 hours per day, and partial sun from sunup to sundown.
Temp is in the mid 70's, up to the high 70's on hot days.
I've got 19 small fish in there.
The pond will eventually have an upper pond of 200gallons, a bog garden incorporated into the filter, and a waterfall, but it's not done yet.
There's a spitter running right now, so there's some surface agitation happening.
I've got barley straw pellets in the water, at the surface, near the pump (lots of circulation).
I've treated with a product that clumps up the algae, and a phosphate remover. I also put some pond shade product in that tints the water blue.
After I treat it, it will be clear enough to see down about 2 feet for a day or so, but gets cloudy again quickly.
After a few rainy/cool days, same as above.
I suspect that what the pond needs to look clear is:
- get the waterfall, bog, etc. going to improve airation and filtration
- let the plants grow in some more
- quit treating with the clumping stuff, and just let nature take its course
Am I on the right track? Will it clear up? How long should it take? Or is it a lost cause until I get the upper pond/bog/waterfall up and running?
Do you see anything I'm doing wrong?
I've got a 1400 gallon pond, 6 feet deep (2 feet above ground, 4 feet below). It's been up and running for close to a month now.
My water is green - like pea soup. Can't see more than 2-3 inches down. Looks really pretty on the surface, but sucks for observing fish.
I'm running a 2100gph pondmaster pump, and have stuck a Laguna Powerflomax on the intake as a prefilter.
I have lots of plants, including hornwort, parrot feather, water hyacinth, and salvina. The latter three are spreading like crazy. I've got a couple of lilies too, and so there's some shade from lily pads.
At this time, I'd say 1/4 to 1/3 of the surface is shaded by plants. The pond sits on a south-facing wall, and gets morning shade from a nearby dogwood tree. The pond gets full sun for about 8-10 hours per day, and partial sun from sunup to sundown.
Temp is in the mid 70's, up to the high 70's on hot days.
I've got 19 small fish in there.
The pond will eventually have an upper pond of 200gallons, a bog garden incorporated into the filter, and a waterfall, but it's not done yet.
There's a spitter running right now, so there's some surface agitation happening.
I've got barley straw pellets in the water, at the surface, near the pump (lots of circulation).
I've treated with a product that clumps up the algae, and a phosphate remover. I also put some pond shade product in that tints the water blue.
After I treat it, it will be clear enough to see down about 2 feet for a day or so, but gets cloudy again quickly.
After a few rainy/cool days, same as above.
I suspect that what the pond needs to look clear is:
- get the waterfall, bog, etc. going to improve airation and filtration
- let the plants grow in some more
- quit treating with the clumping stuff, and just let nature take its course
Am I on the right track? Will it clear up? How long should it take? Or is it a lost cause until I get the upper pond/bog/waterfall up and running?
Do you see anything I'm doing wrong?
