We have an above ground pond with Koi. I have been fighting pond scum and need some help. The pond pump has lamp inside to kill algae and specs exceed the square footage of water. Every day there is excess of floating debris and buildup around edges. We had lillie pads in there but moved them in a separate bucket to see if it was contributing to the mess, but the rate of debris is still constant. I have not tested the water yet, should I take sample in somewhere?
Hello garden pond people, need advice
- Thread starter Ruttrowg
- Start date
Welcome to the forum. Excessive algae is usually caused by excessive nutrients in the pond. Your UV bulb helps the symptoms not the cause. The bulbs also need to be changed regularly to maintain effectiveness.
More information would be helpful-volume/size of pond, size and number of fish, more details on your filtration. Any plants besides the lilies? They will help compete with the algae. Water test information is also helpful.
More information would be helpful-volume/size of pond, size and number of fish, more details on your filtration. Any plants besides the lilies? They will help compete with the algae. Water test information is also helpful.
j.w
I Love my Goldies
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2010
- Messages
- 33,916
- Reaction score
- 20,875
- Location
- Arlington, Washington
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- USDA 8a
- Country
Welcome!
How many fish in how much water? What kind of filtration are you using? When you say "debris" do you mean algae?
How many fish in how much water? What kind of filtration are you using? When you say "debris" do you mean algae?
I am a bit stingy with how much I feed my fish, But in the same breath they get probiotic food , food that is easily digestible and those koi sticks are not even on the snack menus . try this little test take a piece of food and let it get wet watch how much one stick swells. get probiotic food , food that is easily digestible and those koi sticks are not even on the snack menus get probiotic food , food that is easily digestible and those koi sticks are not even on the snack menus . try this little test take a piece of food and let it get wet watch how much one stick gets
Try this little test take a piece of food and let it get wet watch how much one stick SWELLS, Koi don't have a stomach where they store food and break it down. They have our equivalent of intestines' where as some enters some exits. meaning if they get too much food it flushes through too fast and half eaten food is ejected fouling the water. our fish are grazers they get very little food when they are rooting on the rocks.
So in short small feeding every couple hours is far better than one large feeding a day
Try this little test take a piece of food and let it get wet watch how much one stick SWELLS, Koi don't have a stomach where they store food and break it down. They have our equivalent of intestines' where as some enters some exits. meaning if they get too much food it flushes through too fast and half eaten food is ejected fouling the water. our fish are grazers they get very little food when they are rooting on the rocks.
So in short small feeding every couple hours is far better than one large feeding a day
We have six koi. They do not like sharing the water with other species so we do not want to drop in an algae eater. Filtration is shown in pic. My
pond is less square feet. We have an awning that partially blocks the sun when it gets over home around 1 pm. Direct sun light around 2 -3 pm then trees block it. We were in good shape up until early May. The other picture was taken April 28th, while being used as background for my hobby crafts. This was when I started noticing some green build up around some wedges.
