How do get that crystal clear pond!

[csdude55]

That's an awesome picture, @doobry, and helps a lot! Thanks

@mrsclem, I actually do have a couple of those nets, but I usually just use them to skim off leaves from the trees. I can't see down in the water so sorting dead stuff from live stuff... few things make me madder than pulling up the net to see that I've ripped my lilies out of their pot! >:-(

 

[doobry]

thanks you can call me leonardo lol heres how i intend mine to be

 

[doobry]

thanks cs dude the pond is only 2 weeks old and the wfall is 1 week old ive still a lot to do and learn, but at least im out in the fresh air

 

[bagsmom]

In the Construction section of the forum, Addy has a very long and informative thread on bog building. I'm working my way through it and learning as I go!

 

[csdude55]

@doobry, I love how you've done the rocks! I have over $2,000 in rocks for mine and it doesn't look anywhere near as good. I'm afraid that, to get the look I really want, I'm going to have to get a LOT more rocks.

Thanks, @bagsmom, I'll go check that out...

 

[doobry]

2000 worth of rocks wow heres what i did i back filled it with rubble and earth from the dig

 

[csdude55]

Those boulders on mine were crazy expensive, and I have 4 pallets of river rock.

I used dirt from the dig to make my border, but that was a bad move because it's all washed away. All I can think to do now is buy a few more pallets of river rock, pull the liner up, build a border with rock, cover it with the liner, then cover THAT with yet more river rock.

I really like the look of your waterfall, too. I tried to do something like that but it kept leaking from behind, so I ended up just shooting it out in to a free fall! lol It doesn't look like I wanted, but it's healthy and it sounds pretty cool.

 

[doobry]

i think this is addys construction link
addys bog

 

[Ray G]

So it looks to me like you have heaps of nutrients in the pond and that is fueling lots of growth in everything (including algae). Glad you liked my earlier points. So I suspect that dead plant matter in the bottom of the pond is a huge issue. Do a partial waterchange by siphoning out water from the bottom of the pond (including all the muck). If you cannot siphon then use a pump (make sure you dont suck up the fish). Siphon is best I find. when you siphon up all the muck off the bottom the plants will run out of nutrients pretty quickly I suspect. Dont overdo the waterchange (maybe 10%) and I bet you get heaps of rotting stuff out of the pond. Remember to put in a chlorine neutraliser when you add new water. Keep in the back of your mind that what you have is healthy fish and plants and you are doing well. Dont mess with too many things at once or you could undo that. I do love crystal clear water and it is worth the effort to get there. (thanks for the photos as well).

 

[mgmine]

Yes Liasak1 I really am a fan of UV lights. Summer is too short to have a green pond for days or even weeks on end. I used to run mine all the time but now I only use it when I start the pond up. CSDUDE55 I'm not sure if the Amazon light would work it's only 9 watt and the largest hose size is 1" but it's worth a try. As far as the filter goes look on Youtube. All you need is a large container like a stock tank and some filter material that you can get off of Amazon. The water is pumped into the tank and as it filters up (or down) the filter material removes the particles of dirt. You could even put a pump from Harbor Freight under a milk crate lined with quilt batting and that would work. Here is the UV light I have

 

[Jack B. Nimble]

Here's my bog just opened the pond so you can see pipes and a brief explanation then I was attacked by my little boss but shes funny.

 

[Big Red Comet]

I used a Biosteps filter and added an ultra fine filter pad at the end to catch all the tiny dust and debris from pine tree - could get huge rolls of this stuff from Drs Foster/Smith for not a lot of $$ and cut to size. Same idea as quilt batting but more effective imho and durable - could wash/reuse over and over. There were two types of pad - one rated to 100 microns, the other to 50 microns. In other words =- very small particles!

Just looked now at Petco (which took over some DFS products) and they don't have it! Arghhh. Luckily I have a whole bunch still.

Am rebuilding pond so I would like rethink the filtration . The problem with these pads is while they get water sparkling clean, they also could clog up a couple times per day depending on what the pine tree was doing. When it drops pollen it is a full time job to keep the pond clean. Other times - could let it go for days, even weeks.

 

[Jhn]

Looks like you don’t have enough flow in the pond, or isn’t set up correctly. IE leaving areas where detritus and mulm can build up when plants die and junk falls in the pond. Usually most keep pump at opposite end of the pond, from waterfall. This creates circulation through out the pond. Is the Lowe’s pump rated for a 1800 gallon pond or is it an 1800 gph pump? You want at least 2000gph flowing through your waterfall/filter system.

Personally, I prefer to stop the cause of the green water, excess nutrients. Using plants and circulation, making sure run off from the yard can’t enter the pond. With the right amount of circulation and plants ( in a bog or just planted in the pond) you won’t get green water. You can use a uv, which will work, but so does the method I mentioned. Benefit of the circulation and plant method is also you won’t get green water at all, even in early spring.

Also, if you need to build up the edge of the pond more use bricks, or some type of block under the liner instead of expensive river rock.

 

[longhair]

That's an awesome picture, @doobry, and helps a lot! Thanks

@mrsclem, I actually do have a couple of those nets, but I usually just use them to skim off leaves from the trees. I can't see down in the water so sorting dead stuff from live stuff... few things make me madder than pulling up the net to see that I've ripped my lilies out of their pot! >:-(

Where are you in wnc?

 

[doobry]

cs dude my rocks cost 0 money theres plenty in the country side , old country walls knocked and left in the ditches,some
found half buried in dirt in fields , cliff edges fallen ,builders hardcore i dug from the yard ,the beach and rivers and streams
and im tempted to ask the builders doing the new estate nearby for some of the boulders they dug up and left there in a heap
only problem is how to get them home if given permission as there so big approx2- 3by 3 -4 ft each
imo their diamonds in the rough
as they say one mans rubbish is another mans gold