i am struggling

[Michael Chaffin]

Hi Michael. My daughter just moved to the Bay area. She is working for a tech company and they keep her very busy! I agree with all the comments above. Your list looks okay but, don't add more fish because there is too much bioload already and that is what is causing the excess nutrients and green water. Also just remove easy to get at debris like floating leaves. I wouldn't stir up the bottom a lot until your pond has cycled. Basically you have a brand new pond because of all the cleaning. Sit back, relax and have a beer and next year it will look much better! You might have green water for a month or more. There is nothing you can do about it and the more you try to fix it the worse off your pond will be. The chemicals you add really don't help much and sometimes they hurt. I have had a pond 10 years and never have added chemicals except for declor. You need to cut way down on feeding and try to eliminate excess nutrients and add plants to utilize any nitrates that are produced by the nitrogen cycle. I would recommend that you read up on how and why ponds get cycled. Basically you are creating an ecosystem that utilizes all the fish waste and breaks it down to less harmful elements. Once your pond has cycled the green water will instantly go away. Also you definitely need to add an aerator. If the fish are gasping for air it's a sure sign there is low dissolved O2 in your pond.... unless you added non chlorinated water then you are dealing with fish with damaged gills but the same problem that they can't breathe properly. Good luck!

thank you so much for the reply and reassurance. This forum has been awesome. I am going to summarize all the suggestions:
1. sit back, relax, enjoy the pond and allow it to cycle. it should clear with time.
2. add more plants and thin out the stalks of penny wort.
3. don't add more fish or feed the fish - I don't feed the fish and there are only ~20 tiny gold fish in there now. Far cry from the original fish that died after i took over.
4. no more chemicals or cleaning.
5. be diligent removing organic material - leaves etc
6. I turned the iogen to 1, considering removing it.
7. consider adding an aerator - the fish aren't gasping anymore. That was previously when the pond was sick
8. consider creating a bog - im not sure what that is and how to do it. I will try that if above items don't yield results.

last questions:
1. would installing a UV light filter system help improve water quality? I would like to avoid this as it will be a big undertaking?

thank you all for your input. I should have signed on last year when i bought the house and maybe the fish would still be alive.

Michael

 

[bagsmom]

I don't have a UV light and have no problems with algae. When my pond was brand new and beginning to cycle, I did have string algae, but I just twirled that out with a toilet brush (only used for the pond.) You should search bog filters on here so you will know what everyone is talking about. I don't have one either, but the people who do - swear by them for fresh, clean, clear water. Basically, it is using Mother Nature as a filtration system. You allow the water to flow through a bog - a dedicated area of plants planted in gravel. The roots of the plants use the excess nutrients from fish waste to flourish - and they filter the water in that process. There are some really neat plants that can thrive in a bog. But I'm thinking that could be an optional project at some point in the future -- if you get totally Pond Crazy like the rest of us and want to piddle around some more with your pond. My guess is that the suggestions from the group -- Number 1 being to wait it out -- will have your pond looking and doing great!

 

[Lisak1]

We don't have a UV - not a big believer in them, and it's one more thing to maintain. My gut instinct tells me if the UV is killing off the single celled algae, it's probably killing a lot of other tiny microscopic creatures as well. And if it's killing algae, that means dead algae in the pond - which will only feed more algae. Just my opinion though - plenty of people have them and swear by them.

 

[j.w]

@Michael Chaffin

 

[Jhn]

Agree, with what has already been said. Increase circulation in the pond, add more plants to the pond. Just doing these two things will help rid the pond of the free floating algae.

Lastly, remove the Ion gen, asap like MitchM and Lisak1 suggested there is no benefit to having it in there. Copper even in minute amounts is highly toxic to invertebrate life. The ion gen, in your style of pond is counterproductive. Your pond setup is trying to use nature to balance itself, this includes the biofilm, micro and macro fauna that start at the bottom of the food chain. Your ion gen prevents the lower/mid level of the food chain from established itself. Thus the green water, that never goes away.

 

[addy1]

8. consider creating a bog - im not sure what that is and how to do it. I will try that if above items don't yield results.

lol add a bog!

I only filter with a bog, water stays perfect. They are easy to build easy to maintain, just yank excess plants.

I can turn my pond on in the spring and totally ignore it all summer if I need to, and the water stays perfect.

 

[addy1]

And Welcome to our group!

 

[Michael Chaffin]

Hi all. I just wanted to give an update regarding my pond. I posted previously that I had issues with pea soup water. You all gave me great advice. I took your advice and have basically minimized my approach and have done little more than make sure the pond is clean of debris. i am happy to say that after a few months the pond has all of sudden become clear. I was thrilled the other day when i hadn't seen the pond in a couple of days and low and behold i could see the bottom. I am thrilled. Thank you so much for saving me time and, especially, money. I will be adding new plants soon. I was wondering, when should i add fish? I currently have about 15 gold fish about 2inches long each. I would like to get some bigger fish. Nothing crazy but it would be nice to have some bigger fish.

 

[sissy]

mother nature knows what to do as long as we do not interfere with her job and make it harder on her .Glad you are getting great results

 

[JohnHuff]

I just read this thread. My question is have you been overfeeding? Pea soup means there are too many nutrients in the pond. How much do you feed?

Don't bother adding beneficial bacteria. There is no such thing that you can buy to add. You need good water flow. You also don't need that algae controller. Decreasing nutrients will get rid of your algae pea soup.

And are you cleaning your mechanical filters? How much media do you have in your Aquascape Signature Series BioFalls 6000? When I inherited my pond, it took me years to figure out the previous owner never put any bio balls in my filter. It was just 4 pieces of mechanical filter.

You may need to check the mechanical filter in your skimmer too. These mechanical filters in your

skimmer and biofalls should be cleaned once every 1-3 weeks depending on bioactivity in your pond. They will sieve out all the solids floating in your pond.

You can definitely have more than 15 two inch fish in a 2000g pond. But add them in slowly, not more than 1-2 a time and probably not bigger than 6 inches.

(If you decide to really get into this hobby, I would recommend getting rid of your filters later. They are all pretty much useless. It's much easier and better to build your own simpler filters, which will work a lot better and will be easier to maintain.)

 

[Lisak1]

I took your advice and have basically minimized my approach and have done little more than make sure the pond is clean of debris. i am happy to say that after a few months the pond has all of sudden become clear. I was thrilled the other day when i hadn't seen the pond in a couple of days and low and behold i could see the bottom. I am thrilled. Thank you so much for saving me time and, especially, money.

This is one of my favorite things to read! Nature works if you let her! If we could only get this message out to every new pond owner - save them time, worry, and like you said - cold hard cash!

Remind us - what zone are you? If you are getting ready for a cold winter, I would wait until spring to add fish.

 

[Michael Chaffin]

I live in California. East of San Francisco. it gets moderately cold in the winter. Sometimes below freezing but not often. Should i wait until spring for plants and fish?

 

[Michael Chaffin]

I just read this thread. My question is have you been overfeeding? Pea soup means there are too many nutrients in the pond. How much do you feed?

Don't bother adding beneficial bacteria. There is no such thing that you can buy to add. You need good water flow. You also don't need that algae controller. Decreasing nutrients will get rid of your algae pea soup.

And are you cleaning your mechanical filters? How much media do you have in your Aquascape Signature Series BioFalls 6000? When I inherited my pond, it took me years to figure out the previous owner never put any bio balls in my filter. It was just 4 pieces of mechanical filter.

You may need to check the mechanical filter in your skimmer too. These mechanical filters in your

skimmer and biofalls should be cleaned once every 1-3 weeks depending on bioactivity in your pond. They will sieve out all the solids floating in your pond.

You can definitely have more than 15 two inch fish in a 2000g pond. But add them in slowly, not more than 1-2 a time and probably not bigger than 6 inches.

(If you decide to really get into this hobby, I would recommend getting rid of your filters later. They are all pretty much useless. It's much easier and better to build your own simpler filters, which will work a lot better and will be easier to maintain.)

Thank you so much for your reply. I clean out my skimmer filter once per week at the least. Sometimes more often. I stopped feeding the fish a long time ago and stopped added the beneficial bacteria. I pretty much took a minimalist approach and the pond has now come full circle and clearing which makes me so happy. I changed out the Biofalls filter this past year with the clean out.

 

[Lisak1]

San Francisco - cold? No. Haha! Try Chicago cold!

I think you'd be fine to add fish, but remember before you start adding that your current herd will likely grow on their own - both in numbers and in size. And if you are able to buy plants, they'll be fine too. Nurseries wouldn't sell them now if you couldn't plant them now.

 

[JohnHuff]

I live in California. East of San Francisco. it gets moderately cold in the winter. Sometimes below freezing but not often. Should i wait until spring for plants and fish?

I live in WA state. I stop feeding at 55F (water temp with a temperature gun). I won't add fish now because they won't be able to eat until Spring and I'm afraid new fish might not be able to make it without food. In CA, you might be able to feed for a little bit more to let them build up some food reserves, of course all dependent on your water temp.

I forgot to mention, I don't see that you mention water changes. For my pond, I do it once in a while. In the fall onwards, it's pretty easy here because it rains so much so I just let Mother Nature rain, then pump a little bit out.

Glad your pond is doing well now!