Input requested.

[In2deep]

ok pretty much ever since I have had my pond except for a very brief period my water has been green in my 8000 gallon pond. Got a bio filter, UV light and used all kinds of chemicals and nothing really worked.

The other day I took out all the lava rock and the white polyester type matting (looks like the pond filter stuff everyone sells on Ebay) that was 2 inches thick I got from a local upholstery shop. It was the first time I did this in two years, and it was pretty nasty. I went down to the upholstery shop again and got some more polyester matting agian only this time it was about 1 inch thick but folded it three times to give me 3 inches.

When I put the filter back together I sprayed all the lava rock and put it into burlap bags to make taking them out easier. In the bottom of my filter I put some lump charcoal (basically burnt hardwood), then I laid my layer of polyester matting and then the burlap bags filled with the lava rock.

After three days my pond is almost crystal clear with just this filter and no UV light running.

My filter is pretty much the same with some minor changes but does anyone think that the charcoal is doing something? I put it in hoping to help balance it more by pulling out some ammonia or waste from the fish.

I'm curious to hear every ones feedback.

-Thanks

 

[fishin4cars]

Your charcoal, IF is actually doing anything is only removing tannins and metals, maybe some other removal but it's usually only clarifying clean water. What your Bio is doing is acting as a mechanical filter. The padding is removing more of the algae out of the water but it's probably already needing to be cleaned again since it has removed so much out already. What you want to try and do is remove as much as possible before it gets to the lava rock and then the lava rock can breakdown more and serve as a better bio media. Cleaning the bio area should be kept as minimal as possible, cleaning it will cause swings in ammonia and nitrite readings, cleaning the mechanical filtration frequently doesn't hurt as long as there is stable bio conversion. This is one of the ways to clear water and it works, but it does take some effort and keeping on top of to make work during times when algae is blooming.

 

[Mmathis]

Not too sure I would use regular charcoal or even carbonized wood. Not an expert, though, but maybe this will help:

"Regular Versus Activated Charcoal (from an EHOW article)
The charcoal in charcoal briquettes is a completely different form of charcoal from activated charcoal used in aquatic filters. Regular charcoal is made in a process using high amounts of heat in a low oxygen chamber. As a result, the carbon-wood charcoal burns well, for a limited amount of time and turns into ash. Activated charcoal is exposed to oxygen only at the last minute during processing. As a result, the activated charcoal is hard and very porous, making it a good filter for small particles. Carbon-wood charcoal will break down into bits when soaked in water, and therefore increase pond contamination, rather than helping clean the water. Activated charcoal performs poorly if used in the grill for a weekend BBQ."

I use AC (placed in a mesh bag) because I have tannin issues where my water, though CLEAR, will turn cola-colored. The AC removes the tannins after a few days to a week (but AC will reach a "saturation point," and when it does, it has to be replaced and can't be reused). I use quilt batting to remove the particulate green algae. And as Larkin said, mess with your biomedia as little as possible. It might have cleared up for you temporarily, but if you lost a lot of your bacteria, you may see another "green" spike. BTW, you didn't mention it, but did you use pond water or tap water to flush the lava rock? If you used pond water, then your BB might be OK. And be sure you're not over feeding.

 

[HTH]

How to make activated carbon. Seems like a lot of work.

 

[sissy]

I soak my lava rock in peroxide and water to help clean it better .