Is mature pond natural?

[Abe]

Me I still hope the green water will clear up the natural way - added a bog this year , fully planted , and still
waiting. My partner , that carry 20 years experience having koi ponds in Toronto beg to differ: only
gradual yet massive water change will do it, and was done so for 20 years every spring.
And the almost knock out argument: in nature there is constant inflow of fresh water, unless
its standing water, and recycling same water over years is not nature way.
Any opinions?

 

[addy1]

I do no water changes, only have a big planted bog for my filter, never have green water. It is slightly cloudy right after it is turned on in the spring, within a few days crystal clear for the summer

No koi but a whole lot of shubunkins/goldfish

 

[Somethin' Fishy]

I never do water changes, and there's just the rain water to "freshen" it. My goldfish pond is in mostly shade from mid Spring to late Fall. When the early Spring time sun starts to hit the pond full force, because the trees above it have no leaves yet, I get a small amount of string algae in the waterfall which soon disappears. But then we get hit with pollen, and strands of oak pollen, and my water turns dark. So, I put in a finer filter pad, which I just have to rinse more often, and also during that time my plants are filling back in, and the water is clearing a few more inches every day. Now I can see my giant forest of anacharis and last years babies that survived the frogs. In a couple more weeks it will be back to crystal clear, and I will have barely lifted a finger to help it.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

I have never done a water change. Rain/snow adds new water, and I top it off once a week. A little more in the heat of summer. My pond has been clear since I built it, and I have my bog to thank. Like addy, I also don't have koi. Goldfish only.

 

[Jhn]

Like the others here I’ve never done water changes, in all the years I have kept ponds. I have never had green water in my main pond, even when I first built it. As was already said it is thanks to the plants in the pond as well as in the bog.

My pond has koi, orfes, channel catfish, goldfish and 3 semi aquatic turtles in it, and I have zero issues with green water. Patience it will clear, just establishing the base of the food web in your pond.

There is a big difference in how to maintain a dedicated koi pond, which usually has no plants in it, and a eco or hybrid pond.

 

[poconojoe]

You added the bog this year. Give it some time.
The plants in your bog will need time to establish. Their job is to suck up all those nutrients that come from your fish poop. This process will starve the algae that is making your water green. Once the algae is gone...clear water!
It's a natural cycle. Each component plays a role in the filtering process.

 

[Sparky]

It’ll clear. No water change here. Just rain and what I add if it gets too low.

 

[Lisak1]

We never do water changes and never have, nor have we ever had, green water. Our only filter is our bog.

Hopefully your partner will get the opportunity to see that the pond hobby has evolved in the past 20 years and new ideas are worth trying!

 

[LarryM]

I don't do water changes either. I do change water in small amounts due to regular filter maintenance. When I backflush my filter once a week it will draw two or three inches of water to be refilled. I have a large garden next to my koi pond. In the summer I hook my hose up to a sump pump and use pond water exclusively to water my garden. This uses quite a bit of water which I refill with fresh water. Pond water is excellent for watering my garden, so in this way I can add fresh water with the water I would have used on my garden and the plants love it.

 

[Lisak1]

In the summer I hook my hose up to a sump pump and use pond water exclusively to water my garden.

I do the same thing! So I guess in that way I do "water change" but I'm really thinking to benefit the garden not the pond at that point.

 

[addy1]

Mine gets a "water change" when it rains hard. I do have gutter water feeding into the main pond. Last year it did nothing but rain. The year before we were is a sort of drought. This year sort of in between.

I never drain down the pond and replace the water.

 

[Abe]

Thanks for the responses, and I do have patience so no water change is planned ,
besides I dont know where to dump so much water, no rain sewer here.
I do irrigate the lawn and garden with pond water but thats minute amounts.
Evaporation top off in my pond comes to 0.006% daily , with watering the lawn it just double that.
I dont have Texas size lawn, besides who wants to mow this over-fertilized lawn anyway.
So the biological way is here to stay , mostly because I'm too lazy to do anything else.

 

[addy1]

So the biological way is here to stay , mostly because I'm too lazy to do anything else.

me to

 

[Bluerooster]

Normally I don't do water change. But here lately, due to a leak, I've been adding quite a bit of water to keep it at least close to full.
Rain usually does that for me, but without even a drip for 3 weeks, temps in the 90's, and a leak, I've probably ended up with about a 75% water change over the past 3 weeks.