My poor pond!
- Thread starter gardenlady
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Yes but my water is sad! The pond photo I just listed doesn't show the lillies I have now and my bog needs to grow since we replaced everything, but as you can tell was quite full. it's just a puzzle to have this awful water after 5 years of having minimal problems. This was a shock! I love koi and had one in with the others a few years ago and was the only time we have babies, but he kept eating the plants so we put him in the lake that backs up to our backyard and haven't had babies since.
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Oops, you put a koi in a lake? 
Don't tell any of your neighbors, koi are usually invasive species, and not allowed to be put into any natural waterways. Don't worry, we won't tell!
Welcome GardenLady I just read your post. In the beginning while reading it, I wondered if possibly you had a leak in your bog possibly, thus the muddy water. Did you by any chance look REALLY CLOSELY when you emptied your pond? I had a leak this spring in my bog, had to unload all the pea gravel ... twice ... before I finally found the leak. My leak was at the bottom, and draining toward the yard, but if you have a leak on the pond side, could it possibly be draining toward the pond? I think there is likely 2 layers of liner between the bog and the pond, but just a thought for the brown water.
Also, any type of wood close to the water that could be leaching brown tanins into the water?
Green water, it's fine to leave it, and it will clear up on it's own. The pond person probably was right about it would have been better to deal with what you had, rather than draining your pond. What happens (and I'm no expert, just my second year, learning as I go) is that when you replace all the water, you are literally starting all over. All the good bacterial that you had built up over the years was mostly gone, except what you had in your bog. And, if you pulled all the plants out of your bog, did the loosened dirt drain over into the pond, too? Again, this year when I planted a new bog in a new pond, I had issues with murky water, what you might have called muddy, as it was not pea green, it was brown. I added water when the level went down, drained about 10% of it and refreshed it, but no more than 10% at a time. Plants took a while to root, and once they started actively growing, things cleared up pronto. With the new plants, they will take a while to start using the nutrients, and then they will help clear up the water.
Another question: Do you have pea gravel in your bog or dirt? Some have a little of both, others all pea gravel. I know the muddy water came before you cleared out your old plants, but again wondering if the bog had something to do with the muddy water.
Whatever it takes, try to be patient and wait it out. The water looks greenish, so I assume pea soup algae, but that will clear up with some patience. A product I used and not positive it helped, but the pond did finally cycle long enough that it cleared up, and I have to hope that the beneficial bacteria product Pond Perfect helped get the bacteria going. I would not use any products made for clearing up your pond, unless they are products to add beneficial bacteria. The quilt batting will help the suspended stuff in the water column. If you have your water pumping through a pea gravel bog, up through the gravel, that should be filtering most of the particles as well, and feeding them to the plants.
As we all hope, good luck with your water. It will clear up in time, be patient, give it more plants to use up the nutrients, and things will balance out. Not sure what set it off this year when it's been so good for so many years, but more typical is that a pond "turns" spring and fall, and sounds like yours has always remained consistent, and this year decided to turn over.
Don't tell any of your neighbors, koi are usually invasive species, and not allowed to be put into any natural waterways. Don't worry, we won't tell! Welcome GardenLady I just read your post. In the beginning while reading it, I wondered if possibly you had a leak in your bog possibly, thus the muddy water. Did you by any chance look REALLY CLOSELY when you emptied your pond? I had a leak this spring in my bog, had to unload all the pea gravel ... twice ... before I finally found the leak. My leak was at the bottom, and draining toward the yard, but if you have a leak on the pond side, could it possibly be draining toward the pond? I think there is likely 2 layers of liner between the bog and the pond, but just a thought for the brown water.
Also, any type of wood close to the water that could be leaching brown tanins into the water?
Green water, it's fine to leave it, and it will clear up on it's own. The pond person probably was right about it would have been better to deal with what you had, rather than draining your pond. What happens (and I'm no expert, just my second year, learning as I go) is that when you replace all the water, you are literally starting all over. All the good bacterial that you had built up over the years was mostly gone, except what you had in your bog. And, if you pulled all the plants out of your bog, did the loosened dirt drain over into the pond, too? Again, this year when I planted a new bog in a new pond, I had issues with murky water, what you might have called muddy, as it was not pea green, it was brown. I added water when the level went down, drained about 10% of it and refreshed it, but no more than 10% at a time. Plants took a while to root, and once they started actively growing, things cleared up pronto. With the new plants, they will take a while to start using the nutrients, and then they will help clear up the water.
Another question: Do you have pea gravel in your bog or dirt? Some have a little of both, others all pea gravel. I know the muddy water came before you cleared out your old plants, but again wondering if the bog had something to do with the muddy water.
Whatever it takes, try to be patient and wait it out. The water looks greenish, so I assume pea soup algae, but that will clear up with some patience. A product I used and not positive it helped, but the pond did finally cycle long enough that it cleared up, and I have to hope that the beneficial bacteria product Pond Perfect helped get the bacteria going. I would not use any products made for clearing up your pond, unless they are products to add beneficial bacteria. The quilt batting will help the suspended stuff in the water column. If you have your water pumping through a pea gravel bog, up through the gravel, that should be filtering most of the particles as well, and feeding them to the plants.
As we all hope, good luck with your water. It will clear up in time, be patient, give it more plants to use up the nutrients, and things will balance out. Not sure what set it off this year when it's been so good for so many years, but more typical is that a pond "turns" spring and fall, and sounds like yours has always remained consistent, and this year decided to turn over.
sissy
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Part of it is they redid the bog and emptied a lot of water from the pond and there bog probably had nice mature plants that were really soaking things up .
Thanks you for the information as it is also much appreciated. The bog is just pea gravel, but when removing the bog plants from the pots to place into the bog, there is the dirt in them and I also wondered if that was the problem and is also why we thought to remove all the plants, drain the pond and start over. but the pond was SO brown I couldn't imagine that there was enough dirt to get it that color. I wondered about a leak in the pond and said as much to my husband but he said he didn't think that could be the problem since the level of the water in the pond wasn't getting lower and that certainly made sense. I've used three products to date *mentioned in my original post* which haven't helped at all in the appearance at least. Would someone really NOT drain the pond when it looked like mud? How does anyone bring it back from that awful state otherwise? I was so afraid the fish were going to suffocate in that mess. As far as the koi goes....had no clue about any regulation..oops... but I'm hoping they are living happily and all of that water. .
you're right Sissy..the plants were very mature with huge roots but they were invasive and some were working themselves out of the pond and into the landscaping (I know..I should have cut them back ). But I was tired of them. But...as mature as they were...my pond still ended up looking like I had tossed massive amounts of mud into it.
). But I was tired of them. But...as mature as they were...my pond still ended up looking like I had tossed massive amounts of mud into it.
callingcolleen1
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Pond pictures look fabulous!! Love all the rock and pea gravel, you did a nice job landscaping!
Wonder if muddy water was caused by some birds or other small animals mucking around in your bog? Something caused the mud to stir up a mess. Sometimes birds will take muck from my pond in shallow areas in the spring to build their nests. Koi are good at mucking around in plants, but you said you got rid of the koi. Next possible mucky suspect would be the SHARK! Wonder is he is stiring things up? Sharks do swim fast, wonder what kind of shark he is? Its a mystery, you'll have to study the problem and look close for possible clues. Good luck!
Wonder if muddy water was caused by some birds or other small animals mucking around in your bog? Something caused the mud to stir up a mess. Sometimes birds will take muck from my pond in shallow areas in the spring to build their nests. Koi are good at mucking around in plants, but you said you got rid of the koi. Next possible mucky suspect would be the SHARK! Wonder is he is stiring things up? Sharks do swim fast, wonder what kind of shark he is? Its a mystery, you'll have to study the problem and look close for possible clues. Good luck!
Welcome garden lady! I'm new to this forum too and have enjoyed it, so much good info.
I do not know much about bog gardens, but my question is, before you emptied your pond the first time, how were you cleaning your pond as far as the muck and built up on the bottom or corners?
Love the flagstone around your pond, trying the same thing myself, love it!
I do not know much about bog gardens, but my question is, before you emptied your pond the first time, how were you cleaning your pond as far as the muck and built up on the bottom or corners?
Love the flagstone around your pond, trying the same thing myself, love it!
I can't remember what kind of shark we have but I'll check next time to go to our pond place...but he can't get into the bog so that couldn't be it. Our house backs up to the man made lake and there are lots of ducks, who do sometimes fly over the wrought iron fence to take a dip in our pool and it's possible one might decide to get into the bog but there wasn't any evidence of that. In answer to the question as to how I cleaned the pond before emptying it...we have a the vacuum called the "Muck Vac", which I'm not crazy about because it takes forever! I need to find a vacuum that works well and isn't too expensive. Sissy's idea of using the batting is working as it is picking up lots of "green" so I've been rinsing that out and putting it back it and based on what she's told me it might clean it all out in the next few days. I know it's helping b/c I can see the pump at the bottom of the pond this morning which I couldn't do yesterday. I think I'll take a photo each day so I can see it slowly transforming. Thank you both for the compliments on the flagstone! I'll tell you..my husband used to travel a lot, so one day about five years ago when he was going to be gone for a few days, my daughter who was 11 or 12, helped me transform it. We dug up all of the grass, put down sand, bought flagstone to match that around our pool as you can see from this photo, and laid it all out. I included a photo of the 95% of the pond side of the yard and you can see how full the bog was and that's what it looked like when the water was the mud color. The only grass we have now is on the side yards so our dogs have a place to do their business.
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sissy
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can I ask you have you had a lot of rain and is that gator there made of metal .You could be getting some wash in from the gator and the stone looks like sandstone and now your plants gone from your bog you could be getting alot of wash back from plant roots you took out also .The roots collect the muck and they make it into stuff they can use and that could be leeching back into the pond.Funny story since you mentioned dogs my neighbor called me in a panic as her pond water looked yellow .Well her sister had visited and had 4 male yorkies with her and would leave them in the fenced back yard not thinking ,but they were peeing in her pond and then we got the heavy rain and some of there poop got washed into the pond ,I guess she just never thought about it .I guess it was a live and learn for her .Also a funny story for the future . :razz:
callingcolleen1
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You are very very close to that large body of water and I'm pretty sure something may have slithered out of that lake and into your pond, maybe looking for a "bite" to eat, anyone missing? Next thing you must do is take a clean glass and scoop some of the water out and take a picture of the glass with water in it, that will show for sure what color the water really is, (green or brown) cause looking into the pond to determine water color can be very deceiving!
callingcolleen1
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And wow is that ever a nice back yard!!! Major "wow" factor for sure!!!
sissy
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very true colleen sometimes muck built up on the sides can make pond water look green or brown
And wow is that ever a nice back yard!!! Major "wow" factor for sure!!!
I so agree
Hi Sissy.........that not a current photo so the gator who is made of metal hasn't been in that position in about two years and the stone is flagstone and I did that about five years ago so that can't be it either. That batting is getting really dirty and we keep cleaning it so I'm really hoping that this does the trick, but it's still pretty darn green. Maybe I should continue using the Water Garden Cleaner? Am I answering these in the correct way? Should my responses end up right below or question or no?