"Mystery" green water

[BarbO]

Hi, my new pond, which I dug and filled late summer and into fall, no fish yet, no debris of any kind in it, just pure water with a good filter system going, has pea soup water now, and lots of string algae on the pond liner, rocks, etc. What is feeding all this green? It just appeared months ago. It is in full sun. But how does algae begin when there are no fish, bugs, or anything to supply food for it to grow? Not even leaves. Does something minute just fall from the sky or air to begin algae? I plan to add Shubunkins in late Spring, which is April here. Thanks for opinions. I am doing nothing to rid the algae, just watching and seeing what it does on it's own. I do plan to add some water plants with the fish, or before.
Barb

 

[Jhn]

Your source water that you filled the pond with can have everything necessary to get the algae going. Also, just part of the maturation process of the pond, usually will clear on its own if the pond is balanced. Smart just to leave it alone.

 

[Lisak1]

Yup - leave a bucket of tap water out in the sun and it will grow green stuff. Plants and fish will balance things out nicely!

 

[BarbO]

Thank you both. So, are there tiny little algae spores or the like, just in the air and they fall into the water and start growing?
Barb

 

[Lisak1]

Sure. Or they are already in your water. It looks clear, but that doesn't mean it's free of interesting stuff! I saw someone posting on Facebook about the green stuff growing in her Keurig water tank. We're surrounded by life forms!

 

[BarbO]

OK, that makes sense. Now I feel the need to go check my Keurig tank.

 

[bagsmom]

Yes - me too - on the Keurig.

 

[Lisak1]

Wanna hear a Keurig story? I got my first one for a Christmas gift four years ago. Loved it and used it every day. One fine spring morning that April, I brewed myself a cup and went to take a sip and saw... ants. Five or six of them swimming in my cup. My first thought was "how the HECK did those ants get in my cup!" Then I eyeballed my machine and realized it was CRAWLING with tiny ants. They were EVERYWHERE. Apparently the combination of the warmth of the machine and the water source was very attractive to them. Anyway, I got a garbage bag and bagged it up and put it in the garage to freeze the ants. And then I called the company and they sent me a new one! haha! It was a known problem - they figured it out and sealed the machine better so the little creepers couldn't get in!

Give me algae any day!

 

[brokensword]

Thank you both. So, are there tiny little algae spores or the like, just in the air and they fall into the water and start growing?
Barb

 

[BarbO]

He is my favorite Muppet. My pond water is Kermit green right now. I need Hornwort, none around here though.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I finally found your thread Barb! Pea green water is very common and so is string algae. I would speed up the flow of the water in early spring to combat string algae and I also pull it out with a stick. It is common and algae grows well when nothing else grows as water is still to cold for most plant life.
It is best to use pond sedges, and other plants can help as well but sedges are best as they steal the food away from the algae and slowly starve it out. You will still get string algae every year until the plant life comes back. Sedges are plants with a spear shaped leaf such as grasses, irises, cattails and rushes.

Pea green water is another thing, and some people invest in a UV sterilizer but I never get it in my main koi ponds as they run all winter and water stays perfectly balanced. I do however get it in the little pond out front as that pond does not run all winter and because of this I get the dreaded pea green water. All I use for that is Laguana Liquid pond peat concentrate as it dyes the water a golden color and stops the sunbeams from penetrating down in the water and thus starves off the pea green water slowly. This method takes about a month and you can also try the blue pond dye but I prefer the pond peat myself.

Hope I have been of help and good luck my friend!

 

[BarbO]

Yes, very helpful! Thanks Colleen! When the water warms up I will start putting plants in there. The pond is in full sun and gets really hot from June-Sept. I will have to see just what plants will take the all day sun and very warm water. Thanks! Shubunkins are my chosen fish.
Barb