New to website and I have a few pond problems

[Anon_AK]

Hello,
Built a pond a couple years ago, everything is well, have 3 koi and some other fish. During winter and spring the pond is crystal clear, last couple summers have had problems with blanket weed which is now easily under control, have sophisticated bio filter built by myself and also a UV light addition. The one problem I have is is this weird algae which is dark and looks like its dying. During the night it seems to sink to the bottom or just disappear, then during the heat of the day it seems to rise and the water has bits of dark green algae floating about and surfaces quite a bit. I know my pond has quite a bit of sun light encouraging growth but I have never come across this type of algae or weed.
I will add a photo to show you what the problem is.
Also I use this green water treatment which kind of helps but not eradicates the problem.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated
Ashburn

 

[Dave 54]

Welcome to the forum Ashburn nice pond you have there I have a few questions for you, do you have a bottonm drain on your pond ?
When did you last change your UV-C bulb ?
If not when was the last time your pond was vacuumed ?
What are your water perameters ?
How often do you feed your koi ?
How often do you do parial water changes ?
When was the last time you did filter maintenance ?
Sorry for all the questions its just a bit of detective work trying to get to the bottom of things

Dave

 

[Big Lou]

Welcome!

 

[Anon_AK]

Welcome to the forum Ashburn nice pond you have there I have a few questions for you, do you have a bottonm drain on your pond ?
When did you last change your UV-C bulb ?
If not when was the last time your pond was vacuumed ?
What are your water perameters ?
How often do you feed your koi ?
How often do you do parial water changes ?
When was the last time you did filter maintenance ?
Sorry for all the questions its just a bit of detective work trying to get to the bottom of things

Dave

Hello Dave,
No I do not have a bottom drain unfortunately
Changed the UV bulb about 3 months ago, average time period to replace a UV bulb?
Hasn't been vaccuumed for at least a year now, there is very very little blanket weed growing on the sides but its minimal.
Ermmm I'll have to check haven't checked since end of spring.
Feed the Koi once a day in the evening.
I would say I do a partial water change every 2 months, few factors are that the water levels drop in the heat and the fountain sometimes reduces water levels.
Filter maintenance was a month a go, thats normally every 4 months or depending how the weather has been.
Also it gets quite a bit of direct sunlight which is obviously not helping.
Thanks,
Ashburn

 

[Dave 54]

The pond should be vacuumed every fall to clear it of detritus dead leaves etc and to ready it for the spring , the UV-C should be replaced once a year .
Your water perameters should be checked ona weekly basis , when you feed your koi is everything eaten ?
You should feed them a little in the morning as much as they will eat in 5 minutes once midday and once in the evening .
I do a partial water change on a weekly basis around 40% your filter maintenance is spot on as to your pond and sunlight have you thought about building a pagoda which will help break up the sun a little which should help .
I would suggest scrapping the fountain and instead buying a pond airpump and add a number of large pond airstones to the pond instead


Dave

 

[Priscilla]

Hi There and welcome. Where are you located? I am in the Cayman Islands. I have the same algae. The hotter the day the worse it is. It looks like clumps, but if you try to scoop it, its just single cells that break apart. My UV helps, but doesn't eliminate it. That said, I think I need to clean my UV light as I know we have a lot of calcium in our water. Maybe I need a bigger UV light (which I'm not going to buy) or maybe the water passes by it too quickly, but I can't change that either.

If you can, try slowing your water flow into the UV or if you can, try to provide more shade for the pond. I have just decided to live with mine for now.

 

[dieselplower]

Your sophisticated biofilter does not seem to have enough capacity to remove the nutrients the algae are using to survive and the fountain head seems to have a pretty low flow rate which means the water is probably not being turned over through a mechanical filter often enough.

 

[Anon_AK]

During and after fall I always make sure the bottom of the pond is clear, normally a slow job with a net but does the trick, but a vacuum is on the list.
Right, I shall make sure I check the parameters weekly.
Yeah I make sure there is no pellets left over once they have finished eating.
I shall also start feeding them a little during those times.
Is a pagoda one of those ancient Chinese style shelters? Any design tips on how they should be built?
Pond airstones and airpumps are now on the list.
Thanks,
Ashburn

 

[Dave 54]

Your sophisticated biofilter does not seem to have enough capacity to remove the nutrients the algae are using to survive and the fountain head seems to have a pretty low flow rate which means the water is probably not being turned over through a mechanical filter often enough.

What size biofilter pond pump and UV-C do you have on the pond Ashburn as diesilpolower points it seems not to be able to remove nutrients fromyour pond

Dave

 

[Anon_AK]

Hi There and welcome. Where are you located? I am in the Cayman Islands. I have the same algae. The hotter the day the worse it is. It looks like clumps, but if you try to scoop it, its just single cells that break apart. My UV helps, but doesn't eliminate it. That said, I think I need to clean my UV light as I know we have a lot of calcium in our water. Maybe I need a bigger UV light (which I'm not going to buy) or maybe the water passes by it too quickly, but I can't change that either.

If you can, try slowing your water flow into the UV or if you can, try to provide more shade for the pond. I have just decided to live with mine for now.

Hello, yeah that is exactly the same problem I have, we have loads of limestones around the pond which increases the calcium rate. I am located in the UK. The description of those clumps is the same, I try with a dust pan and attempt to scoop it out at the moment.

 

[Anon_AK]

Your sophisticated biofilter does not seem to have enough capacity to remove the nutrients the algae are using to survive and the fountain head seems to have a pretty low flow rate which means the water is probably not being turned over through a mechanical filter often enough.

I have been waiting to add my sand and stone filter to my current bio filter, waiting on a few parts to finish it off. The fountain is set to that low flow through 2 valves as that any more powerful it begins to spray outside the pond which means I lose a lot of water. I made sure the water turns over at least once every hour. But I agree with the capacity of the filter. Once I get this sand and stone filter going I will see if will also make a difference.

 

[Anon_AK]

What size biofilter pond pump and UV-C do you have on the pond Ashburn as diesilpolower points it seems not to be able to remove nutrients fromyour pond

Dave

Ok the filter I reckon holds about 35l I can't remember its homemade. Pond pump is about 4000lph. UVC MPU4500 5W

 

[Anon_AK]

By the way, when I designed this pond I was 15 so pond skimmers and a drainage system was not known, regrets yes but this is why I am on here for some solutions so don't grill me.

 

[Tula]

I wonder if some more water movement might help? I recently added a great air pump and ma very pleased. Can a return line "splash" the surface of the water?

That's amazing you built such a nice pond at 15

 

[Anon_AK]

I wonder if some more water movement might help? I recently added a great air pump and ma very pleased. Can a return line "splash" the surface of the water?

That's amazing you built such a nice pond at 15

Couple people have suggested the air pumps, I will try and get one over the weekend because there is a return line splashing in the corner, its pretty hidden but its 4-5ft deep so I reckon there are patches where there isn't too much water flow. So thank you for that, I will get back to you to tell you if it has solved the problem.

Was that or cadets to occupy my summers