Pump and UV light keep blocking

[Jake12]

Hi. My Nan has a pond in her garden that my uncle built 24 years ago. A few months back I got in there and cut some trees back and cleared some old water Lilly’s out for her but ever since her UV light is getting blocked every couple of days or the pump that’s in the water keeps getting clogged with stuff, then the matts in the filter become clogged, she’s never had this problem so regular before, she usually cleans everything a couple of times a year. The water is running clear once everything is unblocked but there is some blanket weed in there now. Does anyone have any suggestions to stop everything blocking, or what the issue could be? Thank you.

 

[poconojoe]

Just some guesses. ..

Maybe the fish have multiplied and even grown larger adding more fish waste that may be clogging things up.

Are there any trees or other growth nearby that have gotten larger and possibly dropping stuff into the pond?

Is there a lot of debris collected on the bottom? You can scoop it out slowly with a fine net.

If your pump is submerged in the pond, tie a string on it to keep it off the bottom. Raise it up about a foot. This way it won't suck up any solids that might be on the bottom.

 

[j.w]

@Jake12

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome!

Can you post some pics of the pond?

 

[Jake12]

Just some guesses. ..

Maybe the fish have multiplied and even grown larger adding more fish waste that may be clogging things up.

Are there any trees or other growth nearby that have gotten larger and possibly dropping stuff into the pond?

Is there a lot of debris collected on the bottom? You can scoop it out slowly with a fine net.

If your pump is submerged in the pond, tie a string on it to keep it off the bottom. Raise it up about a foot. This way it won't suck up any solids that might be on the bottom.

Thanks for the reply.

The fish have always been fairly large but it has never caused a problem before.

there is a tree over hanging that I’ve recently cutback but again that’s always been there and never caused blockages this regular.

the pump is submerged under water on the floor of the pond, that does sound like a good idea raising it, thank you.

there is bits of rubble and stones at the bottom that have just made their way in there so maybe I’ll try and remove some more, I did scoop a load out but the water got so mercy because I was walking around in there so I couldn’t see to get all of it.
Thank you.

 

[Jake12]

Hello and welcome!

Can you post some pics of the pond?

Thank you.
Unfortunately I don’t sorry, I should of took some. I will try and get some of the whole set up in the next week or so and post them in here, she lives a little while away from me so I’ll get some when I’m back over there.

thank you.

 

[Lisak1]

Removing the tree may be allowing more sunlight in, which can change the balance in the pond.

Also, it's always dangerous to assume that "the fish have never been a problem before" means they aren't a problem now. Every pond has a "tipping point" - that moment when the bioload grows too large to be handled by the ecosystem. The best way to avoid that is to keep your fish load low - less fish means less waste which means less stress on the system. The same fish one year can grow just enough that suddenly it's too much.

Tell us more about the pond - how many gallons? What kind of filtration? How many fish and what kind? Pictures will be very helpful!

And thanks for being a good grandson!

 

[GBBUDD]

Every pump intake whether with the pump in the pond or just a hose should have a strainer or s filter on it to prevent your fish and or plants from getting sucked into the pond. Add both and it should do both keep you up clogged as well as help keep the water clear now it doesn't gave to bea pre-made strainer many use a compound bucket drilled with lots of holes the idea is tge more surface area the less pressure is at each inch thus not sucking in heavy debris or fish tgat can clog th e pond
I used a aquablock where I drilled a hole in the side placed the open 2 inch hose in it and then surrounded the aquablox with 2inch and larger rock its almost impossible to get clogged.

 

[Jake12]

Removing the tree may be allowing more sunlight in, which can change the balance in the pond.

Also, it's always dangerous to assume that "the fish have never been a problem before" means they aren't a problem now. Every pond has a "tipping point" - that moment when the bioload grows too large to be handled by the ecosystem. The best way to avoid that is to keep your fish load low - less fish means less waste which means less stress on the system. The same fish one year can grow just enough that suddenly it's too much.

Tell us more about the pond - how many gallons? What kind of filtration? How many fish and what kind? Pictures will be very helpful!

And thanks for being a good grandson!

Haha thank you!

I’ll take that on board and speak to her about it thank you. My uncle built the pond back in 1996 with cheap materials just making do from what he had or could get, I will try and get some photos of the whole set up over the weekend and post them in here.

thank you all very much!

 

[Jake12]

Every pump intake whether with the pump in the pond or just a hose should have a strainer or s filter on it to prevent your fish and or plants from getting sucked into the pond. Add both and it should do both keep you up clogged as well as help keep the water clear now it doesn't gave to bea pre-made strainer many use a compound bucket drilled with lots of holes the idea is tge more surface area the less pressure is at each inch thus not sucking in heavy debris or fish tgat can clog th e pond
I used a aquablock where I drilled a hole in the side placed the open 2 inch hose in it and then surrounded the aquablox with 2inch and larger rock its almost impossible to get clogged. View attachment 134304

Thank you.

the pump does have a grill like cover around it but every time I take it out it’s covered over with like a mud/gunge/dirt like stuff, I don’t think it’s solids blocking it it’s more fine stuff building up.

thank you.

 

[GBBUDD]

Thank you.

the pump does have a grill like cover around it but every time I take it out it’s covered over with like a mud/gunge/dirt like stuff, I don’t think it’s solids blocking it it’s more fine stuff building up.

thank you.

No your missing the point. The built in strainer to a submerged pump is too small the power of the pump pulls heavy debris right to the skimmer or the perforations enlarging the strainer lessens the suction power .

 

[Jake12]

Photo one is of the pump under water, I have been over there today and I cleaned it and put it back in but within 10 minutes it was starting to block again, there seems to be thousands of bits of algae floating around in the pond. Picture 2 is of what I think is the algae if it’s a good enough picture for you to see. It seems the pump just sucks it all and it all gets stuck to the face of the pump and blocks it straight away. Does anyone have any tips to remove algae? thank you.

 

[poconojoe]

Can you scoop the solids with a net? It might be a bit of work, but it may help.

 

[Jake12]

Can you scoop the solids with a net? It might be a bit of work, but it may help.

Yeah every time I go over there I scoop as much out as I can but once disturbed the water goes so cloudy I can’t see anything so just have to do it day by day. It’s more algae I think causing the problem that’s what seems to be all over the pump and blocking the UV light

 

[Mmathis]

I have my pump in a mesh bag they sell for pond pumps — it has a drawstring closure. The mesh is stiff enough that it doesn’t interfere with the water intake. My pump has never clogged.

I hope you can figure this out. It doesn’t seem like the stuff that normally floats around in a pond would cause as much trouble as you are having, so gotta wonder what else might be going on.