STILL Green :(

[Meyer Jordan]

I added the fish slowly throughout the year. Around the time the problem started I added 2 small koi (less than 6inches).

Bit of background, started the pond in Dec 31, 2013. Had the usual problems, ammonia, too many fish too fast (a heron helped me out with that real fast). I let the water go green till everything seemed to be at reasonable levels, I turned the UV on in late Feb (I think.

If you had green water when you turned on the UV you had excess nutrients.

.The UV has kept everything fine. I had no ammonia, PH was fine (I didn't have a nitrate test back then so can't comment). I slowly started adding fish. I've always had an iguana problem. I would get floating algae (you couldn't really scoop it, very fine) that would come up in the middle of the day and sink in the afternoon - that was the biggest issue. But looking back, I think that started happening as the UV light got older.

The UV kept the water clear, but everything was not fine. As you added fish you added more nutrients to an already overloaded system. This is evidenced by the Floating Algae (FA). FA occurs when nutrient levels are VERY high. A UV will have not have any effect on FA.

My UV died in Oct (guessing), but I didn't think it was the UV, I thought at first I had some run off in the pond after some very heavy rains. So I kept waiting for that to clear up, doing water changes trying to speed it up. I now know my well has nitrates, so that wasn't helping.

Finally figured out it was the UV. Tried to use a small UV, didn't work. Finally got a replacement bulb in mid December and have been running it ever since. Of course I know I slowed things down with all the water changes and just added more nitrates. Now that I finally know, I add the RO water and I guess I just wait it out.

Did the well water always have nitrates? I don't know. All I do know is I had a crystal clear pond with no issues, I haven't added a bunch of fish, my fish haven't gown that much. I used to check my water all the time, but there were never any changes, so I stopped around summer.

Ohhhhhhh, I did add a huge pot (maybe 30 gall) with a water lily in it ....... I wonder if the dirt in that is causing issues? That was also around the same time of things going wrong. In fact, I added that large pot and probably 3 small 10gall pots with other lilies in them. Hmmmmmm could that be the problem?

Odds are your well water has always had Nitrate and, of course, this just exacerbated the problem. Have you tested the RO water? Residential RO units usually produce, at best, only a few gallons of water per day based on water pressure. Doing water changes with RO water can take a considerable length of time.
Adding the potted Lilies will actually aid in reducing the nutrient load as Water Lilies are heavy feeders.
Seems that you are fighting a battle on several fronts. You have a high fish load, the iquanas are significantly contributing to the problem and your source water (well) is high in Nitrate.
The UVs may not be very effective due to the iguana poop. Not only is this adding to the nutrient level, but it is likely adding to the Total Suspended Solids (TSS). Any matter suspended in the water will hinder the effectiveness of a UV unit. The UV rays must make contact with the algae to be effective. Suspended matter blocks the UV rays.
When is the last time that you did a complete cleanout?

 

[Priscilla]

What do you mean by complete clean out?

A few weeks back I got in the water clipped all the lilies, scooped the bottom - I was so pleased when I thought that might solve the problem as the bottom was full of leaves (can't really see them to scoop them out and didn't realize they were there), but someone (maybe you) said that wouldn't contribute that much to the green water anyways.

Every day I scoop the bottom as best I can, without getting in. Sometimes I get a lot out and sometimes there's not a lot.

I have a good amount of lilies in there and needless to say, they are doing AMAZING! I recently added more plants to the pond, I had taken some out when I was working on something else and never out them back in, I think I will add some more.

I tested the RO water, its 0 nitrates. Its a fairly big unit, 50galls per hour. The water is pretty 'clean/pure' whatever you want to call it once it goes through that. I've done 2 roughly 50% changes with this 'pure' water over two days. Oddly no change at all, wouldn't you think it should have cleared up for at least a day till the nitrates built up again?

The good news is I cleared a vacant lot that was next to the pond, so the iguanas no longer have a place to lounge there, I think a lot have moved away. So that's not as big of a problem.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

What do you mean by complete clean out?

A few weeks back I got in the water clipped all the lilies, scooped the bottom - I was so pleased when I thought that might solve the problem as the bottom was full of leaves (can't really see them to scoop them out and didn't realize they were there), but someone (maybe you) said that wouldn't contribute that much to the green water anyways.

Every day I scoop the bottom as best I can, without getting in. Sometimes I get a lot out and sometimes there's not a lot.

I have a good amount of lilies in there and needless to say, they are doing AMAZING! I recently added more plants to the pond, I had taken some out when I was working on something else and never out them back in, I think I will add some more.

I tested the RO water, its 0 nitrates. Its a fairly big unit, 50galls per hour. The water is pretty 'clean/pure' whatever you want to call it once it goes through that. I've done 2 roughly 50% changes with this 'pure' water over two days. Oddly no change at all, wouldn't you think it should have cleared up for at least a day till the nitrates built up again?

The good news is I cleared a vacant lot that was next to the pond, so the iguanas no longer have a place to lounge there, I think a lot have moved away. So that's not as big of a problem.

By 'complete clean out' I mean temporarily relocating the fish, completely drain pond, thoroughly clean (not scour) all surfaces with a garden hose, thoroughly clean all filters and refill with fresh, low nutrient level water.

A 50% water change will only reduce Nitrate levels by 50%. In other words, if your Nitrate level was 80, after a 50% water change it will be 40. Assuming that no additional Nitrate is added between changes then after the second 50% water change the Nitrate level would be 20 which is still high enough to support 'green water'. Of course a certain amount of Nitrate will probably be added between changes.
What was your Nitrate reading at last testing?

 

[Priscilla]

The nitrates started at 20 and have stayed at 20. I haven't tested since I changed the water because I saw no difference and am just running out of steam. I'll test tomorrow and let you know what they are. I keep hoping the UV will clear the water, I can help reduce the nitrates by water changes with the RO water and more plants.

Thanks for taking the time and interest in this. I'm quite baffled!

I have never done a complete clean out. I don't think I could really. I have no where to house all the fish.

My hubby approved the expansion, so I'm going to add 800/1000 gallons, in a separate pond, connected by a stream. Hopefully that will help. And no more fish! LOL!

 

[addy1]

Make it nice wide stream, like Meyer has, with lots of plants, shallow, deep areas. I would have loved to have my stream wider, but cutting in switchbacks coming down our slope controlled the width, it is 85 feet long.
I still did deep and shallow areas in the stream bed, added three small ponds in the stream, they are full of plants, no fish unless an egg has wandered in. Great filtering. The frogs love it.

 

[Priscilla]

Nitrates are continuing to fall. They are between a 5 and 10 (maybe an 8?). I'm adding a bit more RO water today. Just a top up, not a water change.

 

[Priscilla]

I'm going to pick up some water hyacinths today. Hopefully they can clean the water up before the fish eat them! I feel like the nitrates are low enough if I get a 55gall bag of hyacinths it should work .... I think .... in my head it will work. I'll take two 55gal bags just in case! LOL!

 

[tbendl]

I hope they work for you.

 

[Priscilla]

I hope they work for you.

Kids got out at noon today, so I had to abort that mission. I'll try to get them on Monday.

 

[Priscilla]

I wanted to share two pictures to see what you guys think. The first picture shows all the bits floating. The second picture shows an awesome dragon fly and the color of the water. I washed my filters twice today (back washed the canister filter and hosed the quilt batting, lava rock). I can wash them twice a day, that's how much is floating in the pond. This is after two 50% water changes.

 

[slick]

Hi I have an 18000 gallon pond im turning my total pond water over every hour im running a evo 55 watt uv water cristal clear new water will encorage algae blooms to get things started may try algi gone it kills it and makes it clump for easy removal with a fine skimmer net

 

[addy1]

Pretty dragon fly!
That is a lot of floating stuff. I will let someone that does filters, besides a bog, chime in.

 

[slick]

Wish I had room for a filter bed straem, and bog garden, but due to space I have to go filter box way, so I have to use a moving bed k1 bio filter bottom drain to remove all unwanted from pond bottom, hence the amount of water flow I have to put through maybe my next pond will have a stream love the idea let nature do all the hard work,

 

[Priscilla]

Wish I had room for a filter bed straem, and bog garden, but due to space I have to go filter box way, so I have to use a moving bed k1 bio filter bottom drain to remove all unwanted from pond bottom, hence the amount of water flow I have to put through maybe my next pond will have a stream love the idea let nature do all the hard work,

Can you explain this for me. What do you mean filter bed stream?

 

[sissy]

I think that maybe letting up on the water changes and feeding the fish a lot less would work .I feed my fish summer and winter only 3 or 4 times a week .Food can cause a lot of the problems with water quality .Fish produce so much waste that it is amazing .A really good quality food may help also .Food with fillers the fish cannot use and it becomes waste .I was amazed at how many fillers tetra food had in it .When I bought the new food from pet solutions and compared ingredients I was shocked .The new food does not have any of those fillers .it has things like plant protein and krill and fish meal and fish oil and lots of vitamins .The other stuff has lots of fillers .it is like cat food or dog food you have to look at ingredients