Thoughts on how to combat green water with bog and drum filter

[GaryMoz]

I have a bit of an unusual set up, I have a pond of around 20000 ltrs , it has lined and has vertical sides, no gravel or stones, it has two bottom drains and a intake bay that feeds a drum filter which then into a 6200 ltr bog, the bog is deep around 1.2m with water reservoir at the bottom and 0.8m of graduated pebbles on top which feeds back into the pond. It was constructed and planted up last year and plants added again earlier this year.

This spring we suffered a lot from blanket weed, finally we got on top of it but as it decreased the green water increased, now the ponds yo yo's, the water becomes a bit clearer 3ft vison, then blanket weed starts increasing (not too bad just a bit) but the water gets greener, around 1ft vison, then it starts getting clearer again etc. etc.

The drum filter seems to be doing it's job an lot of material is being cleared out, although water is still green in bog (as you would expect)

I don't want to add additives or chemicals to the pond as the bog should do it's job. But I wonder if the drum filter is doing too good of job.

By that I mean is the drum filter removing to much material which will advantages to the bog and would allow it clear better?

I have the drum filter to remove the major fish waste coming through the bottom drains, It didn't want the major waste going directly in to the bog.

In the drum filter I could remove a bypass plug so some of the water goes straight into the bog, would this be good or bad?

What doesn't help the pond is in direct sunlight, and for us we have had over a month of blue skies and warm weather, very unusual for England.

Any thoughts?

 

[Hound Heaven]

I can't speak to your filtration process, but I can attest that it takes time and patience. My pond and bog are now 4 years old and this is the first year that I've seen the string algae (blanket weed) simply disappear after a couple of months. The bog plants are apparently mature enough now to extract the nutrients sufficiently that the string just couldn't compete. I use no chemical treatments, get 6+ hours of sun daily and I likely overfeed my fish I still keep the toilet brush handy but seldom need to use it anymore.

 

[GBBUDD]

Sorry @GaryMoz
I just spent some time on a response but didn't look at who posted the question.

What are you feeding and how often. Is corn one of the main igrediants.

Are you feeding very small amounts multiple times a day or less feeding more food.

The green water generally comes first. It goes away then comes the blanket weed.

The one thing I am not sold on with the raised ponds is the lack of bio diversity. I know you have the bog. Is the bog full of plants now?

How did you seed the bog.

When i vacuum the pond i find all kinds of stuff I have no idea what they are, worms, catapillers, even bettles and the rest i don't even know how to describe. Salamander and even baby turtles. Imo these are key to our ponds
Yes they can work against us with too much waste build up. And we might need to be more mindful of bacterial issues. It's a trade off.
Green water is more where the plants come in to absorb what has already broken down and is floating in the water. That is the water very very fine partials.
Could a uv help possibly I get there purpose but it just kills live cells and makes food for others imo. But some swear by them

Another possibility is could you take a return jets add a hose to it and dump that water into batting that is above the pond. Hard to believe but yes it can be finer that the micron filter.

Third how about diatom filter used temporarily.

I struggled with blanket weed a while it didn't take long for green water to go away but I did have tons of plants

 

[GaryMoz]

Sorry @GaryMoz
I just spent some time on a response but didn't look at who posted the question.

What are you feeding and how often. Is corn one of the main igrediants.

Are you feeding very small amounts multiple times a day or less feeding more food.

The green water generally comes first. It goes away then comes the blanket weed.

The one thing I am not sold on with the raised ponds is the lack of bio diversity. I know you have the bog. Is the bog full of plants now?

How did you seed the bog.

When i vacuum the pond i find all kinds of stuff I have no idea what they are, worms, catapillers, even bettles and the rest i don't even know how to describe. Salamander and even baby turtles. Imo these are key to our ponds
Yes they can work against us with too much waste build up. And we might need to be more mindful of bacterial issues. It's a trade off.
Green water is more where the plants come in to absorb what has already broken down and is floating in the water. That is the water very very fine partials.
Could a uv help possibly I get there purpose but it just kills live cells and makes food for others imo. But some swear by them

Another possibility is could you take a return jets add a hose to it and dump that water into batting that is above the pond. Hard to believe but yes it can be finer that the micron filter.

Third how about diatom filter used temporarily.

I struggled with blanket weed a while it didn't take long for green water to go away but I did have tons of plants

No problem @GBBUDD

We try to feed the fish little and often, the feed is a floating high protein 42%, this stuff this stuff it's used for koi and fish farms. It tends to keep together and not dissolve, a little excess is caught in the intake bay but not much

Ours was little odd this year, we had lovely clear water and then the blanket weed came, after a few weeks it seemed to start dying off and the water wen green, since then it's been the yo yo.

We planted individual bog plants, the plants had clean root systems and planted directly into the bog. Over all the plants are growing well, but we still need a lot more coverage, that will come as the plants mature more. We do have one plant that is a very vigorous grower that we have to cut back a bit.

As with your comment about the bio diversity at the bottom of the pond, it does make me think if I should let a some of the water bypass the drum filter and go straight to the bog or as @Hound Heaven said above just give it more time.

Touch wood, other than the YoYoing every else seems to running smoothly.

 

[GaryMoz]

I can't speak to your filtration process, but I can attest that it takes time and patience. My pond and bog are now 4 years old and this is the first year that I've seen the string algae (blanket weed) simply disappear after a couple of months. The bog plants are apparently mature enough now to extract the nutrients sufficiently that the string just couldn't compete. I use no chemical treatments, get 6+ hours of sun daily and I likely overfeed my fish I still keep the toilet brush handy but seldom need to use it anymore.

I think you are right, I just need to be a bit more patient

 

[GaryMoz]

Sorry @GaryMoz
I just spent some time on a response but didn't look at who posted the question.

Does that mean if you had seen who the question was from you wouldn't have replied

 

[GBBUDD]

Does that mean if you had seen who the question was from you wouldn't have replied

Not at all it was basic questions , show pictures not all drums are created equal etc etc

 

[GBBUDD]

But your what year two here ? Yeah it can take time to get fully established . There's a difference between cycled and mature.

P

No problem @GBBUDD

We try to feed the fish little and often, the feed is a floating high protein 42%, this stuff ODD I CANT FIND THE INGREDIANTS. LIKE I SAID BEFORE YOU WANT TO AVOID CORN AS A MAIN STAPLE.

WONDER IF IT WOULDNT BE WORTH STEPPING TO A HEAVY PROBIOTIC VERY EASY TO DIGEST

this stuff it's used for koi and fish farms. It tends to keep together and not dissolve, a little excess is caught in the intake bay but not much

Ours was little odd this year, we had lovely clear water and then the blanket weed came, after a few weeks it seemed to start dying off and the water wen green, since then it's been the yo yo.

We planted individual bog plants, the plants had clean root systems and planted directly into the bog. Over all the plants are growing well, but we still need a lot more coverage, that will come as the plants mature more. We do have one plant that is a very vigorous grower that we have to cut back a bit.

As with your comment about the bio diversity at the bottom of the pond, it does make me think if I should let a some of the water bypass the drum filter and go straight to the bog or as @Hound Heaven said above just give it more time.

Touch wood, other than the YoYoing every else seems to running smoothly.

pellets.co.uk/collections/bona-float/products/bona-float-3mm-20kg']this stuff[/URL] it's used for koi and fish farms. It tends to keep together and not dissolve, a little excess is caught in the intake bay but not much

Ours was little odd this year, we had lovely clear water and then the blanket weed came, after a few weeks it seemed to start dying off and the water wen green, since then it's been the yo yo.

We planted individual bog plants, the plants had clean root systems and planted directly into the bog. Over all the plants are growing well, but we still need a lot more coverage, that will come as the plants mature more. We do have one plant that is a very vigorous grower that we have to cut back a bit.

As with your comment about the bio diversity at the bottom of the pond, it does make me think if I should let a some of the water bypass the drum filter and go straight to the bog or as @Hound Heaven said above just give it more time.

Touch wood, other than the YoYoing every else seems to running smoothly.
[/QUOTE]
Opps I tried to delete that post I guess the site liked it too much but let's get into it.