UV light

[AngelaM]

I have a DIY barrel filter made out of a 55 gallon drum. The pump fills the barrel and it exits it two places. One returns to the pond through a 2” pipe to the waterfall reservoir. The other returns to the pond through a 1 1/2 hose. Does it matter which return I install the UV light to? Thanks!

 

[GBBUDD]

I have a DIY barrel filter made out of a 55 gallon drum. The pump fills the barrel and it exits it two places. One returns to the pond through a 2” pipe to the waterfall reservoir. The other returns to the pond through a 1 1/2 hose. Does it matter which return I install the UV light to? Thanks!

Matters not but the cleaner the water is that surrounds the uv the longer it will work before it needs to be cleaned. but i feel u'v are a band aid for something else that is wrong

 

[AngelaM]

Matters not but the cleaner the water is that surrounds the uv the longer it will work before it needs to be cleaned. but i feel u'v are a band aid for something else that is wrong

That is most likely the case but I’ve had this pond three years and my water always turns green by mid summer. It’s in shade until about 1pm then it gets full sun. I bought it as a last stitch attempt to clear the algae from the pond because if I don't get to see my fish, I’m getting rid of the pond. I’m over it.

 

[Lisak1]

I’m getting rid of the pond. I’m over it.

That's sad to hear. Your pond should be a source of joy, not frustration.

I have to agree with @GBBUDD - that green water is a sign of something going on that's allowing the nutrient level to get too high. Not enough filtration - including plants - too many fish, overfeeding, too much organic material decaying in the pond... a limited number of possibilities that you could address, UV will only add more dead organic material to the pond, but some people swear by them so I can't say that it won't work in your case. I think the key when using UV is frequent filter cleaning.

 

[GBBUDD]

That is most likely the case but I’ve had this pond three years and my water always turns green by mid summer. It’s in shade until about 1pm then it gets full sun. I bought it as a last stitch attempt to clear the algae from the pond because if I don't get to see my fish, I’m getting rid of the pond. I’m over it.

don't think I have ever seen your pond or your set up can you post a photo . One thing that is almost guaranteed to work is let a lotus get carried away . a garden center close to me for years had the WORST pond I had ever seen always green small loaded with string algea. then one year I went back and a lotus over grew the whole area outside the pond with just a little bit of roots in the water and no more algae or green water

 

[Jhn]

don't think I have ever seen your pond or your set up can you post a photo . One thing that is almost guaranteed to work is let a lotus get carried away . a garden center close to me for years had the WORST pond I had ever seen always green small loaded with string algea. then one year I went back and a lotus over grew the whole area outside the pond with just a little bit of roots in the water and no more algae or green water

Agreed lotus grow out of control once they get going, sucking up nutrients like crazy. The lotus in my pond has been battling water lilies to a stale mate for the past 10 years, mostly with help from me pulling out some of the lotus tubers to keep it under control. Otherwise my lily area of the pond would be a lotus area. Which by the way decided to create a 4’x2’ gravel planter bed to put sone Of the lotus tubers in to see if I can contain them there.

If I remember right Angela you have a few thousand gallon pond with just one or two large koi in it And the barrel filter for filtration. With maybe a few plants in it. Thing is with filters the media needs to be cleaned or it becomes nitrate factories, which contributes to green pond water. Cheapest and easiest fix would Be to replace the barrel filter with say a 150/300 gal Rubbermaid tub, turn it into an up flow bog, having a return line dump back into the pond. Plants and lots of them are the easiest way to maintain water quality and keep green water at bay in ponds. This method requires no cleaning really other than maybe a yearly flush of the piping and weeding back the bog plants as they grow,

 

[Crimedog]

Or just add a bog after the filter.

 

[AngelaM]

Agreed lotus grow out of control once they get going, sucking up nutrients like crazy. The lotus in my pond has been battling water lilies to a stale mate for the past 10 years, mostly with help from me pulling out some of the lotus tubers to keep it under control. Otherwise my lily area of the pond would be a lotus area. Which by the way decided to create a 4’x2’ gravel planter bed to put sone Of the lotus tubers in to see if I can contain them there.

If I remember right Angela you have a few thousand gallon pond with just one or two large koi in it And the barrel filter for filtration. With maybe a few plants in it. Thing is with filters the media needs to be cleaned or it becomes nitrate factories, which contributes to green pond water. Cheapest and easiest fix would Be to replace the barrel filter with say a 150/300 gal Rubbermaid tub, turn it into an up flow bog, having a return line dump back into the pond. Plants and lots of them are the easiest way to maintain water quality and keep green water at bay in ponds. This method requires no cleaning really other than maybe a yearly flush of the piping and weeding back the bog plants as they grow,

Agreed lotus grow out of control once they get going, sucking up nutrients like crazy. The lotus in my pond has been battling water lilies to a stale mate for the past 10 years, mostly with help from me pulling out some of the lotus tubers to keep it under control. Otherwise my lily area of the pond would be a lotus area. Which by the way decided to create a 4’x2’ gravel planter bed to put sone Of the lotus tubers in to see if I can contain them there.

If I remember right Angela you have a few thousand gallon pond with just one or two large koi in it And the barrel filter for filtration. With maybe a few plants in it. Thing is with filters the media needs to be cleaned or it becomes nitrate factories, which contributes to green pond water. Cheapest and easiest fix would Be to replace the barrel filter with say a 150/300 gal Rubbermaid tub, turn it into an up flow bog, having a return line dump back into the pond. Plants and lots of them are the easiest way to maintain water quality and keep green water at bay in ponds. This method requires no cleaning really other than maybe a yearly flush of the piping and weeding back the bog plants as they grow,

You are correct. My pond is 2100 gallons and I have 6 fish. The barrel filter is definitely not the issue. I clean it once a week. Plants could be the problem. I have an incredibly hard time getting anything to grow in my pond because it is under a tree getting shade most of the day. I have 7 pots of water lillies, and some irises right now. None of my plants from last year are showing any signs of life including the hibiscus I paid a fortune for. I could add a big but if I can’t get plants to grow in the pond I’m pretty sure I’d have the same issue with a bog.

 

[AngelaM]

don't think I have ever seen your pond or your set up can you post a photo . One thing that is almost guaranteed to work is let a lotus get carried away . a garden center close to me for years had the WORST pond I had ever seen always green small loaded with string algea. then one year I went back and a lotus over grew the whole area outside the pond with just a little bit of roots in the water and no more algae or green water

I’ll take a photo tomorrow. I don’t have any on my new phone. I had a lotus last year and it didn’t do very well. The problem is that I’m in Michigan where we get like 4 months of nice weather every year. By the time my plants start to get growing, fall hits.

 

[GBBUDD]

I’ll take a photo tomorrow. I don’t have any on my new phone. I had a lotus last year and it didn’t do very well. The problem is that I’m in Michigan where we get like 4 months of nice weather every year. By the time my plants start to get growing, fall hits.

I'm in the same boat in am in New england

 

[Crimedog]

My pond is in shade most of the day. It is still new but I put some watercress from the grocers $2 in my pond and it is taking off. I also stuck a canna, from the yard, in the bog and it has already started multiplying. - of course I am in zone 8, but you could try it

 

[Lisak1]

Same here @AngelaM in Chicagoland. But once they get established in your pond, they will do fine.

You could try some hostas - they LOVE growing in waterfalls and marginal areas of the pond. I have two growing in the rain exchange that were just a couple of cuttings I was going to toss in the trash. They do great there, planted right in the gravel. Mine are in full sun, but they love the constant water and do great. Impatiens are another good choice - plant them anywhere where they can be constantly wet and they will do great. They're an annual, but they grow fast and HUGE in the pond. Watercress is another one that will grow in sun or shade and grows fast. It likes moving water best, but will grow anywhere you plop it in the pond.

 

[Jhn]

Will add to the plant suggestions, water celery, creeping Jenny both do well in full sun and shade. There is also water forget me not, needs abit more sun than the other two. All these can be wedged between rocks around the edge of your pond leaving the roots in the water between the rock. These plants grow quickly, but are easy to weed back. You want plants that spread quickly, as they will use up a lot of more nutrients compared to slower growing plants. also these plants get going much more quickly in early spring than the lilies or iris, which would be more effective for your zone. They key with the aforementioned plants is letting them go bare root around the pond edge, once established especially the forget-me not and water celery spread unbelievably fast. Best to attack the issue with a large variety of plants and figure out what will grow best for your spot.

Lilies aren’t the greatest for nutrient consumption especially when planted in pots. While irises are good at nutrient consumption they do take a bit to get going coming out of winter except for the yellow flag iris that thing grows like crazy and quickly too.

You are correct in that if you can’t get plants growing in the bog then the bog won’t work. Even if you had a bog of nothing but water celery it would do the job.

 

[Jhn]

Here are some current examples from one of my pond setups of what you can do. The first pic is a 50 gal Rubbermaid tub, drilled it and put a bulkhead in it, so it spills into a a Hatchling turtle tub then spills into the 150 gallon Bog tub in 2nd pic, which then dumps back into the 1800 gallon turtle pond.

The first pic is of nothing but water celery, (Stuff was a frozen tub of ice all winter) no Gravel nothing but water, stuff grows like crazzzzy, have to throw tons of it out ever month.


2nd pic is upflow pea gravel bog, and water dumps on top too from the 2 smaller tubs. This has water forget me not and creeping Jenny, iris in it, already had to weed back the forget me not.

Point of all this is don’t give up, you can get the pond clear using some creative and inexpensive ideas, that require not much in the way of maintenance.

 

[GBBUDD]

IF she can post some pics, we can help.. pea soup no biggie the batt and having the pump drop of it seams to have never failed