Uv sterilizer

[talal101]

It will never go green with the right balance of pond plants, both floating and otherwise and a good bio filter. My water is always crystal clear. No UV...

can you recommend any good plants that will help in keeping the water clear all summer?
and also i read that it is completely normal for the water to turn really green for a week in the start of the pond season and then it should die back down?, will it become clear after dieing down or will it still have a green tinge?
thank you and advice is appreciated

 

[koiguy1969]

all pond plants fed on the same nutrients as algeas... if you want to rely oin plants to control your green water you need to maintain a large percentage of surface coverage, 80% +....a biofilters final product is nitrates,this is what plants feed on,including algeas. so if you dont shade the water enough you'll get a cycle of green water,single cell algea. it's severity will depend on available food and sunlight, theres no quarentees, but enough plants will use some or most of the available food.. if the whole good filter,and lots of plants was a guarentee...you'd likely never have string algeas either. find what works for you and do it!!

 

[DrDave]

In the winter and early spring, at least in So Cal, floating plants have mostly died off. Right now my ponds have maybe 10% coverage, parrotts feather and duckweed. Because if the lack of coverage, I have string algae each year this time until about June when the water lettuce takes off. The string algae goes away then.
My lower (breeding) pond is in sunlight all day and there are no floating plants, I do have a floating island that offers maybe 10% shade coverage. The upper pond, gets about 95% coverage by design because that is where I grow the floating plants that I sell. So in all, my coverge during the summer is never more than 60% of the total water surface of both ponds. I have not seen green water since I set up the Doc Bio Filter to suppliment the eco system about 3 years ago.

The amount of sunlight varies depending on where you are in the world and how much shade you can provide. It has a lot to do with the amount of single cell algae you have to deal with.

 

[koiguy1969]

Talal101,,,
i have very little string algea at all and i intentionally let my pond green up...i only run my U.V for a week or so then turn it off. my biofilter performs fantastic. but the secret to my success lies greatly in my use of prefilters. prefilters trap and hold bio matter "organics" to be removed from the system entirely when they are cleaned. the fact is when fish waste and other biodegradables travel thru a pump, they are pureed into a semi liquid "cream of poop soup" state and whether they make it back to the pond or build up in the media or bottom of a filter they are still breaking down and producing nitrites and nitrates. altho the prefilters need frequent cleaning which i do every morning or two. (takes 2-3 minutes). this totally eliminates the biomatter in them from the system...the less your filter has to process the easier its job, and the more efficient it will perform. even lighter feeding will aid in algea control.

 

[talal101]

Thank you very much for the advice guys, I'm going to plant my pond this year alot mire and see if I can get away without a uv if not I will suck it up and pay the 80-150 and set up a uv

 

[bphung]

Hi Talal, if you are still looking, Amazon have Tetra 9 W U.V light for 6 dollars and 11.70 shipping, still cheaper than everyone else

 

[talal101]

Hi Talal, if you are still looking, Amazon have Tetra 9 W U.V light for 6 dollars and 11.70 shipping, still cheaper than everyone else[/QUO
are you talking about the replacement bulb or the actual u.v light and did you mean 60 dollars?
thank you
the cheapes one i could find was for 74.99 with like 7 dollar shipping

 

[koiguy1969]

there was one marked at $5.99 this morning, i checked, but it must have been a misprint or something........its now gone..no way they can sell them for that..at that price i would have bought all 12 available and sold them on ebay....amazons cheapest price on one single replacement bulb was $26.00...i got them 2 for $10.00 on ebay.

 

[talal101]

I agree 26 is the cheapest replacement bulb I seen and at 5.95 that would have been amazing

 

[bphung]

I am not sure, as soon I made the post, I go ahead and bought 4 of them, after shipping about 45 bucks. I will find out in a few days when they arrive.

 

[talal101]

I hope it turns out to be true, if you do happen to find any in the future or if your willing to sell me one I would really appreciate it

 

[bphung]

Amazon canceled order, ah well. I have alot of time on my hands, I am sure find some other deal.

 

[talal101]

aw man too bad, good luck

 

[ProfEd]

I saw the mention of flow rate into the UV on page 1. Many UV's have a minimum and maximum flow rate for the unit. As Fishin4cars said, if you flow too much through it the UV may not work effectively. Just something to consider. Also, though many people run UV's constantly I have always run them for a few days, then back off. My thoughts are that it is good to have some level of bacteria, as bacteria in nature can have "good" properties too.

-Ed

 

[koiguy1969]

i agree....i run mine 7 - 10 days a year...but as far as the becteria thing....bad bacterias are free floating...almost all good bacterias colonize hard surfaces. if you run your U.V full time. and you add beneficial bacteria , just turn it off for 24 - 48 hours to give the bacteria time to find a home.