water color

[mountaindew]

What would cause my pond water to turn like a bronze color.I can still see the fish but its not that clear water like it used to be.Is there a fix

 

[koiguy1969]

probably tannins....from tree leaves and plant matter decaying in pond......clean the bottom of pond..activated carbon and partial water changes can help with the color

 

[fishin4cars]

Bronze color? New description there, Could be leaves and that cause the water to yellow or even turn brown some. Although I'm shooting at a longshot guess. If that is the case filtering through charcoal helps some. That and running it through a fine fine mesh filter media. Both can be done with slow pumping like a small fountain pump running the water through a basket or net bag put in a filter

 

[mountaindew]

I dont have any leaves around the pond.I can see the bottom and there is nothing.The only trees we have here are palm trees and I would defiantly see those

 

[fishin4cars]

Do you have any drift wood in the pond, have you used any medications recently? Anyone flipping good luck pennies in your pond? No, nevermind that would be copper colored. lol (JK) :lol:
I'm trying to think what would cause it, it's normally caused by tannin's but there are other causes, the bronze water is throwing me. got pics?

 

[koiguy1969]

maybe iron in some rocks..?

 

[Shdwdrgn]

Speaking of carbon, does anyone use carbon bags in their biofilters? Or does it have to be replaced too often to be worthwhile?

 

[fishin4cars]

Speaking of carbon, does anyone use carbon bags in their biofilters? Or does it have to be replaced too often to be worthwhile?

I have a large bag in my prefilter, I change it out once every 6 months. how much good does it do? I don't have a clue. Seriously, This is a old practice from fish keeping in aquaria. I started using it to hopefully help when I re-started the pond and just kept using it. I know it will help remove Chlorine and heavy metals when doing water changes. I have a seperate chamber for running my water change water through though. A simple 3" x 4' PVC with a cap on the end. I drilled about 50 small holes at the end of the pipe for the water to come out. I have four bags of charcoal (Apox. 4#) placed inside the PVC and I fill the pond through this tube, Cuts down on Dechlorinator and helps remove any impurities before they get into the pond.

 

[vertigo72]

When you say bronze color, I suspect you mean tea colored? As someone else said, thats typically from tannins. Not a problem for your fish, but if you dont like the looks, try aerating the water or indeed, activated charcoal. The latter is fairly pricey if you have a large pond though, since it needs replacing once or twice per year. But I dont think there is a better filter medium that exists.

 

[fishin4cars]

You know, It really wouldn't be hard to make a charcoal Chamber to filter through. make out of PVC with caps the screw on, have your hose connections at each end and run it like one of those small UV lights. Have to put the charcoal in some type of stocking. Would have to probably run it with a slow flow rate like a UV too, but It wouldn't really need much of a turnover rate. HMMMM, May see me build one in the future to see how it does.

 

[koiguy1969]

i have a 4' long peice of 2" pvc pipe capped and threaded with hose nipples on each end installed on a 10' length of garden hose, filled with activated carbon and zeolite..for when i do water changes...youre idea..thats a thought !?

 

[fishin4cars]

exactly, Now you hook it to one of those water hose timers that Addy was talking about and turn it on slow. I like this idea! Fill the pond safely, not nearly the worry about chlorine/Chlorimines and if you forget it turns off by itself! COOL!

 

[koiguy1969]

yeah...it flows thru the carbon first to break the chloramine bond and absorb some of the chlorine and then thru the zeolite to absorb ammonias. theres a peice of furnace filter in between them to keep them seperate.

 

[mountaindew]

I do not have any drift wood in the pond.Here are a few pics.Not sure if you can tell anything by them.It is a tea color

 

[vertigo72]

Lot of foam too. Perhaps too much proteins, from too much feeding? You could try building a protein skimmer if you feel like it.