Water in pond has turned green!

[Peter Burrett]

Hello.

Excellent advice from this forum before, so thought I'd ask again.

A week ago the water in my wildlife pond (no fish) was clear, apart from a bit of floating algae which I was easily able to remove.

Today the water is green. I've cast a net over it and there is no solid matter. The only changes over the past two weeks are that 1) a pair of mallard ducks have started visiting the pond, either sitting around the edge or floating in the water, and 2) the weather has become much warmer and sunnier.

I don't imagine their 'waste products' from the ducks would cause the colour change, but would welcome any thoughts.

Regards.

Pete

 

[j.w]

But the waste from the ducks will feed the algae plus the green algae is just a natural occurrence in ponds and the more plants you put in there the more nutrients will be sucked up by them so that the algae will not be able to compete w/the plants for food. The wildlife won't care if it's green tho. We do but we should not be too worried about it really. Algae loves the sun and warmth and duck poo.

 

[Mayank]

But the waste from the ducks will feed the algae plus the green algae is just a natural occurrence in ponds and the more plants you put in there the more nutrients will be sucked up by them so that the algae will not be able to compete w/the plants for food. The wildlife won't care if it's green tho. We do but we should not be too worried about it really. Algae loves the sun and warmth and duck poo.

Couple of questions.
I had crystal clear water two weeks ago, added some fish, loved feeding them cause I've never experienced that and obviously they must've had lots of poop? The water turned green in a couple of days indicating a possible algae bloom? I do have like 12 plants in there along with a water lily so I'm hoping they'll start sucking up the nutrients.
In the meantime, I'm getting one of those portable bathtubs (really a cylindrical enclosure that a person can sit in) that is about 90 gallons (cost $70 on amazon) and going to get some cheap $5 100% polyester pillows from Walmart pickup that I'm going to rip the stuffing out of and make a filtration bed. Gonna pump (with my extra pump) water right into the bathtub/spa thing, keep the outlet spigot open and let the clean water just fall right back into the pond. Hopefully this will clear the water. Will post my results. Here's the questions.
1) We've had a few days of thunderstorms and the water level has gone up a lot. This has decreased the height of the water fall making me wonder if that lowers oxygen level? Also, the algae bloom (if thats what it is) may be sucking up oxygen? The fish have been congregating under the waterfall more making me wonder if O2 levels are an issue. What is the easiest and somewhat inexpensive way to test O2 levels?
2) My Koi Clay should arrive today and I was planning to use it right away. Should I wait until I finish trying my filtration project as outlined above first to clear the water? Or should I use the koi clay first and give it a day or so and then filter out the flocculated stuff which may make my filtration effort more effective.

 

[Peter Burrett]

Thanks for the advice. The pond certainly needs more plants to suck up nutrients and reduce algae presence. As soon as our local supplier reopens as lock down recedes we'll get some.

 

[j.w]

@Mayank Can't help w/the O2 level checking as I've never done that. I've heard the koi clay can help w/water clarity and you could add an aerator to make more oxygen also. I have a nice big one going in my pond along w/my waterfall which is up around 3ft tall. The quilt batting idea will really help too and I have done that. It just gets to be kind of a hassle when the stuff clogs up and you need to take it out a lot to rinse it off. It really does work tho. I think you could do all of these things at once or not. None of that stuff is gonna hurt your fish or pond.

 

[Mayank]

@Mayank Can't help w/the O2 level checking as I've never done that. I've heard the koi clay can help w/water clarity and you could add an aerator to make more oxygen also. I have a nice big one going in my pond along w/my waterfall which is up around 3ft tall. The quilt batting idea will really help too and I have done that. It just gets to be kind of a hassle when the stuff clogs up and you need to take it out a lot to rinse it off. It really does work tho. I think you could do all of these things at once or not. None of that stuff is gonna hurt your fish or pond.

What aerator are you using? Is it expensive? How would I know I needed one if I didn't know the DO levels?
Saw a tetra pond aerator with two air stones for like 30 bucks and then really heavy duty ones for like 600 bucks, not sure what to go for or if I even need that.

 

[Mayank]

Oh, also forgot to add more info. Pond is approx 1750 gallons. Temp is SE MI has been 60s peaking at 70 rarely, 50s at night for a few days and lower prior to that. This also makes me think that low O2 levels are not an issue for me but I'm a newbie so just not sure....

 

[brc]

Algae doesn't need much to grow.. it can do a lot with very little. Just one duck poop would probably provide enough nutrients to green up 10 ponds. I've seen algae grow in tapwater that sat in a clean container for too long..

A UVC filter doesn't cost much, and will get rid of green water right away. I'm a big fan of them, as they let me skip the weeks of murky water I used to get each spring while the pond finds its balance again.

However, that won't do anything for the more complex forms of algae that will come later. For that, you'll probably want some plants - ideally, a large amount of both water and land plants. The idea is to have enough plants that they suck out every last trace of nitrate + phosphate before any algae can claim it.

 

[j.w]

I am using an AP-40 Danner Aerator. My pond is about 2400 gals. My aerator is really too big for my pond tho as it looks like a bubbling volcano! Fish seem to like it tho as they fly through sometimes like it's a water park. I have never felt the need to check my O2 levels so can't help ya there. I figure if the fish are alive and have been for over 15 yrs then all must be ok for now. My aerator cost me about $120. but you could get away w/an AP-20 or even less as I should have gotten the 20 for mine. I don't know if they make a smaller one from Danner company.

Here is what mine looks like when it is in action:

I have it attached to a Matala diffuser w/9 inch air disc.

Here is pump:

And here is the diffuser that makes the bubbles:
The diffuser came w/the disc for about $70.

 

[Mayank]

I am using an AP-40 Danner Aerator. My pond is about 2400 gals. My aerator is really too big for my pond tho as it looks like a bubbling volcano! Fish seem to like it tho as they fly through sometimes like it's a water park. I have never felt the need to check my O2 levels so can't help ya there. I figure if the fish are alive and have been for over 15 yrs then all must be ok for now. My aerator cost me about $120. but you could get away w/an AP-20 or even less as I should have gotten the 20 for mine. I don't know if they make a smaller one from Danner company.

Here is what mine looks like when it is in action:

View attachment 129003

I have it attached to a Matala diffuser w/9 inch air disc.

Here is pump:
View attachment 129004
And here is the diffuser that makes the bubbles:
The diffuser came w/the disc for about $70.
View attachment 129005

Thank you so much for that info! That was super helpful.

 

[Mayank]

I am using an AP-40 Danner Aerator. My pond is about 2400 gals. My aerator is really too big for my pond tho as it looks like a bubbling volcano! Fish seem to like it tho as they fly through sometimes like it's a water park. I have never felt the need to check my O2 levels so can't help ya there. I figure if the fish are alive and have been for over 15 yrs then all must be ok for now. My aerator cost me about $120. but you could get away w/an AP-20 or even less as I should have gotten the 20 for mine. I don't know if they make a smaller one from Danner company.

Here is what mine looks like when it is in action:

View attachment 129003

I have it attached to a Matala diffuser w/9 inch air disc.

Here is pump:
View attachment 129004
And here is the diffuser that makes the bubbles:
The diffuser came w/the disc for about $70.
View attachment 129005

Quick question. Does the air pump (compressor?) come with the pipes/tubing etc to attach it to the disc diffuser?

 

[j.w]

@Mayank No mine did not come w/tubing. I also but gravel in my diffuser to keep it from floating around.

 

[Mayank]

@Mayank No mine did not come w/tubing. I also but gravel in my diffuser to keep it from floating around.

Any idea what kind of tubing or how to get from amazon? I'm sure when you installed yours you could probably just walk into a shop and find what works but now with this Covid business......

 

[j.w]

Any idea what kind of tubing or how to get from amazon? I'm sure when you installed yours you could probably just walk into a shop and find what works but now with this Covid business......

Depends on the size of your aerator stem on what size you get that connects to that (I cut an old garden hose and used that) and then I had to use a connector adapter to that hose as the stem to my diffuser was a different size. On the Webb's site it says my diffuser can take 3/8", 1/2", 5/8", 1" . I can't remember if it came w/ some kind of stem that you can choose the size of tubing. They do have weighted airline tubing but it's pretty expensive.
https://webbsonline.com/Item/Matala-Air-Diffusers-99998
You can prolly find it at Amazon also or?

 

[j.w]

Here is a couple photo's showing the hoses I used and the black plastic pot I set my aerator inside of and covered it w/a plastic plant tray and put a brick on top to keep it safe from the elements. Disregard that other hose that is green w/a white stripe as that is just a water hose to my pond for filling. I cut a small piece of hose and attached it to the aerator through a hole I cut in the pot to the stem of aerator. Then I shoved that black long cut garden hose onto that short piece of green hose and it all goes down to connect to the diffuser at the bottom of pond.