Water won’t clear

[mrsclem]

So you have loose soil around the edge of the pond where you have the plants? As long as there is loose soil, the water will not clear. Get the plants into containers or just use pea gravel instead of soil. And - definitely too many fish.

 

[brokensword]

I'll echo the majority point here; keep the outer soil a bit lower than your pond edge, fill the pond up higher, add more floaters to help shade and filter the water column, keep the pump OFF the pond bottom, and monitor your filter for optimal efficiency--it may be getting loaded a lot faster than you think! Once filled, there's precious little mechanical filtration going on. Don't overfeed as this too can be contributing to the clarity.

 

[CAJ]

Quite the large preformed pond. Problem will be is the standard filters have a hard time circulating enough water in so many times an hour.
One first and last answer for you would be a bog filter they really are not hard to build but the do require some effort but once it's done so is the days of milky water. 7

Excuse my ignorance but what is a bog filter please? I shall google it! Thank you

 

[CAJ]

I use only kitty litter it gets wet and does not really drift out into the pond. You can do either, right on the shelf or leave in pots. Make sure the pots have holes in the bottom to suck up water. And have enough soil, gravel for the roots to grab hold and or just anchor with rocks.

Neat to have that planting shelf! raise the water level a bit also.

So I could just plant the plants in gravel in the planting shelf no extra earth needed as there is a bed of soul there, when I plant the new plants soul comes out and makes the water worse! ? Thank you

 

[CAJ]

So I could just plant the plants in gravel in the planting shelf no extra earth needed as there is a bed of soul there, when I plant the new plants soul comes out and makes the water worse! ? Thank you

Soil not soul!

 

[brokensword]

Soil not soul!

oh, I kinda liked the original concept, actually...

 

[brokensword]

So I could just plant the plants in gravel in the planting shelf no extra earth needed as there is a bed of soul there, when I plant the new plants soul comes out and makes the water worse! ? Thank you

no, doing it that way wouldn't really get you a bog filter. You have to force the water down to the bottom of a container and then it rises up through the gravel, giving the bacteria a chance to break down the ammonia and letting the plants take up the resultant nitrates (upon which your algae feeds, thus out competing it!). Gravel on the side with water all around isn't the same thing, though you will improve the bacterial surface area for colonization.

 

[mrsclem]

She has a bed of soil on the planting ledge. It won't work like a bog if soil is replace with gravel but the water should clear.

 

[poconojoe]

Agree with everything.
I will add this...
Clean your filter pads with water that is not chlorinated. Use pond water in a bucket. Just rinse the heavy buildup off the pads. It shouldn't be hospital clean. There is beneficial bacteria living on those pads and in your filter that you don't want to kill off. If the filter has bio materials in addition to the filter pads, leave that alone. Don't clean it unless it's totally clogged and if you do, heed the same instructions as cleaning the pads.

Your water is green from algae growth. Its natures way of correcting the problem of excess nutrients from excessive fish waste.
The algae is there to feed on the excess nutrients. By adding more plants, and lots of them, it will help the problem. The bigger plants will compete with the algae and the algae will go away.

Having so many fish doesn't help and feeding them too much won't either.

A bog filter that so many have been talking about is a natural and maintenance free way to filter your pond.
Basically, you pump pond water into the bottom of a container. In the bottom is a PVC pipe that has slits cut in it and the end is capped off.
This manifold is covered with pea gravel or smooth river rock.
The water travels through the slits in the PVC manifold, up through the gravel and returns to the pond.
Plants are grown directly in the gravel, no pots.
The solids are filtered by the gravel and are food for the beneficial bacteria. Any nutrients left are taken in by the plants growing in the gravel.
You'll never have to clean filter pads. You won't need your existing filter as long as your bog is the proper size in relation to your pond. The bog surface area should be 30% of your pond's surface area.

A bog can be small or large depending on the size of your pond.
It can be made from a stock tank, window planter box or anything that will hold water. Or you can build a box and put a flexible liner in it.

Mine is a bit larger than you need, but you'll get the basic idea, just scale it down for your application.

My add-on bog build

I finally did it! I joined the bog club! The bog is approximately 14 feet by 5 feet and about 12 inches deep. I know my 1600+ gallon pond has been overpopulated due to my fish reproductive rates! Last year the water never cleared up to my liking. I figured my two pressure filters and my...

www.gardenpondforum.com

 

[poconojoe]

You could turn that shelf area into a bog by cleaning it out and laying pvc pipe all along it's bottom. Cut slits 1-1/2" apart 1/3 through the pipe and cap the end.
Cover it with gravel only.
Grow plants directly in the gravel, no pots.
The water from your pump sends the dirty water through the PVC pipe, then rises through the gravel and back to the pond.

 

[j.w]

@CAJ

 

[CAJ]

Thank you everyone lots of work to be getting on with!

 

[GBBUDD]

Plants are grown directly in the gravel, no pots

the soils should be washed gently off the plants roots and then planted in the peastone or river rock

 

[mgmine]

I haven't read all the replies so this may have already been talked about. What type of filter are you using? A filter is only as good as the media that is in it. You might want to try hooking up a separate filter made out of a garbage can or tote and use something like quilt batting or if you have a way to run your water through a frame covered with batting that would work too.

 

[mrsclem]

Remove as much of the soil as you can from that top area. Replace it with gravel. As long as you have that soil there, your water will be cloudy.