Why did my water clear?

[MariaTeresa]

I realize that asking why my water cleared is a little strange. I figure that if I know what cleared it up this time then I will be able to replicate the results in the future!

Coming out of winter my water was clear, but then there was a beautiful algae bloom. I'm not kidding, it really was beautiful. It looked like someone dumped bright green dye into the water to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. The bubbles from the aerator were all brilliant green and when I netted debris off the water it made pretty green swirl designs. Then the green increased so that the water was more opaque and I couldn't see deeper than a foot (this wasn't as aesthetically pleasing).

At this point one of the fish began gasping at the surface so I added an air stone aerator. The fish stopped gasping, but the water also began to clear. Today the water was so clear that I could see some little stones that had fallen to the bottom whereas before I could not even see the lily pots. So what happened? Did the aeration clear the water? Was the timing just a coincidence? I do have a net of barley down by the air stone. Perhaps the movement of the water by the barley caused by the air stone cleared things up?

 

[sissy]

Barley will help but if you have taddies they are natural pond cleaners .Plus as water gets warmer and bacteria in filters starts to work your pond will clear and I have read about air really helps with a pond

 

[Meyer Jordan]

In Northern latitudes in Springtime ponds go through the process of re-starting the Carbon cycle or Food Chain. This begins with what are called Algae blooms. This algae feeds off of the nutrients that have accumulated in the water over the Winter months. Algae is the first to take advantage of this nutrient supply followed shortly by bacteria that compete with the algae for these nutrients About this same time various aquatic microscopic invertebrates begin to emerge that feed off the algae, Between the bacteria and the invertebrates the algae level is quickly reduced until a natural balance is reached. Aeration aids this process by supplying bacteria with additional Oxygen which they need. This process is critical if one wants to establish a natural Food Chain in their pond.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

Did the aeration clear the water? Was the timing just a coincidence?

I remember reading a few times that oxygen helps against algae, so that could've helped.

 

[MariaTeresa]

So basically, nature did its thing and the aeration helped it along. Great!

Meyer Jordan-- Thank you for your explanation, that makes a lot of sense. I assume if I keep the air going it will continue to aid the bacteria and keep things running smoothly. I don't feed my fish so I'm all for the natural food chain, even the microscopic part.

Sissy- No tadpoles unfortunately And my pump broke, so no filter either!

The funny thing is that I bought the aerator to see how it would work with keeping a hole open next winter. I hadn't thought about using it before then until the fish started gasping for air.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

How big is your pond (Gallons)?
How many fish do you have? What size?

 

[sissy]

when I rebuilt my pond I went bigger which meant bigger pumps and since i always use 2 pumps i wanted energy savings pumps and went with laguna which also meant a bigger air pump so I bought a laguna air pump also .I do wish now I had gone with the bigger laguna air pump but this one will work .I use 5 lbs now of activated charcoal in each filter and i think that helps

 

[MariaTeresa]

My pond is approximately 1000 gallons with 4 goldfish. Two are about 8" and the other two are about 3-4".

 

[Meyer Jordan]

My pond is approximately 1000 gallons with 4 goldfish. Two are about 8" and the other two are about 3-4".

You may be OK for the time being. If your fish multiply or you add fish, you will definitely need to add biofiltration.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

when I rebuilt my pond I went bigger which meant bigger pumps and since i always use 2 pumps i wanted energy savings pumps and went with laguna which also meant a bigger air pump so I bought a laguna air pump also .I do wish now I had gone with the bigger laguna air pump but this one will work .I use 5 lbs now of activated charcoal in each filter and i think that helps

Sissy, how often do you change/replace the charcoal?

 

[sissy]

koi clay brings out the color in goldfish also .I have koi and goldfish .I even asked ponddigger because I never see anything about koi clay any more

 

[sissy]

I clean it and reuse it at least every 6 months .If you keep it clean it will last longer .I buy it from a guy here that sells it to me in buckets .My neighbor buys hers on ebay .She gets 15 lbs from one dealer on there but I am not sure which one but I think she said it was 23 or 24 dollars and was in a black bag with free shipping .I get my black bags from the guy who sells to me.Also to include here I use the old stuff in my stock tanks and then it goes in my veggie gardens

 

[slakker]

I go thru a cycle at the beginning of every spring when I turn the waterfall on... it doesn't get as green as your's sound, but I just attribute it to the first "nitrogen cycle" developing. I also add beneficial bacteria once I turn the pumps on to aid in the speed of the cycle.

 

[MitchM]

As far as I know, you cannot clean activated charcoal so that it can be reused for it's original purpose.

 

[MariaTeresa]

What is the purpose of the activated charcoal?