Jon_Murgie

When we bought our hose about 18 months ago there was already a pond in the back garden with around 30ish fish in there. They seem to be mostly Carp/Koi things ranging from 5/6 inches to 12/14 inches. Anyhow, the pond wasn't clear when we moved in and 18 months later and a few things tried and it's still not clear

Firstly the pond is approx. 3500 gallons and has a surface area of 2.2square metres. It's one with a pond liner rather than a plastic shell. Looking at the paperwork we got with the house it is about 13 years old.

Now when we moved in the previous owners said the pond was murky due to needing a new UV bulb, which we replaced straight away expecting some improvement. Nothing significant changed.

I then took on the nasty task of cleaning out the filter as it hadn't been touched in god knows how many years. I know this can damage the balance of the pond but we just wanted to see if anything changed. After a horrible time of getting the filter etc. clean this also made no difference.

Taking advice from the local aquatic centre we added some plant life (there was none before) but apart from one selection of reed like plants the fish dug at the soil, loosened all the plants and made the water even murkier!

We then decided we would change the water, so we spent a weekend taking about 20% of the pond water into a temporary pool, then catching the fish. This also enabled us to count the fish and there were almost 40 (and 5 frogs). We then drained the rest of the pond out and removed the cr&p from the bottom (along with an array of other items including tennis racquets!). We also scrubbed the sides of the pond as best we could. We then filled the pond back up and added the necessary chemicals to de-chlorine the water etc. Finally we added the fish back in along with that 20% of the water we took out, to keep some of the nutrients etc.

I guess we were expecting this to be the solution as 80% of the water was clean, but a few weeks later it's about as murky as it was when we moved in...

So we're now at the end of our tether with this damned pond, almost ready to rip the thing out! Before we do that has anyone got any advice they may be able to give as to how to improve the clarity of the water?

I should point out that up to now we have avoided using any chemicals as our dog seems to like drinking the water...

So, any suggestions?

Cheers
Jon

mart360

one method that will work,

put a hose in and start it running,

allow the pond to overflow to drain,

after about a week pond will be crystal clear.

mart

Merv

iTrader: (12)

Jon,have you got the surface area correct?As nearly 16000 litres under 2.2sqm would have to go down about 7 metres.

If you pm your exact pond dimentions,pump size or make/model and the U/V wattage we will try and sort it for you.

Merv

David_Wallis

I was going to also say what size is your pump and filter.

Are pond was pretty bad and after fitting a fairly large pump and filter after a week or two it turned pretty clear, we have lots of plants too.. they have some plastic 'hessian' type matting which keeps the soil in the baskets.

David

RedFive

Here I was trying to get all these funny non-metric thingies translated into my head, and I came up with a 6 meter deep pond LOL.

Unless you don't live in the UK or near it, I'd say leave your pond alone for a bit.

David Lock

Is it green or just muddy sort of colour? Do you still have plants in there with fish digging them up, sorry wasn't clear about this?

I think it will be OK till Spring and you don't want to stress out fish too much when they are trying to hibernate!!

kbsub

That would work ........ then it will kill all the fish from the contaminates in tap water

Billbill

A good diotomacious filtration system will also work.
Also, recirculation pump with adequate filter to exchange a minimum of total water volume twice daily.
It is all in the quality of the filtration system and how often the filters are cleaned.
To clear our pond water, in the Spring, we clean the filter daily until we have the desired results.
Your pond MAY be overpopulated with fish also. Fish feces need constant filtration and cleaning of the filter. Weekly.
Hope this helps a bit.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

You need to add oxygenating plants - reed like plants are very unlikely to do the trick.

The other thing you need is a small (softball size) bale of barley straw - this should be available from most aquatic centres.

The final thing is that if the pond has a thick sediment on the bottom and the fish are not fed then it will get murky as carp love to stir the bottom up as you discovered.

Speak to a good aquatic centre (not just any old garden centre) and I am sure you will get the same advice as given above. It worked a treat on my pond after being like pea soup for two years.

You will also find commercial trout fisheries use the same approach to keep their lakes clear for fishermen.

Rannoch

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

We moved recently into a house with a pond a little smaller than yours.
Water was ink black & there was a layer of scum/leaves on the bottom about 4" thick. We only knew there were fish in there when they came to the surface.
First I tried a partial water change, I took about 85% of the water out & about 85% of the "gunge" out then re-filled. After the water settled it was exactly the same, perhaps a tad cleaner but not much.
I then decided to do a full water change (against advice)
I drained all the water out, took out all the gunge & hosed the pond down so that it was completely cleaned.
Then re-filled, added a simple filter (one that looks like a flowerpot with brick-ettes in it & left it for a day or so. I re-introduced the fish (was lucky as they were being held in another smaller pond) & plant-life.
8 months on the pond is crystal clear & no problems.
If you look into the filter the brickettes are filthy dirty, showing how much gunge they filter out, but hold a glass under the water coming through the filter & its crystal clear.
Like you I was told under no circumstances to try & clean the filter as it upsets the balance, just let it get on with it.
I also had a problem with the pond being over run with that green weed like stuff thats all stringy when you take it out - its got a name but can't remember what it is (blanketweed?) Anyway the pond shop reccomended a product (if u want the name let me know) that you mix, leave overnight to firment & then add to the pond to remove this weed & it really works. Also helps to break down other stuff too (leaves, etc)

R.

David Lock

A few more random comments

1) I think number of fish is OK assuming your surface area calcs are wrong! I have a slightly larger pond with about 150 fish which is way too many but I manage to keep pond clear without plants aside from one nightmare when UV's packed up.

2) A lot seems to point towards the adequacy of your filter and pump. Some people will select a pump that will recirculate water every 2 hours. So you need something like a 10,000 litre per hour pump. Important to keep this clean and unclogged if it is a submersible.

3) You know this already of course but the filter will be providing a mechanical clean as well as a bacteria action but there won't be much of this happening at this cold time of year. If you sling out the bacteria when cleaning the filter then it does take some time for the process to re-establish itself. One tip is to clean part of the filter e.g. the mats or bristle brushes one week and the settlement area another week. That way you keep the filter active.

All this assumes that your dog is not secretly using your pond as a washing and swimming area with his mates dl

Edited to ask. I got caught out once with murky pond as unbeknown to me there was a point where garden run-off water was leaching into pond. So every time it rained heavily pond got topped up with muddy water!! Might be worth a check??

Sbradley

Roshambo, please post the name of your wonder pond cleaner! I've almost tried everything and nothing really works...

It it same to use with fish and other pond life (frogs, toads and newts)?

SB

RoShamBo

iTrader: (1)

yep, will dig it out tonight (must remember) Perfectly safe for fish, frogs etc. We have 9 frogs / 5 fish & all were fine. Only lost one fish this summer - to a bloody Heron !

R.

Leslie

As well as the oxygenating plants, it is also possible to get some ultra fine chalk compound which is designed for the job. You sprinkle a thin layer on top of the water, it will slowly sink over a few days and it takes the muddy particles in the water down to the bottom. It also lowers the acid level of the water which is very good for the aquatic life including the fish. You should be able to get a bag through a pond supply firm.

Les