Pond Help - Too Green
 

For nearly 2 years our pond has been fine but in the last couple of days has gone very green. I keep filter clean, remove blanket weed (which has been excessive this year). I run some airstones to try and keep O2 up and I have just changed the UV bulbs. At present doing a 25% water change. It is quite large at around 4000 gallons and is slightly overloaded with fish but, as I said, it has managed to cope before. It is in sunny position and, of course, hot at the moment so may be it is just the weather?? Anything else I should be doing? Thanks, David

I use interpret's (sp!) Green Away, seems to work well.
I've had the same issue with blanket weed this year, tried the treatments to no avail.

Hope that helps.

PS. 4000 gallons! that ain't small at all!

Thanks - I keep wondering about trying something like that. Will decide tomorrow after water change (if any fish left!). David

Was going to say UV but looks like you have that covered, try putting some shade over the pond that may help.

Barley straw is good for keeping the blanket down it grows like hell in this weather , the shade will also help with this as well.

Thanks - think you're right about shade. I've some shade netting somewhere so will dig that out. Was chatting to my pond guru this morning who wasn't too keen on my adding any more chemicals right now. He actually said that an irony was that the greenness will actually reduce the blanket weed - what he said made sense but I can't remember the logic right now!!

On a lighter note I couldn't remember if I had to disconnect the UV unit to replace the bulbs. I phoned to ask and guy said "no just leave the system running and unscrew the end and take out old bulbs". NOOOOOOOOOOO. Turn the pump off and drain to avoid getting 15,000 litres an hour of dirty green water sprayed all over you!! I did have words with the guy in question :)

seen this problem on some lakes i have fished in this country (keen carper) on more then a few occasions have seen owners use small bails of hay/straw to solve this not sure what the idea behind it is but seems to work and may be cheaper then some treatments

Thanks Carpy - that'll be barley straw which can help. Pleased to say that pond is gradually getting clearer which I think is down to new UV bulbs getting the job done. Going to be putting some shade over today as well. On lakes I expect you also encounter duckweed - that lime green stuff on surface? Running water is about the only way of getting rid of that. Sorry plenty of carp but no fishing in my pond :)

The blanket weed needs light to grow (which is why it is doing so bloody well at the moment) - green water will take some of the light away. The algae will also take nutrients needed by the blanket weed to grow! My pond is crystal clear (only 1000Gals with a 2500gal capability gravity filter system with UV etc) and the blanket weed is a complete PITA at the moment - have bought a supposed cure which is basically a water softener, but apparently they make things worse before making them better!

I built a small pond (1000 gallon ) a few years ago added a waterfall etc etc but I built a small concrete tank above the pond about a third of the size of the pond this I filled with biological media and pond plants then I added a Hozelock Bioforce filter which serves to just filter the solids out of the water and in about 4 or 5 years never once had a green water problem (and I dont run a U.V. light at all !! )sure I have a bit of blanket weed on the sides , but I am sure the crystal clear water (even in this weather )is due to the large biological area the pond has (between a third and half the surface area of the pond ) so my advice would be to increase your biological area of the filter which is the part the bacteria grow and feed off ammonia an nitrite resulting in gin clear water 12 months a year :)

Imho most modern filter systems are far to small and only serve to get rid of solids and water pass's far to quickly through the filter to actually do any good , an old rule of thumb is water should be in the filter for 20 mins , and with these modern filters its lucky if the water is in there for more than 2 or 3 minutes

good luck :)

Kevin

David, do you do regular water changes ?

If you just replaced the bulbs, have 2 to 3 weeks patience.

Do not throw chemicals into the water.

Increase aeration as the suspende algae consume a lot of oxygen in the early morning.

Not to pic on you, but this theory has been disproven. In fact, the faster the water flows through a filter, the better, as it creates a more solid and coherent bacteria film (as can be seen with electro-microscopes).

It's also not about how big your filter is, but about how much surface area you got.
Systems with kaldness/bioflow don't have to be large at all to be efficient. A 1 m2 filter filled with kaldness is enough to sustain a pond with 3 kg feeding per day. Of course a good mechanical filter is a must with these types of setup.

Interesting comments. When I built the pond I left space behind a wall for an Oase Biotech filter which was supposed to be the Bee's knees. It was hopeless as the screen which was supposed to filter out solids actually got clogged with algae on a daily basis. I am 99% sure they only tested this filter in a lab and not in real conditions. I had reams of correspondence with Oase UK who kept sending me different screens to try. I sent filter back in the end and now use a more traditional Cockney Koi filter - the largest I could fit in the space available. It's fine if I look after it properly.

I do regular water changes but hosepipe ban around here does not help :rolleyes: I cannot comment further on this :)

I also have too many fish but I am not going to knock any on the head so I will have to live with the consequences. Mind you at our local place 16"-18" Koi are £1000 for 3 so I keep wondering....

Kevin, I think you deserve a medal for clear water without UV.

Off to clean filter....................................... again!

David

david-

A mate mentioned something about hosepipe bans and ponds the other day, so I had a quick looksie..

from..

http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handboo...t/section/1167



so now you can water the garden from the pond ;)

How do I do big smilie ???

Thanks, Chip :)

PS. In fact I do plug in a hose running from filter waste pipe to water flower bed - plants love the nutrients.

you're welcome :), this is more definative, as the other link could be read as only applying to commumity/school ponds....



http://handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handboo...t/section/2422

Don't know if this will work....

Pond, fish (when water was clear!), filter

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/broquet/POND.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v207/broquet/FISH.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...uet/Filter.jpg

david

Who has proved this ?? the makers of such filters that reckon they can filter 4000 gallons with a filter the size of a portable TV :D I have proof in my own back garden that the method works i.e. a filter with a surface area 1/3 the size of the pond surface area and retention time of around twenty mins and yes i have done the whole jap koi thing as well with bottom drains and the like , Its simple really big lazy filters work best at keeping the water clear and free from ammonia and nitrite

Also when topping the water up you should look at buying a water purifyer as most tap water contains all sorts of metals ( copper iron lead ) as well as the usual chlorine all of which WILL damage and kill Koi and upset the natural balance in the pond , your water company will guarantee water fit for humans not fish !!

Erm... scientists. People who got fed up with marketing blurb. People who actually test & measure stuff. People who have overstocked ponds.

Portable TV is a bit of an exageration. And you don't filter gallons, you filter waste/load. A portable TV sized filter would do well with 100.000 gallons if you only have one fish in it ...

You are saying 2 things:

1) it works. Of course it does. It was long used, and it's great when you have the space for it (which could be used for more pond, more pond :D ) However, things have moved on. It is no longer "the rule". And I'm glad I'm not the one who has to clean it...

2) it's best. No it's not :)

Usable surface area has got nothing to do with the size of your filter BTW, but with the materials used to grow your biofilm on. A mistake often made.

David knows well enough his real problem is overstocking... if your filter does work properly, of course you will have a build-up of nitrate, which is yummie to both suspended or string algae. The only way to get rid of that excess nitrate is:

. many many plants (marginals)
. trickle towers (perhaps, not proven yet)
. water changes
. chemicals (yuk)
. UV (in the case of suspended algae, but you have to be able to filter the dead algae out, algae love dead algae :D )

Anyway, always nice to see people knowing better than say Peter Waddington, Koi2000 etc... Did you win many prices with your fish ? Did you actually read up on this in say the last 3 years, like, daily ?

David, I'm sorry to say the Oase filters are, erm, crap. They make excellent pumps, no doubt about that, but their filters are almost like a scam to be honest, as you had to find out.

The pond does look nice though, but you just *know* something will have to give :p Start digging ...

Call me old fashioned then :p:D

That's better girls............. :) :)

That's the the thing with S.N. there always some smart ar$e will come along and contradict you ;):D

I'm still saying the same as I did 2 years ago in our email conversations though :p

That's called progress son :p

I am not your son ......thank God :razz:

You don't like smart kids then ? ;)

Listen here ... I was trying to give the bloke some honest advise based on my experience's with Koi and pond building and that advice is still good ( to enlarge the biological area of the filter ) and will still work for him , I maybe be out of touch with latest developments in the Koi world (I filled my Koi pond in 2000 ) But I did meet Peter Waddington , bought some fish from Infiltration and read his first book Koi Kichi and attended a few National shows (Billing etc )And from his photos he as far to many fish and to smaller a filter (dont think its one of the latest an greatest ) So stop being a clever dick an let someone else have a opinion on what might work for the bloke . Looking at my Pond this evening I must be doing something right ;)

You've lost me on this one????????

PS. FWIW I have actually found both sides of the discussion very interesting so thanks for contributions. david

Ah, you did meet Waddy then :D

Koi Kichi very much would point to a setup like you have (that, or throwing a bike into a green pond ;) ). In the mean time, he did change his mind, and not only because of marketing/money.

He very much endorses Evolution Aqua now, which includes stuff like the Answer, Kaldness, etc. And when I looked at my pond this evening, I thought the very same thing ;) There is a Koi Kichi II out now BTW.

Why did you fill in the Koi pond ? Not because, like me, you got a 3.500 UKP bill for heating it during winter I hope (which I just received :( )

I filled the pond in because I was going to make it bigger ( from 3000 galls to 5000 galls ) but the weekend I started digging to enlarge the " hole " It never stopped raining all weekend and my two "friends " who where supposed to be helping never showed , the mud was that wet it was just sticking to the bucket , So I took it as a omen not to carry on , Instead I ended up with the pond I have now with a few small English Koi and Goldfish . I had loads of problems with Koi dying (mostly from Clearwater Koi ) which I eventually traced back to too much Iron in the tap water when I eventually got a properly rated water purifier sorted out I had already filled it in , looking back now I throwed thousands of pounds in to that pond and with hindsight If I were to build another one It would be under cover (protection from acid rain !)Have the best water purifier available and a really good heating system Installed , But I would have to win the Lottery first ;) High maintenance those Japanese Koi :(

Oh and I suppose I would have to look into these new filter systems as well :D

I sometimes wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper to just dig a small hole, throw in say 5K UKP, and fill it in again :D

I consider my pond as an outdoor aquarium TBH. Some people do built a "roof" on top of it to keep out rain.

I guess you were unlucky with your koi, but it's a small nightmare when they do go. I didn't have any fatalities or illnesses for 2.5 years now (about 40 fish), but I also don't dare to buy new fish with all the HIV malarchy and all that. Heating the pond in winter surely helped with that, as you can keep feeding them all year round, keep the filter running all year round (so no startup problems in spring etc), but the 3.5K bill didn't exactly make me happy...

Nah, they're crap :p