2nd Year Swimming Pond Troubleshooting

[Jrosco34]

I have a 2nd year natural swimming pond I built and I am needing some help toubleshooting and coming up with a game plan to get my pond heading in the right direction. Here a quick background on where I am at. Year one was great, plants did well, water was crystal clear, then around Sept. last year we had a massive storm and extreme heat and had a massive algae bloom. Since then I have not been able to get the algae under control. Now the plants and slow growing, turning yellow, floating plants won't survive, however the water has been very clear all season until this past week. The water now starts to get a light green tint during the day, but clears back up overnight.

Here is my water test numbers that I know. Phosphates 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, PH fluctuates between 6.5 and 8 throughout the day.
40,000 gal pond, 3 to 8 ft deep, 90' x 45'

I did just recently add fish into the pond, it has never had any. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[Jhn]

What types of plants do you have in the pond?

what type of filter system? Circulation?

Any pics to share of the pond will help us see what is going on, as well.

Not surprising your test results are what they are as the algae is consuming everything.

Ideally, You want to put in aggressive quick growing plants that can be weeded back easily, these are big nutrient consumers and will usually out compete algae and starve it out.

 

[Jrosco34]

For plants I have quite a few but definitely need them to get bigger and fill in.
Thalia, Pickerel, Water Iris (2 species), Hardy Water Lilies, Hibiscus, Rushes (3 varieties), Cattails, Marsh Marigolds, Water Hyacinth (Dying), Water Lettuce (Alive but not doing well.) I had Hornwort and water grass (Vallisneria), last year but they all died.

Circulation I have a bio filter with a 3 bin K1 media system, 30,000 lph flow rate, also I have a low volume lift pump setup under the entire plant zone with 6 aerators returning water back into the pond.

I just recently add 5 Butterfly Koi, approx. 6-7" and 10 Blue Tilapia. Also have 50 trap door snails, and a fair amount of frogs as well.

 

[Jhn]

Nice looking pond, as for your plants that is a decent variety. However, those aren’t the greatest at least initially for nutrient uptake. Like irises for me they usually take a couple years to really get going, pickerel rush, hibiscus all the same. Word of advice Dutch the cattails they are a pita once established and watch the rushes to their roots can be aggressive on some varieties. Thalia for me is always a slow grower and water lilies don’t really help a whole lot in the nutrient departmen.

Try water cress, creeping Jenny, water celery, water forgetmenots, all are very fast growers and will suck up nutrients in the water while doing it. Bonus is they all pull out very easily so when they get out of control pull a bunch out and let them start over again. Can also try taros, cannas, depending on your planting zone many of these have winter hardy varieties. These can get pretty large and quickly, consuming quite abit of nutrients, as well.

 

[Jrosco34]

Thanks for the info, I can buy the Water Celery currently in stock locally so I will put some of them in. The Taros and Cannas won't survive the winter in my Zone, I wish they would though. The Lilies are primary there to add lots of shade to the water once they get bigger. Unfortunately the one Aquatic Plant Shop (Which is where I got all mine to start with) did not survive last year so I really have no place local to buy, and online plants have been hit or miss in their quality.