Best Way to Establish A Balanced Ecosystem

[Dunky]

Hello! I am in the process of building my 1st water garden feature and I really want to be successful so I am reaching out for assistance. I moved into a place last year that had a 100 gallon fiberglass molded pond feature in a really odd spot in the lawn and with no electrical or plumbing supplied to it so it basically just turned into a mosquito breeder. Well thanks to the abundant free time COVID stay at home orders have given us... the time finally came to fix the pond and get it going with a more proper pump setup to avoid stagnant water. I did a bunch of research on this and have seen many conflicting opinions so I wanted to ask a few specific question about my situation to a more experienced audience, so hopefully I am in the right place

To explain: I have a 100 gallon fiberglass pond about 8 inches deep.For circulation I have two submersion fish tank pump/sponge-filter combos installed running at about 50 gallons per hour each and some tubing to act as a kind of 'fountain' just tossing about a 4-5" arc up out of the water. Its rather minimal but something to drive oxygenation and its only 100 gallons, nothing fancy. The area gets several hours of direct sunlight during the summer months, and its already turning green.

So to my questions, well I guess one question really:
I live in an area with alot of plant fall debris. Oak leaves, acorns, pine needles, more pollen than you have ever seen. Some is bigger than others and easy to clean up but even with skimming the pond every day I am struggling to keep up and seeing buildup on the bottom of the pond. I am concerned about algae blooms and would like to get a plan going with some organisms to help me with this. I have ordered some water lettuce to help balance some of the sunlight coming into the water and eat up some of the nutrients. Will this be sufficient or should I look at some bottom feeder type helpers like aquatic snails, or maybe a shrimp or crustacean type solution. I honestly have no idea and am looking for ideas of how to setup something that can find an equilibrium. The water lettuce will help with sunlight / alage but the plant debris is going to be an ongoing problem. Oh and if by chance geography would alter your response I live not far north of Boston MA, hopefully thats helpful.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom and advice! Cheers!

 

[AlyssaFish]

The easiest solution would be to prevent the the plant debris from landing in the pond in the first place by setting up a leaf net or something. However, that's kinda ugly in my opinion.

Second best solution is to clear up the plant matter every day. If you can get a skimmer that will collect plant matter before it sinks to the bottom and simply empty the skimmer out regularly, that would be a lot more convenient than netting it out every day.

There is nothing that you can put in the water that will eat decaying plant matter fast enough to keep your water clear. With the small volume of water, it's going to be even harder to keep the nutrients in the water low.

If you're not able to keep the water nutrient level low, then algae will grow unless you're able to put enough plants in the pond to out-compete it. Water lettuce might be enough, but you won't know unless you try.

You could try dying the water to reduce the amount of sunlight that is able to penetrate into the water and feed it. However, this means you will have dark blue water in your pond, and may stain things. I don't know if you find that idea appealing, but pond water dyes are available commercially.

I don't think adding snails, shrimp, or other animals would be helpful. Animals poop and make algae food. However, I am not an expert on invertebrates by any means. I could be wrong.

 

[j.w]

@Dunky

 

[bggenie]

I prefer water hyacinyth to water lettuce, it will multiply and sun shield your water to help with green water. Maybe you could plant a small tree to create some shade. If you rent and can't plant, try some pavers with a large potted bush or small tree on either side of your pond. My pond is small but deep (about 3' deep), I keep a wire frame over it until all the pollen and leaves have dropped and in the spring when the water warms I tie a black garbage plastic over the top to keep sunlight out. Then, in May every year I do a 75% water change.

 

[Lizabeth Harris]

Hello! I am in the process of building my 1st water garden feature and I really want to be successful so I am reaching out for assistance. I moved into a place last year that had a 100 gallon fiberglass molded pond feature in a really odd spot in the lawn and with no electrical or plumbing supplied to it so it basically just turned into a mosquito breeder. Well thanks to the abundant free time COVID stay at home orders have given us... the time finally came to fix the pond and get it going with a more proper pump setup to avoid stagnant water. I did a bunch of research on this and have seen many conflicting opinions so I wanted to ask a few specific question about my situation to a more experienced audience, so hopefully I am in the right place

To explain: I have a 100 gallon fiberglass pond about 8 inches deep.For circulation I have two submersion fish tank pump/sponge-filter combos installed running at about 50 gallons per hour each and some tubing to act as a kind of 'fountain' just tossing about a 4-5" arc up out of the water. Its rather minimal but something to drive oxygenation and its only 100 gallons, nothing fancy. The area gets several hours of direct sunlight during the summer months, and its already turning green. Oh... to be clearer I have the Amoeba Form "I" from these guys

So to my questions, well I guess one question really:
I live in an area with alot of plant fall debris. Oak leaves, acorns, pine needles, more pollen than you have ever seen. Some is bigger than others and easy to clean up but even with skimming the pond every day I am struggling to keep up and seeing buildup on the bottom of the pond. I am concerned about algae blooms and would like to get a plan going with some organisms to help me with this. I have ordered some water lettuce to help balance some of the sunlight coming into the water and eat up some of the nutrients. Will this be sufficient or should I look at some bottom feeder type helpers like aquatic snails, or maybe a shrimp or crustacean type solution. I honestly have no idea and am looking for ideas of how to setup something that can find an equilibrium. The water lettuce will help with sunlight / alage but the plant debris is going to be an ongoing problem. Oh and if by chance geography would alter your response I live not far north of Boston MA, hopefully thats helpful.

Thanks in advance for any wisdom and advice! Cheers!

 

[lamby]

Regarding the use of pond dyes, I have used black dye in my pond and everyone really likes it. Unlike the blue dye, the black looks very natural and makes the plants stand out beautifully--almost like a mirror effect. I only put it in when I notice that algae is forming and it really seems to help. The dye gradually fades over a period of about a month and there is no harm done. It doesn't stain plants, rocks or harm any wildlife--a good solution in my opinion. Like you, I also have lots of pollen during the spring months and a lot of stuff dropping from trees. I skim the pond as often as needed to remove any accumulation of debris but would not want to be doing it once a day, as you are doing! As for floaters, in previous years I have used water lettuce and water hyacinth but this year I decided to not get them. So far, I am pleased with how things are going. I highly recommend buying a few water lilies, as they are really beautiful and the leaves will provide some coverage to shade the water. Although, they won't bloom if your fountain sprays onto them, so that could be an issue. Good luck and enjoy your new interest!