Came home to a green pond

[Jimmy Gibson]

I will begin this post with "Forgive me Father for I have sinned"....As I posted earlier I am new to this forum and have a brand new pond....I had said I wasn't going to put any fish in until spring....but temptation got the best of me and I went to Petsmart and bought a 4" Butterfly Koi....the little guy was doing great for two days....the next day he disappeared....not in the skimmer...couldn't find him in the pre-filter basket...I had to go out of town for 7 days, when I came back my pond is green with floating algae...I found his remains in the pre-filter....not seeking absolution or penance....lol.....just advice on how to clear it up....Jimmy

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

I will begin this post with "Forgive me Father for I have sinned"....As I posted earlier I am new to this forum and have a brand new pond....I had said I wasn't going to put any fish in until spring....but temptation got the best of me and I went to Petsmart and bought a 4" Butterfly Koi....the little guy was doing great for two days....the next day he disappeared....not in the skimmer...couldn't find him in the pre-filter basket...I had to go out of town for 7 days, when I came back my pond is green with floating algae...I found his remains in the pre-filter....not seeking absolution or penance....lol.....just advice on how to clear it up....Jimmy

Also I have a Aqua Ultraviolet 57 watt UV filter...I had not turned it on before....but have it on now

 

[sissy]

you can use quilt batting to pick up the finer stuff .

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Now that you presumably are back to 'no fish', the algae bloom should dissipate on its own fairly quickly.

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Now that you presumably are back to 'no fish', the algae bloom should dissipate on its own fairly quickly.

Yes....Lesson learned....I am going to work on getting it cycled...and wait until late March for fish.....I also going to come up with some netting to put over the main drain.....even though it is only 1/2" gap the little guy found his way in there

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Without fish you won't get a cycle, unless you are going to try a fishless cycle. By adding ammonia and running the test thru the cycle.
The big problem is putting the fish at the right moment to keep the beneficial bacteria fed.

Ruben

 

[Faebinder]

Where are you located state wise? It's winter everywhere now and adding fish to a pond could range from mildly not recommended to highly disastrous.

 

[Faebinder]

Ok lemme take 5 minutes to type this... algae bloom is secondary to algae feeding material like phosphates, ammonia, nitrates and sunlight. Algae growth is the result of one or multiple of the following:

1- too many fish, like putting 4 koi in 500 gallon pond... bound to become a problem.

2- too much feeding, like feeding in winter when clearly the fish don't want to eat much or are even trying to stay torpor and the food is just settling at the bottom

3- too much sunlight. Like a pair of trees that covered your pond went leaveless in the winter and light seeped in.

4- too few plants. Like in winter when the plants go dormant so they don't consume phos ammonia and nitrates..

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

Ok lemme take 5 minutes to type this... algae bloom is secondary to algae feeding material like phosphates, ammonia, nitrates and sunlight. Algae growth is the result of one or multiple of the following:

1- too many fish, like putting 4 koi in 500 gallon pond... bound to become a problem.

2- too much feeding, like feeding in winter when clearly the fish don't want to eat much or are even trying to stay torpor and the food is just settling at the bottom

3- too much sunlight. Like a pair of trees that covered your pond went leaveless in the winter and light seeped in.

4- too few plants. Like in winter when the plants go dormant so they don't consume phos ammonia and nitrates..

I think what happened....I put one 4" Koi in a new 3000 gallon pond....I know it was a bad idea....my main drain has a 1/2" gap... Somehow the little guy ended up in pump pre filter and his decomposing body added enough fertilizer to cause the bloom... Was just wondering how to clear the water.....there is no fish in the pond right now

 

[Faebinder]

I think what happened....I put one 4" Koi in a new 3000 gallon pond....I know it was a bad idea....my main drain has a 1/2" gap... Somehow the little guy ended up in pump pre filter and his decomposing body added enough fertilizer to cause the bloom... Was just wondering how to clear the water.....there is no fish in the pond right now

Are you able to do a water change?

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

I did a partial... Maybe a third... But not a full one

 

[Faebinder]

I did a partial... Maybe a third... But not a full one

That's a start.

Change the water, let the filter work and make sure you have enough plants in the spring to suck in all the nutrients that the green algae uses.

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

I was very pleased today when I got home from work....the water is a bit clearer....but we had a heavy rain last night....so I had to get rid of about 3" of water....so I decided to backwash my Ultima 6000....the discharge was bright green for a good two minutes....then light green to clear in the next minute....I was happy that my filter was captured some of the algae....I think in my zest for a awesome waterfall I may have oversized my pump....but that's for another post....Thanks to all you guys for your help

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

That's a start.

Change the water, let the filter work and make sure you have enough plants in the spring to suck in all the nutrients that the green algae uses.

Also about the shelfs...I have have shelfs built in to the pond they are there....just waiting for spring to use them....lol

 

[Jimmy Gibson]

I would suggest that you guys read the above post before you make judgment on me.....lol .....Last Saturday Sarah and I went to a fish farm about 30 miles from us, that sells game fish for ponds and lakes, but we had heard they also sold Koi..,.they told us that they wouldn't have the Koi out of their ponds until March....as we were walking away the guy said but I have two Koi that didn't make it back to the pond last fall, there were two Koi in a 4' x 6' tank maybe with some Channel catfish ..... They had been there since last October.....I asked the guy how much he wants for them, he said $20.00 for both.....before I could say anything Sarah said SOLD!!!! I would like to introduce you to Donald (bright Orange with a few black spots)....and Hillary ( white with a bright yellow head).... Sarah and I consider these rescue fish....they will be our anchor fish...they are here to stay.....they are doing great....the water is clear again, due to me turning on my UV light.....but every sprig of string algae for some reason has disappeared.....lol.....and yes I have my API Master kit and keeping a close tab on the water quality..... I was wondering how I was going to cycle my new pond....guess I found it