Green Water Help?

[Grammie717]

Ok the pond is actually a 300 gallon stock tank sunk into the ground. the filter system is powered by a pump that pumps around 300 gph. Filter system includes poly fill and dense media. The fountain in the center of the pond is a UV pump. We had a clear pond until about 3 weeks ago, pond was put in around April of this year (it replaced a smaller pond). Pond has about 10 fish in it ranging from 2 inches long to 8 inches long.

I cannot get the water to clear up and I am at a loss. Ph tested high, ammonia tested at 0 and nitrates tested at zero. Pond is filled with well water.

any ideas?

 

[dieselplower]

This question gets asked about once a day. Normally its too many fish, not enough filtration, too much feeding, or the pond cycle has not completed. often it is a combination. Looks like that pond is in full sun as well. I imagine a 300 gph pump going up to that waterfall might be pumping closer to 100 gph. Filter looks a bit small too. I would wait it out for a while.

 

[dieselplower]

Also how long have you been using that UV bulb? They are good for about 1 year. If it was in your old pond previously, it is doing nothing now. The new bulb would likely clear up that pea soup.

 

[Grammie717]

the UV light was added in May so its new this year. I know that the question gets asked frequently and I hesitated to ask...finally just thought that the only dumb question might be the one that I dont ask. I am wondering about over crowding on the fish that is one of the reasons we upgraded to the 300 gallons versus the smaller one. Yes it is in full sun and I am not sure what to so to fix that....am wondering if we added ice to cool the water if that would help clear it up? The pond is shaded by the water fall in the mornings. The filter is 5 gallons so maybe not big enough for this size pond...any recommendations for the size filter I need to upgrade to?

 

[dieselplower]

Hey its ok to ask... Just letting you know some common answers.
Is there any material, like rocks, on the bottom of the pond?
I would start by trying to suck any debris off the bottom... Extra food, poop, etc. This should remove some of the nutrients the algae are snacking on.
I would also suggest a stronger pump if possible, which would help suck up more debris and send it to the filter. A lot of people say your filter should be 10% of your pond volume but some people disagree with that. With your pond being stocked rather heavily, I would lean towards a filter of about 30 gallons, and what I would do is fill the entire thing with gravel. Have the water enter the bottom and flow up and out of the top, waterfalling back into the pond. This has worked very well for me. And be careful not to overfedd the fish

 

[dieselplower]

Oh, I would not bother adding ice. The fish won't like the rapid temperature change. Maybe you could plant a couple tall plants or bushes? Or set up a type of screen or canopy or umbrella? Floating plants also provide some shade. It does start to get expensive huh!?

 

[JohnHuff]

There are no dumb questions! Hard to tell from that pic, but the stuff looks like more like floating particles rather than algae. Is your mechanical filtration picking up any solids?

 

[Grammie717]

I just told dad that we needed a 30 gallon can to do the filtering thanks for that clue. The filter is picking up green crap (which is what lead me to believe it was algae. no rocks on the bottom, I figured that out with the smaller pond that had rocks in it....rocks stank to high heaven so no rocks in this one.

So no poly fill or dense media in the larger filter? just gravel? Can I have the water enter the top via PVC to the bottom (current set up) then gravity flow to the water fall?

 

[HTH]

It would be best if you figured out what was in the water. Finding some algae in the filter does not mean that algae is the problem.

Fill a white 5 gallon bucket with water and look at the bottom. If it is a suspended algae problem you should see green.

You said you have zero nitrates. You only have a few potted plants which would not be using the nitrates. So where did the nitrates go? We have had a few people claiming zero nitrates and unless you have a lot of plants consuming nitrates they should slowly rise over time even with a fully cycled bio filter. (think bog filters maybe the exception)

EDIT: Should mention that green water consumes ammonia and nitrates. So if you do have green water it may explain the nitrates.

 

[Grammie717]

i assumed it was algae floating in the water since i can see algae on the sides and on the pump and well on every surface. when waster is pulled from the pond and there is not circulation the green does in fact settle to the bottom

 

[JohnHuff]

I've actually never seen 0 nitrates myself even with a pond filled with greens and tanks full of plants.

If your mechanical filter is picking it up, then just wait a little while. You might also need a tighter mechanical filter to filter out more algae.

 

[Mmathis]

the UV light was added in May so its new this year. I know that the question gets asked frequently and I hesitated to ask...finally just thought that the only dumb question might be the one that I dont ask. I am wondering about over crowding on the fish that is one of the reasons we upgraded to the 300 gallons versus the smaller one. Yes it is in full sun and I am not sure what to so to fix that....am wondering if we added ice to cool the water if that would help clear it up? The pond is shaded by the water fall in the mornings. The filter is 5 gallons so maybe not big enough for this size pond...any recommendations for the size filter I need to upgrade to?

My pond is a year old. For the first 6 months all I did was ask questions. The sad part was that I usually asked the same questions over and over and over.... [I'm a little dense sometimes!] Never hesitate to ask ANY question. No matter how " dumb" it might seem to you, or how trivial it might seem to a dozen readers, there will be that ONE OTHER PERSON out there with the same question -- and that's what we're all here for: to help each other. I don't think the comment was meant as a criticism, but more as an observation. Ask away

 

[HTH]

Grammie
You know what they say about assumptions!

I've actually never seen 0 nitrates myself even with a pond filled with greens and tanks full of plants.

If your mechanical filter is picking it up, then just wait a little while. You might also need a tighter mechanical filter to filter out more algae.

I agree on not seeing zero but people here claim it frequently. Always makes me wonder if they get nitrate and nitrite mixed up

 

[Grammie717]

Grammie
You know what they say about assumptions!

I agree on not seeing zero but people here claim it frequently. Always makes me wonder if they get nitrate and nitrite mixed up

oh oh looking at the test kit right now and your right I did get them mixed up I was testing for Nitrite not nitrate....

 

[HTH]

While a pond is cycling we mostly watch the ammonia and nitrite. After we need to monitor the nitrate because so long as the bio filter is working we will get close to zero ammonia and nitrite.