Green water help

[dieselplower]

There will probably be some members who will disagree with me but if you can match tap and pond water temperatures and the tap and pond ph are close to the same, you can do a 100% water change if you want. Just be sure to dechlorinate the water if you are on city water. I would be interested to see your ponds levels of ammonia and nitrate. Are the fish's fins clamped? A UV sterlizer is not something I would recommend for you right now.The green water is helping to keep your water less toxic to the fish than it would be without the green water.

 

[pjnff8]

Ahhh I see, understandable, we've all been there, this can be stressful at times.
Ok reds, suggestion is a good one, I don't have a uv light as I have a bog. Plants are going to be a really big help to you. Water plants like reeds or rushes have extensive root systems. You could use your top spill over as a bog and put plants in it, and the plants and pea gravel would filter your water. The plants should be put in the gravel bare root. What this does is, the plants use up all of the neutrients and leaves nothing for the algae to survive. Would this be a possibility?

Would rushes and reeds grow in that shallow of water? Are there any other plant that will help?

 

[dieselplower]

Also, yes, removing some fish would help. And yes, stop with the chemicals! I have never used anything in my pond except water, food, pump, filter, uv. No chemicals.

 

[Tula]

With the loss of your two fish, you still have about 20? In my opinion that is too many for the size of your pond.

Could you add some oxygenator plants, like anacharis? Adding more aeration and shade would also help.

 

[j.w]

Yep Rushes and Reeds will grow in shallow water. So will the Yellow Flag Iris. I have all 3 in my pond.

 

[pjnff8]

Yep Rushes and Reeds will grow in shallow water. So will the Yellow Flag Iris. I have all 3 in my pond.
View attachment 71645

First of all your pond look amazing! I just bought some rushes and a lily. Should I put pea gravel down and plant them in it? It should I just set the plant in?

 

[j.w]

You can put in gravel or 100% clay kitty litter(says on side of bag) w/ no additives or perfume. Stuff at Walmart called Special Kitty Litter in either a red or blue bag works great. This year I decided to try my water lilies w/ no soil of any kind in a basket w/ just a rock or two holding them down. The jury is still out on this idea. Might take a year or so to get them going good this way. With my reed plant I just stuck it in a basket and put some big rocks squishing next to it in the basket to keep it in place w/ no soil. It is doing well. Same w/ one of my rushes, just shoved it in a pot w/ no soil. Your choice tho. Stuck my Yellow Flag Iris's in between the lower edge rocks w/ their feet in the water and they grow such big roots they started knocking the big rocks off the water ledge so not doing that anymore. Now some have made their way into the pond just growing by floating straight up starting to form little islands. Colleen here on this forum has a huge island of them just free floating in her pond. Those things suck up the excess nutrients like crazy too.

 

[pjnff8]

You can put in gravel or 100% clay kitty litter(says on side of bag) w/ no additives or perfume. Stuff at Walmart called Special Kitty Litter in either a red or blue bag works great. This year I decided to try my water lilies w/ no soil of any kind in a basket w/ just a rock or two holding them down. The jury is still out on this idea. Might take a year or so to get them going good this way. With my reed plant I just stuck it in a basket and put some big rocks squishing next to it in the basket to keep it in place w/ no soil. It is doing well. Same w/ one of my rushes, just shoved it in a pot w/ no soil. Your choice tho. Stuck my Yellow Flag Iris's in between the lower edge rocks w/ their feet in the water and they grow such big roots they started knocking the big rocks off the water ledge so not doing that anymore. Now some have made their way into the pond just growing by floating straight up starting to form little islands. Colleen here on this forum has a huge island of them just free floating in her pond. Those things suck up the excess nutrients like crazy too.

Okay, well our plants we have now are just in the pond still in there pots, is this bad? For the new ones do I need a basket if I am just going to plant them in the pea gravel? I have also been told pea gravel causes a lot of algae in you pond, is there a certain amount I should put in? Thank you all for all of your help, I really appreciate the help.

 

[j.w]

You can leave them in pots but if they have lots of roots and need a bigger pot you can transplant them. You can use a pot or a basket or any kind of container except metal as it will rust. Does not have to have holes in it but easier if you have to lift out of pond if they have a hole to let the heavy water run out. You can line the pot w/ holes in it w/ landscaping cloth so the dirt/gravel doesn't come out the holes if you like but you don't have to. Never noticed an algae problem when mine were in pots of gravel. Just put the pea gravel like you would soil to cover the roots to the top of the pot. W/water lilies don't cover the whole lily tuber tho. Leave the top exposed at the surface.

 

[pjnff8]

You can leave them in pots but if they have lots of roots and need a bigger pot you can transplant them. You can use a pot or a basket or any kind of container except metal as it will rust. Does not have to have holes in it but easier if you have to lift out of pond if they have a hole to let the heavy water run out. You can line the pot w/ holes in it w/ landscaping cloth so the dirt/gravel doesn't come out the holes if you like but you don't have to. Never noticed an algae problem when mine were in pots of gravel. Just put the pea gravel like you would soil to cover the roots to the top of the pot. W/water lilies don't cover the whole lily tuber tho. Leave the top exposed at the surface.

Okay, so one more question. Should I add pea gravel to the whole bottom of my pond or is that bad to do?

 

[dieselplower]

Opinions vary on that but I prefer bare bottom.

 

[Lisak1]

Opinions vary on that but I prefer bare bottom.

...ahem...

 

[Fishylove]

If you would like to start a mini bog, than yes fill the spill over up with pea gravel and just plop the plants into it. The piping that is bringing water back up from the bottom pond should be situated in a way that it will flow thru the pea gravel and the plants in it, and spill over to the next pond. This will act as a small bog/ filter and the water flowing thru the plants, the roots of the plants will absorb neutrients from the water, and if you have enough plants, the algae will have nothing left to feed it
Sorta long winded but there ya go lol

 

[j.w]

If just a regular pond w/ fish and plants I prefer no gravel or rocks on the bottom. It will just increase your cleaning and build up a lot of muck in between the cracks of the rocks that you can only get to doing some kind of vacuuming or however those do it that have rocks. I tried having gravel in the bottom of my bathtub pond I have and I did not like it at all. Some love it and do have ways of cleaning but it's just not for me. In a bog for just plants the gravel is great!