Hello! Pond Nightmare here. :)

[flareyflan]

Hi Everyone. My name is Arianne and I just inherited a pond nightmare. I'm excited to get it fixed and enjoy my pond but I'm going to need a lot of advice. It seems as soon as I fix one problem, another one shows up. But I'll start with my most pressing one.....

(I have a 3500 gallon pond with a high rock wall and 4 streams of waterfall. 2 1/2 feet deep, a dozen goldfish and 2 koi).

Today when I woke up, all the rocks on the waterfall where water touches them were BLACK. This happened literally overnight. Any thoughts or advice??

I can supply more detail on the pond if necessary, but I didn't want to overwhelm you right off the bat. Thanks!

 

[Tula]

Is the area that is black, a soft, kind of slimy substance? If so, it's probably a harmless new algae. I too get it on my water fall. I scrub my water fall with an old fashioned brush When the algae build up increases,, I'll use a little hydrogen peroxide, then scrub.

Welcome to the forum. We love some pictures of your pond set up

 

[Dave 54]

Algae is both a freind in that it produces oxygen in our ponds and helps with the ponds remove nitrates , but at night it goes in reverse and produces Co2 which we noormally can cover for because of airstones in our ponds .

Dave

 

[flareyflan]

I do have 2 airstones (I think that's what they are called.....cylindrical things that produce bubbles?) in the pond that run at night.

Here are some pics. Including the waterfall rocks 2 days ago and as of yesterday.

Brown pond

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

Brown pond 2

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

Waterfalls

• flareyflan
• Aug 6, 2015

YUCK!

Will a general algeacide work? Or do I need to scrub/hydrogen peroxide them?

Will the HP hurt the fish? How much to use?

 

[sissy]

Never use algeacide it is suicide in a bottle .Plus no rocks stay 100 % clean but if you really don't like it peroxide will get rid of it .But the slime stuff you are talking about helps clean the water .If you feel you don't like it turn off your pump spray or pour peroxide on it wait 15 minutes and then turn pump back on and some of it will get cleaned off .But if you want your water clear the black slime as you call it is a good thing .It is part of the pond starting to work at cleaning the water .Rocks in nature are never clean

 

[MitchM]

Water test numbers?

 

[cas]

So that last picture is the one where your rocks look bad? I don't think they look bad. I guess any rocks that I have had exposed to my waterfall look like that and I just accepted it.

 

[flareyflan]

Water test numbers:
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/testing-water.17663/#post-280984

I'll know by MOnday!

As for the black rocks, yes, they are VERY ugly. To me at least! I can deal with them being brownish as they were before. But after 3 months of them looking nice, the dark black stain is not doing it for me. I guess I'll try and see if the filter installed cleans any of it up (hopefully going in tonight) and then try the peroxide if not. Thanks!

 

[sissy]

Yep muck on liner and rocks is normal and most just use a brush also or a clarifier .But the muck helps feed the fish and if you look at every ones pics most have .I even have it and love it because it helps the pond get established and when it falls in the pond the fish love to eat it .The API liquid test kit is what you want

 

[MitchM]

I wouldn't be too hasty in cleaning off that black from the rocks.
If it is algae, then it is there for a reason, it's growing from excess nutrients. It could be doing you a favour for now.
I would wait for your water quality test numbers before deciding to take any action.
I'm not sure what that stuff is exactly, it could be staining from tannins or perhaps a reaction from something someone put in the water. (just guessing at this point)
How long have you had the pond running for?

 

[flareyflan]

Sissy, I think you misunderstood--I'm referring to the sudden black stuff on the vertical waterfall, not the rocks on the bottom or liner. So unless my fish start rock climbing, I don't think it's going to feed them much.

MitchM-The pond got running in May, I believe. It was clear for 2-3 weeks, then it turned murky brown, I couldn't even see my fish for 6 weeks. Now it's clear-ish brown (after 2+ months of algae control and muck defense) and only as of yesterday did this black stain suddenly appear.

I'll wait until my test kid arrives tomorrow and let you guys know what I find. THX!

 

[MitchM]

You said on your other thread that you have been adding a lot of bacteria and algecide.
What exactly have you been adding and how much?

 

[sissy]

I knew it was the rocks on the waterfall as the color change is apparent but it is just a fact of nature and sun and excess nutrients like mitch posted .Feeding fish to much can sometimes cause it .Heat and humidity help it a long .Cleaning a pond will give you a clear pond but nature is what makes a pond run properly .It is a quick fix that never lasts .A filter with bacteria added needs awhile to get running .

 

[houseguitarshop]

congrats on the new pond.

I have a long waterfall stream that gets covered by different color algee all the time. I learned by accident, that If I shut the watefall off for 24 hours, the algee will pretty much dry out and die. When turned back on the next day, it pretty much is clean rock after the water flows for a bit.

If you have a way to bypass the waterfallshut, you will still want water to flow in the pond. Also most ponds run the air pumps all the time to I think

I like the look of the pond, very natural

 

[Nepen]

Nice looking pond!
Welcome.

I dont know what's that black thing is, but some how my first thought is that it's mold. I dont really know if it's even possible for it to grow in the sun like that though. It could be algae that looks black.

I think you should wait for the water test to come out before doing anything.

The cloudy water in the fist months of your pond life is normal. If you are worried about the brownish tint of your water, you can try using activated carbon (I used it and it helps, but it life is not long). Your pond and mine start up about the same time and mine is clear for a few weeks now. I did not use any chemical in my pond. I wait for the nature to take care of the pond. Once the pond is fully cycled and mature, the pond will be clear by itself. I think because you use a bunch of algae fix, it caused the pond slow in maturing. That's my opinion anyway.