Help with dosage

[Parrot lady]

I ordered some Algae D _ Solv and I need to know the right dosage. It says 1oz per 360ga. My pond is 10x12 X 2.5 ft deep. I've used it before but I can't remember what dosage I used. I have a biological filter which was doing great until I took the roll of sponges out and cleaned them. And I also had alot of rain. I keep those flower petals skimmed out. And I added some plants today on top of the sponge in filter?

 

[Lisak1]

If your measurements are correct, you're just over 2000 gallons. There are pond calculators online that you can use to figure that out, in case anyone were to mistake me for a genius!

Having said that, I would STRONGLY ask you to reconsider your use of any type of algae killing product in your pond. That algae, while we consider it unsightly, is telling you something about your pond. Essentially - too many nutrients exist in the pond for the rest of your biological filtration to consume, so the algae steps in and does the rest. Why too many nutrients? Generally it's too many fish, too much food, or decaying organic material in the pond - or sometimes, all three. Resolve the issue and I PROMISE YOU the algae will go away on it's own. How do you resolve it? Reduce your fish load, stop feeding as heavily, clean out any organic material in the pond, OR add more plants.

Algae in spring when a pond is just getting started is nothing to worry about. As the rest of your eco-system kicks into gear, it will most likely clear on it's own - I say most likely because see above: if you have too many fish, are overfeeding, or need to remove decaying organics, you still need to address those things.

Here's the real problem with chemically killing algae: what are you left with? A pond full of dead algae. And what feeds algae? Again: see above. That dead organic material is going to keep the cycle going. Plus - what else are you killing? You pond is teeming with life that you don't even know is there. Those chemicals - if mis-dosed, which is what your fear is - will kill fish. Imagine what it's doing to the microscopic life your pond, even at the smallest doses.

Just the opinion of one pond owner - others use these products and recommend them, I'm sure. But the key is - they KEEP using them. Why? They've treated the symptom - the algae - and haven't addressed the cause. So they have a perpetual imbalance that they feel they have to keep dosing.

 

[poconojoe]

Do you have any fish in there? How many gallons in your pond? Describe your filtration. What area (climate) do you live in?

If this is a Spring startup, green water is normal. It takes a little while for your beneficial bacteria to recolonize. It could take a month + for it to clear up.

Many of us here tend to go the natural way of tending to our ponds. I would never add any algaecides unless there aren't any fish or plants. There have been too many horror stories where people add so-called fish friendly chemicals and the result was detrimental.

If you are relatively new at this, I would suggest you read through the many threads on this forum concerning the natural nitrogen cycle.
To have healthy water, things need to be balanced. And healthy water doesn't mean crystal clear water either. Your fish don't care if the water is crystal clear. It's just something we humans like! We want to see our fish!

The more fish you have, the more waste they produce which creates nutrients that algae feed on. Remember, algae are plants. So if you add more plants to compete with the algae, that will help a lot. Plus you need adequate filtration.

A lot of us have ponds that are overpopulated. My fish keep reproducing, so I know there are too many for my pond size. Because of this, my filtration can't keep up with all the excess nutrients. This Spring I'm going to get rid of my inadequate pressure filters and setup a bog filter.

 

[GBBUDD]

in case anyone were to mistake me for a genius!

<----- not i ....... <ducking

 

[EricV]

Pond size calculators are pretty worthless unless you have a box for a pond. If you have an oval with sloping sides, it's going to way over estimate your volume. That's especially bad when you are using those numbers to figure out how much of a poisonous substance to dump in your pond.

For example, my pond is 16x11x3.5' so should be 4600 gallons, right? 3,600 if you use an oval calculator.* No, it's 2500.

* One that does it correctly. The first oval calculator I tried treated an oval as a rectangle

 

[GBBUDD]

How do you resolve it? Reduce your fish load, stop feeding as heavily, clean out any organic material in the pond, OR add more plants.

I would add and i know many here will disagree but for a pond out of balance add beneficial bacteria on the short term can certainly help. And for those who are not big on keeping the pond free of decaying organics the bacteria can help. It will break down the material that much faster being consumed by bacteria that we primarily don't see compared to algae blooms we all hate doing it's job of absorbing the decaying organics. While adding too much bacteria is never a great thing either it will not add to your algae bloom any where near what a algae killer will do on the short term, sure you get the clear LOOKING water for a short time until the chemicals have worn off and now the dead algae is now food for the next generation. so like Lisa said
1. More Plants remove soils gently from the plants you want the plants absorbing fighting for food in the water not the rich soil from the nursery.
2. Maintenance, remove solids leaf nets, clean baskets, vacuum the pond
3. Correct Balance of how many fish that you have.
4. How much food you give them , fish in the wild do not have dinner bells at 7am 12pm and 6 pm as we all know they can go 4 months over the winter with no food so going a couple days in the summer is not the end of the world.
5. Full sun on your pond can contribute to influx of very fast growth of algae
6. Proper circulation now that can be debatable but for a weaker maintained pond, circulation can help skimmers and main drains and such to help do our jobs.
7. Adding a auto dosser " bacteria" may be perfect for some folks out there if it dumps in too much and the bacteria can't find any food it will die off and shouldn't add to the too much nutrients . if there is a lot of food for the bacteria there is a lot of food for algae . But if you have say to high a level of chlorine " for ease of discussion" the bacteria may only be able to survive with a rush go to work do its job but the chlorine which is designed to keep bacteria at low levels if at all could eventually kill off your bacteria thus having a dosing machine adding new bacteria constantly can do REPLENISH your levels to where they need to be and do no wrong..

 

[poconojoe]

I have a meter that goes on the end of my hose for precise measurements. I have central water so the only thing I ever add to my pond is dechlorinizer. Never any other chemicals.

 

[Parrot lady]

If your measurements are correct, you're just over 2000 gallons. There are pond calculators online that you can use to figure that out, in case anyone were to mistake me for a genius!

Having said that, I would STRONGLY ask you to reconsider your use of any type of algae killing product in your pond. That algae, while we consider it unsightly, is telling you something about your pond. Essentially - too many nutrients exist in the pond for the rest of your biological filtration to consume, so the algae steps in and does the rest. Why too many nutrients? Generally it's too many fish, too much food, or decaying organic material in the pond - or sometimes, all three. Resolve the issue and I PROMISE YOU the algae will go away on it's own. How do you resolve it? Reduce your fish load, stop feeding as heavily, clean out any organic material in the pond, OR add more plants.

Algae in spring when a pond is just getting started is nothing to worry about. As the rest of your eco-system kicks into gear, it will most likely clear on it's own - I say most likely because see above: if you have too many fish, are overfeeding, or need to remove decaying organics, you still need to address those things.

Here's the real problem with chemically killing algae: what are you left with? A pond full of dead algae. And what feeds algae? Again: see above. That dead organic material is going to keep the cycle going. Plus - what else are you killing? You pond is teeming with life that you don't even know is there. Those chemicals - if mis-dosed, which is what your fear is - will kill fish. Imagine what it's doing to the microscopic life your pond, even at the smallest doses.

Just the opinion of one pond owner - others use these products and recommend them, I'm sure. But the key is - they KEEP using them. Why? They've treated the symptom - the algae - and haven't addressed the cause. So they have a perpetual imbalance that they feel they have to keep dosing.

Thanks so much. My pond has just been redone (cleaned some) emptied. Then I added 14 of my medium sized goldfish. This was 6wks ago. I'm using my rubber maid tub with black shade cloth rolled up in the bottom to catch larger particles, and a roll of the pond sponge (batten) on top. It was working so good, I could see straight through to the bottom of pond! But I rinsed out the filter and batten. And added a few drops of blue pond dye.Which was too dark so I drained half the pond and added plain water. We had alot of rain the last couple weeks now it's ugly and green. The only plants in it are 2 water lillies in pots on the bottom. I have a big waterfall bog I want to get finished but I can't afford the pea gravel. And no-one suggests anything else.

 

[Lisak1]

I think you just diagnosed your own problem - all that water changing has lead to the dreaded New Pond Syndrome. You need to just leave your pond be... it will find it's balance. @GBBUDD shared a great list - all good things to consider.

 

[GBBUDD]

Thanks so much. My pond has just been redone (cleaned some) emptied. Then I added 14 of my medium sized goldfish. This was 6wks ago. I'm using my rubber maid tub with black shade cloth rolled up in the bottom to catch larger particles, and a roll of the pond sponge (batten) on top. It was working so good, I could see straight through to the bottom of pond! But I rinsed out the filter and batten. And added a few drops of blue pond dye.Which was too dark so I drained half the pond and added plain water. We had alot of rain the last couple weeks now it's ugly and green. The only plants in it are 2 water lillies in pots on the bottom. I have a big waterfall bog I want to get finished but I can't afford the pea gravel. And no-one suggests anything else.

it's not necessarily the type of stone more it's the size of the stone. I did not use 3/8 I used 3/4 river rock and a little deeper beds.

 

[Parrot lady]

it's not necessarily the type of stone more it's the size of the stone. I did not use 3/8 I used 3/4 river rock and a little deeper beds.

Thankyou. Do you have the pipes under the gravel that was recommended on here?

 

[GBBUDD]

I have both styles yes. one bog has the 2" pvc pipe with a saw cut from a circular saw across the pipe cutting across the pipe for about a third of the pipe you can see pretty much the whole thing here
https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/going-for-it-phase-one-12-000-gallon-pond.22563/
i believe some of the bog started on page three then the install was further into the blog ... I have to recant part of my last statement i did use some 3/8" stone but i mixed it in with the 3/4 but most of the bog was 3/4" stone as 3/8 i felt would clog a bit to quick