Heres a new topic GREEN Water.....Help

[mailmand]

Where to begin....Last summer (2012) I dug a hole used a 95 gallon preformed pond added a nice little waterfall, added water and viola, instant pond. I put in a Lilly, a miniture bamboo and a horsetail plant, and 6 snails. Life was great. We wintered the pond by putting a net over it, running a pond heater, and sank all the plants to the bottom. Winter went well. Spring came and water was clear and all looked great. cleaned out the dead leaves and raised the plants, fertalized the lilly and went to the local pond store. Bought another lilly and 6 fish and two tadpoles. The fish died so the store replaced them. Then all but one died. the tadpoles are fine. Put the first group in the pond and then it happened, overnight, GREEN WATER. So I started adding algaefix. and no change then I started adding pond clear, the good bacteria. and no change. Now I'm adding algeafix every three days and pond clear once a week. and no change, Green Water. So now that I have been looking at green water for two months, Im getting discouraged. So I made a polyfil filter system to run with the 8"x8" filter system already in place. And guess what, yes, green water. My ph is 6.8. Going on three months looking at green water ........ HELP anyone?

 

[sissy]

quilt batting in a basket washed in peroxide and water will pick up the fine algae cells .you will need to clean it often /
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[Glove]

I too am having a terrible time with GREEN water. Someone please help us. I'm ready to give up.

 

[sissy]

seems it is the smaller algae cells a no chemical will help .

 

[koiguy1969]

there is only one sure fire way to cure green water.. "thats get rid of it, and keep it gone". a U.V clarifier / sterilizer. it would go between your pump output and your filter or waterfall. for a preformed pond one like this is more than enough..... they also kill pathogens,and some parasites.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-9W-UV-S...239?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c9e77747
now this wont cure the cause of the green water. which is nutrients in the water.

 

[HTH]

I agree with koiguy. Have your water tested for nitrates and ammonia.


If you do not have trouble with either then install a UV.

How much sediment is there on the bottom of the pond?

 

[koiguy1969]

just reread your whole post.... MOST WILL AGREE, 6.8 ph is too low! dissolve a 1/4 cup of baking soda in a 1/2 gallon of water and pour 1/3 into your pond. this will raise the ph. check to see what the ph is.., add more if needed... 7.2 is the minimum IMO 7.4 - 7.6 is great. add some crushed oyster shells when you get it up in the good range. the crushed oyster shells are a buffer. (help to lock in the ph.) locking in the ph helps avoid swings in ph. which can be very detrimentle to fish.
are you getting swings?... different ph readings thru out the day? how big are the swings?... a stable "low" or "high" ph can be safer than a swinging one

 

[HTH]

Koiguy you are right to point out the low ph. I do not think 6.8 is bad for goldfish if the water is stable.. The buffering needs to be checked out. Could be this is a crashing pond.

Mailmandd what is the ph of your tap water? Has the pond always been 6.8?

Mailmandd has already been hitting the pond with chemicals and I think it is safe we should not assume that anything is as it should be.

 

[sissy]

A mix of a chemical cocktail is never good in a pond.They have lots of miracles in a bottle that cost good money but never really work .well except for there bank account .I never had a U.V . so don't know how they work so I am lost there .Ponds go through stages after winter until filter and plants take off to suck up all the bad stuff .

 

[mailmand]

Thank you all for your inputs. Here are the answers to your questions. My ph has been 6.8 to 8.0 in a day. it starts low in the morning then sky high by evening. The first notice was low so we added ph up then it has been all over the place. But the 6.8 was a typo my current ph level is a consistant 7.2when checked in the morning. My tap water ph is 7.6. I am using a add drops test not strips. We have fed our fish only one time, and that was after the green water, so I don't think to much fish poop is the cause. I cleaned the leaves and debris in the spring. The pond was crystal clear for about a week. I really appritiate all the help. I really didn't think that a 100 gal pond would need a uv filter, but i will look into one. any advice on size of UV filter?

 

[koiguy1969]

yep... click the link i posted in my other posting... http://www.ebay.com/...=item20c9e77747

 

[Shdwdrgn]

That huge daily swing in pH is probably what killed your original fish. It takes a pretty hardy fish to handle a change like that, and they are generally very stressed already when you get them from the store. As koiguy mentioned, baking soda will raise your pH, but it also adds some buffering to the water. It sounds like you need a MUCh higher amount of buffering in your water (get a kH test kit, if you want to check it yourself). Besides the crushed oyster shells, I have also heard of throwing a chunk of old cement into your water flow. I think a bag of plain kitty litter adds minerals to the water which might also help.

My own suggestion would be LOTS of plants in the water. Irises are easy to come by and will grow like weeds up to about 8" deep. Their roots will help clean the water, stabilize it, and provide a nice snack for your fish. Having lots of plants in your pond will also suck up the excess nutrients, which is the most natural way to keep the algae at bay.

If you have the room for it, you might want to consider adding a small bog filter. That gives you a concentrated area of plants providing all the benefits, and some people use ONLY a bog filter for their entire pond.

 

[sissy]

crushed oyster shells will help stabilize it once you get it where you want it .Remember plants give off oxygen during the day but consume it at night ,

 

[mailmand]

Thank you all for your help. I bought a uv filter and two days later no more green. Wish I would have installed one when I put the pond in. Thanks again.

 

[HARO]

I have also heard of throwing a chunk of old cement into your water flow.

I have also heard about throwing your mother-in-law into your pond. Either one makes for some entertainment, but neither will do much for your pond! :cheerful:
John