murky pond

[Joan Jarmon]

Hi! I live in NC & have had a small backyard pond (1500-1800 gallons) for years. It's just going from bad to worse. The more I filter, the more muck I get. I've tried most chemicals, I've got a skimmer, extra batting, I'm putting in more plants this year hoping that will work.
I've just pulled out lbs & lbs of water Iris because they were shifting rocks & causing runoff. Now my ph is to high. I'm at a loss. I need to take care of this myself for financial reasons. Any ideas????
Thanx in advance

 

[Lisak1]

Welcome @Joan Jarmon ! Sorry to hear you are having pond issues, but you've come to the right place. Lots of smart pond folks here!

A bit more about your pond - do you have filtration? If so, what kind? Fish? What kind and how many? Do you feed them? Do you have a waterfall or aeration in the pond?

Just off the top of my head, I would say that pulling out plants will create muck so that may be one source of your trouble. But if it was murky before you started pulling irises, then it's another problem.

 

[qclabrat]

Welcome Joan, I'm having trouble visualizing what you mean by murky and muck, Can you describe further and provide some photos of you pond and setup?

 

[Joan Jarmon]

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Welcome Joan, I'm having trouble visualizing what you mean by murky and muck, Can you describe further and provide some photos of you pond and setup?

 

[Joan Jarmon]

Here

Welcome @Joan Jarmon ! Sorry to hear you are having pond issues, but you've come to the right place. Lots of smart pond folks here!

A bit more about your pond - do you have filtration? If so, what kind? Fish? What kind and how many? Do you feed them? Do you have a waterfall or aeration in the pond?

Just off the top of my head, I would say that pulling out plants will create muck so that may be one source of your trouble. But if it was murky before you started pulling irises, then it's another problem.[/QUOTE

 

[Lisak1]

Oh my! So pretty!

OK, I see what you mean by murky. Do you get a lot of leaves in the pond in the fall/winter? Is it possible you're getting some runoff from somewhere around the pond? Maybe an area has eroded that was previously holding the soil back? Do you use any chemicals in the pond? Just tossing out some ideas here -

 

[Mmathis]

Hello and welcome! From the pics you posted, your water looks pretty clear.

How many and what kind of fish do you have? If your current fish have been growing (even if you haven’t added any), those fish will produce more waste products over time. IOW, the same (say) 4 fish you started with are now producing more waste than they were (say) 5 years ago. This added bioload can contribute to murky water from agal growth.

What kind of filtration do you have and do you have more than just the skimmer? What size pump? Have you done any partial water changes? And what “chemicals” have you been adding — and rationale for each? As a general rule, we don’t encourage the use of chemicals.

And your pH is high.....What have your water tests been in the past — in comparison to now? Does your pond get water run-off from the yard?

 

[Joan Jarmon]

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Here are some pictures, I have 4 medium size koi, several large goldfish. I feed them a little every morning. I've just ordered an aerator for the opposite end of the pond from the water feature. I'm embarrassed to show the filtering system, you can see I have batting everywhere, in the skimmer, in the pump casing. I've put mesh bags with activated carbon in as well. The water Iris were getting so invasive, my rocks were shifting & I was getting muddy runoff, but that problem should be over. The murky look is kind of brown. I recently cut back the yews to get them out of the water, so tannin shouldn't be the problem. Every time I clean the batting it looks like mud.

 

[Lisak1]

I think you hit on the answer - you have dirt in the pond from run off. You could continue to filter it out as you are, but I think with your current set up with batting in the filter box you are fighting a losing battle - every time you pull the batting out, you will dump dirt back into the water. If you can, I would try to figure out a way to do the same thing, but in a separate container. Some people use laundry baskets or garbage cans with holes drilled in them. Get an extra pump (or re-route your plumbing if possible) and run the water through the batting in the basket, tub or trash can. Being able to pull the batting out and rinse it without having all that go back into the pond would clear things much faster. I would say put the basket under your waterfall, but it doesn't look tall enough to accommodate that set up.

Also, I'm thinking the batting in the filter box might impede water flow which could cause issues.

 

[Joan Jarmon]

Oh my! So pretty!

OK, I see what you mean by murky. Do you get a lot of leaves in the pond in the fall/winter? Is it possible you're getting some runoff from somewhere around the pond? Maybe an area has eroded that was previously holding the soil back? Do you use any chemicals in the pond? Just tossing out some ideas here -

I keep bird netting over the pond to protect the fish from predators ( owls, herons, Hawks) & that keeps most of the leaves out. I had an issue with my water Iris, they had become so invasive, my stones were shifting and I was getting muddy runoff with all the rain, but I'd hope that problem is solved by now

Hello and welcome! From the pics you posted, your water looks pretty clear.

How many and what kind of fish do you have? If your current fish have been growing (even if you haven’t added any), those fish will produce more waste products over time. IOW, the same (say) 4 fish you started with are now producing more waste than they were (say) 5 years ago. This added bioload can contribute to murky water from agal growth.

What kind of filtration do you have and do you have more than just the skimmer? What size pump? Have you done any partial water changes? And what “chemicals” have you been adding — and rationale for each? As a general rule, we don’t encourage the use of chemicals.

And your pH is high.....What have your water tests been in the past — in comparison to now? Does your pond get water run-off from the yard?

I only have the filter & pump in the picture. After the murky water fiasco, I put in muck away & then something that was supposed to clear the water

 

[Mmathis]

If you haven’t already, find a pool skimmer net (the kind with very small holes) and try to scoop as much of the gunk off the bottom as you can — increase the aeration, though, because it’s gonna be nasty. Then, after you get a bunch of the solid debris removed, do a partial water change. Repeat as necessary. Charcoal isn’t going to do anything to help. You need mechanical removal. And in the process, take care of whatever plant issues you have, but don’t try to do a whole bunch of interventions at the same time. Start with getting that crud out and adding fresh water (use a dechlorinator if you’re on city water).

If you have a place (like a kiddie pool) where you can temporarily house your fish, you might even consider a complete drain-out so you can “get to the bottom” of the problem!

And not to sound critical, but you might be a little over-stocked if you have 4 koi and some goldfish in 1800 gallons. I commented earlier that at first a pond might be able to handle this many fish, but as those fish grow, you are dealing with a greater bioload.

 

[Joan Jarmon]

I keep bird netting over the pond to protect the fish from predators ( owls, herons, Hawks) & that keeps most of the leaves out. I had an issue with my water Iris, they had become so invasive, my stones were shifting and I was getting muddy runoff with all the rain, but I'd hope that problem is solved by now

I only have the filter & pump in the picture. After the murky water fiasco, I put in muck away & then something that was supposed to clear the water

I hadn't checked the Ph in a while, but I saw my koi had tinges of red on their tails. I've ordered some Ph down. Ph was @ 8
My pump is 4500 GPH

 

[Joan Jarmon]

I think you hit on the answer - you have dirt in the pond from run off. You could continue to filter it out as you are, but I think with your current set up with batting in the filter box you are fighting a losing battle - every time you pull the batting out, you will dump dirt back into the water. If you can, I would try to figure out a way to do the same thing, but in a separate container. Some people use laundry baskets or garbage cans with holes drilled in them. Get an extra pump (or re-route your plumbing if possible) and run the water through the batting in the basket, tub or trash can. Being able to pull the batting out and rinse it without having all that go back into the pond would clear things much faster. I would say put the basket under your waterfall, but it doesn't look tall enough to accommodate that set up.

Also, I'm thinking the batting in the filter box might impede water flow which could cause issues.

Ok I'm not getting the laundry basket concept. I fill the basket with batting but when I pul it out won't the muck go back into the water too? Is it connected to my main pump? Do I need a large pump in the basket? Is there a lid on the basket? I'm not sure my pond is deep enough, it's about 3 ft in the center, but it has shelves, and the yews hang over about 12 inches ( nice so the fish have plenty of shade.) Sorry if I sound so dumb, but I've not had this problem before.

 

[Mmathis]

@sissy Can you explain about how you do your quilt batting?

@Joan Jarmon pH of 8 isn’t too high. It’s more important for the pH level to remain stable, rather than trying to keep it at a particular number. It’s better to leave things alone — find the problem and if necessary, fix the problem (why is a pH or any reading “off” in the first place?) at its source rather than randomly adding chemicals to raise or lower this or that.

 

[qclabrat]

Looks lovely, I understand why you would be upset over the water with those beautiful fish.

You mentioned getting more plants, where are they? I can only see what appears to be evergreens around the perimeter. Also have you done a full water test? I'm wondering if it could be something off with the nitrogen cycle