New pond overrun with algae! Help!

[sissy]

I get the api test kits .I soak my lava rock in peroxide and water for a month they absorb the mixture and I think they work better .Though I think the bin with the quilt batting and furnace filter and bag of crushed oyster shells and activated charcoal do a lot for picking up all the fine stuff
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[Shannonpwns]

This test kit by PondMaster comes with phosphate test instead of nitrate test. So stupid, I didn't even notice when I bought it. Was hoping to use the one for my tanks and pond, but I'm still left having to spend another $10 on testers haha.

 

[sissy]

no big deal you will remember the next time .You still need the phosphate one .I have to buy the single one as most test kits I saw don't have it included .The come with nitrite

 

[Shannonpwns]

So I decided today to just empty the pond and scrub it and took all the rocks out of the bottom, minus the few holding up the waterfall of course, to make it easier to clean. Rocks on the bottom was never my idea, so I put my foot down today lol. I found all my fish, and the plecos too. Who were a pain to get btw haha. Had to wait til there was only 2 inches of water before I even saw them, they were smart and hid in the waterfall. But I've got them all inside in a 20 gallon tub with an air stone for now. Pond is empty, and algae 90% scrubbed off. Gonna rinse it with the hose tomorrow and flush behind the waterfall rocks and pump it out completely and start over.

When it was first filled, it was kind of a rush job, just to see where the liner was gonna lay so we could cut the hole for the bottom pump box and connect the intake.

The main reason I did this was because I was angry that my dad came over and said the pond needed water, I told him it was fine, but he never listens and put water in anyways, with NO dechlorinator, and by the time I realized, about 20 mins later, I found 2 dead goldfish in the pump box, in the leaf net. Then I see a goldfish struggling at the surface on his side and gasping for air, so I scooped him out with some water, and gave him an air stone but he died within a minute. So I started pumping out the water to find the rest of the fish, which I ASSUMED would be dead at the bottom under a rock or something, but the last 2 goldfish were alive and well, and when I finally found the plecos, I literally screamed with happiness lol. I was on a dead body search and I found the rest alive, so I was happy.

Btw, my dad felt TERRIBLE when he saw the fish dead, he didnt know any better, and he's been beating himself up about it all day. And besides them suffering, I let him off the hook because they were 10 cent fish...at least I didn't jump the gun and put koi in there yet haha. He's agreed to never touch my pond again.

 

[Lilguy]

I installed an all in one filter with UV and within 3 days of turning on the system I could see bottom. No more green water.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I am trying a new experiment with my front yard pond this year. For some reason this year I got pea green water in there, and I only have small rosy minnows in that little pond, plus plants in the stream. There was lots of caterpiller dung that fell in the water this year, not sure why I got pea green water this year in that pond, but I took a bunch of water out of my fish tank in the house when I cleaned it, and drained that water into that little pond, with the duck weed and hornwort that over grew that tank. The pond appears much clearer this morning, so we shall see what happens.

Have to run to work, will post pictures later today.....

 

[sissy]

Cleaning all the good muck off the liner is really no good but can understand .I use a well water filter on my hose end ,got one at tractor supply and put it inline with an activated charcoal filter in it .I don't trust my well water even though I have a whole house filter .It was less than 20 dollars and put it inline on my hoses ,filters were a little more expensive

 

[Lilguy]

We are on a well. 300 ft with water at 120 ft. Water hard but not a contributor to organic problem, have had tropical and marine fish for over 50 years and never did anything except soften water for washing tasks. Have used UV for years in aquariums for disease control with positive results. Very satisfied with its suspended algae control ability.

 

[sissy]

my well is just over 400 ft in the ground and pump is 25 feet up and we get a lot of iron in this area .Softener use salt and not good for hubby that has high blood pressure and had a heart attack .Never owned a uv and my pond is in full sun .I just never wanted to spend the money on one ,guessing the must work .I get some algae on the rocks but fish eat it as fast as it grows .I feed my fish 3 or 4 times a week and that's all ,so guessing that helps .I mix there food with organic garlic in the spring to help them feed and help ward off diseases .Ph in pond has always been around 9 and guessing crushed oyster shells help ,even with all the rain we have had and electric going off for 4 hours 2 times ,nothing :fingersx:

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Nice pond.
You do realize that emptying it and scrubbing it down it will have to recycle and you will get algae bloom all over again.

A uv and plants and filtration will help but it will still have to go threw this process.
Algae just grows faster then plants and the cycle process.

Be paigeint and let nature take its course.

Ruben

 

[Shannonpwns]

Hello
Nice pond.
You do realize that emptying it and scrubbing it down it will have to recycle and you will get algae bloom all over again.

A uv and plants and filtration will help but it will still have to go threw this process.
Algae just grows faster then plants and the cycle process.

Be paigeint and let nature take its course.

Ruben

Yes, I do realize that.

 

[sissy]

sometimes a clean start is needed but it sure is hard to do .Hoping this time round it is easier on you .Had to be hard to make that decision but sometimes it is worth it .clean start

 

[Shannonpwns]

I was just really upset because I thought all my fish were dead, and I was so overjoyed when I found them alive. I'm starting over because I'm buying a uv filter today, and will have a better handle on the green water before it even starts. The algae on the liner doesn't bother me so much, but I scrubbed it off because it had mosquito larvae dried into it after draining the pond. Mosquito dunks aren't working 100% I guess.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I never get an algae bloom in the big connecting ponds that are never taken apart and cleaned. The connecting ponds in the back yard run year round and I have not had pea green water since it WAS cleaned..... 22 YEARS AGO!!

The front yard pond is a different story. That little pond has gotten pea green water this year for the first time. Last year I had a big cork screw rush sedge that I did not want anymore so I gave it away cause it was too big for that pond and I have no room for any more large sedges in the back. Very large sedges will help with pea green water a lot, but this year I started a little Sweet Flag sedge in the stream of the front yard pond.

The front yard pond is in lots of shade, and has just a few very small minnows, which I have hardly fed cause they can eat bugs. There is NO fish OVERLOAD, the pond was very very clean, and after emptying the water out a couple weeks ago and cleaning again, and BINGO the pea green water was back!

I have a therory, that a clean pond leads to pea green water and excess algae. In every case of pea green water that I have ever had in my many years of ponds, the pea green water always comes from a very clean pond.

So I started an experment of sorts, I had to clean a fish tank in the house that was over run by duck weed and hornwort. I emptied the water from that fish tank yesterday into the front yard pond which had very thick pea green water. Today I can now see three or four inches into the water, so the water is balancing itself with the dirty water from the fish tank!

I see that I need to cut and trim the grass away from the rocks later today.....

 

[callingcolleen1]

I will keep you updated every week on the progress of the above experment....

Here is some pictures of my three connecting ponds in the back yard that never get cleaned in the usual way that most people do. All I ever do in the back yard connecting ponds is clean the filters, top the pond up, and twice a year I net the bottom of the pond out for excess muck, leaf litter, etc....

New pictures of the so called "dirty pond", that never gets cleaned ??