Pond VERY cloudy :sad:

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My pond now is sooooo cloudy we can hardly see the fish :goldfish: . Its been getting worse everyday for the past 3 days, I tested our water and all the test are normal except for the PH which was around 8. Any advice what we can do?
 
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We have a pump running which I am not sure what size (its one from a previous pond). It works good and gives a nice waterfall. it runs into a filter box which we have filter media in and had some straw we got from a fish store. And the filter box runs over the water fall. Our water was crystal clear but we had algae on our rocks in the shallow. I have been using pond care algae fix for awhile and pond clear once a week. Do I need to do any kind of a water change?
 

DrCase

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I just read about the rock algae post again
I would try the laundry basket under your water fall with pillow stuffing from wally world to collect all the floating dead algae
 

DrCase

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If you put up a few pics of your filter
We may be able to help modify it , for the long run
 
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Does it matter what size basket to use under the waterfall? We have had very hot weather here in Indiana and it does get some sun.
 
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I do have pea gravel in the bottom of the pond and i hear that can cause problems. Could that have done this. One of the filters is in the pump , the kind u take out and rinse, the other is a box that we keep filter media in and we did have some straw from the pet store in it. thats all we have in it. Its bout a 500 to 600 gallon pond.
 

DrCase

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The basket needs to be big enough to hold the stuffing , and let the water fall water run through it above the pond water level
This winter next spring you would be helping your pond Viewing enjoyment making a doc or Skippy filter
 
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Water changes are always a good thing. If you do 10% regular water changes you will get rid of the cloudiness. I would suggest to stop using the algae fix and don't over feed.
 

koiguy1969

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theres instructions for filter builds in the DIY section here.........myself,(koiguy) the two docs,(Dave and Case),and fishin4cars all have filter builds posted...i have a 55 gal drum and a stocktank filter posted.
 
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@koi pond ponderer, Its like a green cloudiness .

There is the answer/problem. Green cloudieness=split pea soup. That would also explain the rise in pH. Tons of algae,consuming CO2, pH goes up. Barley/straw is good for killing string algae. UV is good for killing split pea. I would check phosphates to see if you had some fertilizer accidentally spill into the pond. It could have been nearby landscaping being knocked in or run in from recent rain/sprinklers. A little bit goes a long way for algae.

If it were me, I would make sure no dirt can get into my pond, and then start with the water changes. Already have the UV. New guy here so don't want to advise you to buy something, but do some searches on how UV can help your scenario anyhow.
 
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A picture of the pond in its current state might help us too.

The description of the water is real important. Putting some in a clear jar and taking a picture with a white sheet of paper behind it would help.

The color can be:

Bright, almost lime green.
Dark green, like a pine tree.
Grayish green.
Brownish green.

How old is the pond?

I assume you don't do water changes (dump out some and put new in)? Doing a water change can help with several kinds of cloudy water and cause more cloudiness for other types. One reason why the pictures are needed.

This is kind of hard question...There's green where if you look really close you see little bits in the water. Up close they may look more light brown/tan. They'd be the size of finely ground pepper and kind of like a snow storm in there.

Sounded like the barley has already been removed? If not it can be. It's just something pond stores like to sell people.

The AlgaeFix on the other hand can kill string algae and other macro algae. How does the algae on the rocks look now? Is it starting to turn kind of sick looking? Less green and more light gray/brown almost translucent? When you touch it is it slimy or feel like horse hair? If the AlgaeFix did start to kill it that could be the source of the cloudiness, bits of dying macro algae. Dying string algae can also help produce what people call green water algae, a single cell algae suspended in the water. String algae can kill the single cell algae so with it hurting the single cell type can get the upper hand.

Sorry for so many questions. Without knowing the cause you kind of have to do everything...fabric filters, DOC, Skippy, UV, etc. Pretty much endless. That can be expensive and frustrating.

You you able to test KH? It's more telling than the pH. 8 pH is not high, imo, it's low.
 

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