RED and Cloudy water?

[Nepen]

Hi all,
In a period of a few days, my pond water, which always have a reddish/brown tint from rain and what ever (dont really know) but always clear, became so red/brown and so cloudy I hardly see my fish even at the surface.

I checked the water and all are good with 0 results, PH at around 7.5.

I did about 50-60% water change yesterday, took dead leafs off the bottom (not that much since I have a window screen over to keep the leafs from falling in) - changed my pre-filter pads (blue coarse filter, quilt batting, dish scrubbing pad) and the water this morning is still red-ish but still cloudy.

What changed - the leafs falling in the water more, rain in a couple days (but it's been raining a lot this Summer and the water never changed this much).

What can I do to get the color of water back to normal, only water change??

And what could be the cause of the cloudiness that wont go away by filtering with the fine filters like quilt batting?

Not algea, I'm pretty sure, My pond is in full shade with mulberry tree and the other tree I dont know what it is (not pine) directly over it.

Thanks.

 

[JohnHuff]

I think it's mud. It happens to my pond when it rains really hard. Soil is washed into the pond and it becomes cloudy and brown/red colored. My mechanical filters take care of it and in a day or two it comes clear again. I don't even have to do a water change. Do you have any mechanical filtration?

 

[sissy]

How about the mulberry tree I had 3 in Nj and 1 was red and it used to turn my bird bath red from the berries and bird droppings .

 

[Nepen]

Thanks John and Sissy.

John, I have a raised pond so there's no mud around It's been cloudy for a few days and my pre-filter which packed with quilt battings and other type of filters didint help. I left it red and cloudy for a few days but it got worse, not better.

Sissy, the mulberry is not fruiting right now. When it did in the spring it didnt turn the water color that much.

 

[dieselplower]

How about a picture? Is it possible your liner has growth on it that makes the water appear red? Not sure about the recent cloudiness.

 

[dieselplower]

Do you have a UV filter? My bulb went out and my water did cloud up a bit. Replaced the bulb and problem solved.

 

[JohnHuff]

If it's cloudy, it means there are suspended solids in the water. Can you think of a source where that would come from?

 

[dieselplower]

I'm wondering about pea soup algae that has taken a different color? probably not even possible? Or is tinted by a reddish colored growth on the liner? mine has taken on a slightly reddish tint for short periods of time. Usually coming out of winter, or going into it.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks for the suggestion dieselplower - but no, no UV filter to change. And the water itself is red. I did water change and now it is less red but still cloudy. My pond is in full shade and I have not experienced any algae problem since I have this pond ~4 months now.

John, at first I thought it was becasue the leafs that got accumulated but when I clean the pond, there were not more leafs than what I used to have.

Then I thought it's the dirt from the leafs that accumulate from the net over the pond, then when it rained, the rain washed the dirt from the leafs to my pond.... but the red/brown was so deep I couldnt imagine coming from just that since the leafs were just there a few days ago, no dirt would accumulate that much for a short period.



I'm just hoping someone would have similar experience... hoping this is just a 'fall' thing.

will try to get picture tonight if it's not too dark.

 

[fishin4cars]

Is there any wood coming in contact with the water? Driftwood, wood that was used in the construction, decking that is over hanging above the pond? Different wood can leach different colors, some a lot more than others. Leaves are the same, some leaves do very little leaching and producing tanins where others leach out a lot of tanins. Depending on the type of wood and what the water chemistry you can see different effects and clouding of the water is quite possible.

 

[Nepen]

Thanks Larkin. The pond wall is next to the fence, but fence does not touch the wall, so even the color from the fence leach out, it shouldnt be able to dy the 600 gallon pond that easily, can they? and this heppened in a few days, all other rain didnt have this effect to the pond.

But the leafs might be the asnwer. I'll have to figure what is the type of one of the tree I have and test it leafs in a water to see if that could be it.

Any suggestions as to how to get rid of the color since the mechanical filter couldnt do it? I dont want to have to change 100% water to get rid of the color

And if I can only do water change to get rid of the red, what is the latest time I can do it without hurting my pond to be able to last the winter?

 

[Nepen]

and 'leaves' not leafs... ar... english (eventhough it's still correct it's not really official way to spell it) :banghead3:

 

[dieselplower]

How about putting a little blue dye in the water? Then it would be.... Purple? Cold be fun

 

[fishin4cars]

Do you have a good over flow drain off? If so you might try drip feeding the pond instead of doing a large water change. By dripping water in and letting the excess drain out all day and night it will change the water without disrupting the bio or stressing the fish. The important thing though is remember to drip it in. one drop at a time about every second or two. this may not sound like much but it does a great job and far less stressful on the fish, also if only a drip is going in and if your tap water contains chlorine not chloramine there is no need to add declorinator, If your water contains chloramine then I would recommend adding a chloramine neutralizer like Amquel, Prime, ACCI, or similar product once or twice a day to reduce bind the ammonia that is bonded to the chloramine.
You can safely do water changes all the way up until the water reaches 50 degrees with no problem, once it drops below 50 degrees in the pond I would not recommend changing more than 25% at a time, once below 35 degrees I wouldn't change water. That's my personal take and others may vary on this technique and advice. as for the fence, Can water run off of it and into the pond during a rain? Is it cedar fencing, and how old is the fence, new cedar wood will leach a reddish tanning.

 

[Nepen]

haha that would be fun, diesel, purple is my son's favoirite color, he'll love it :claphands:

Anyway, Larkin, no I dont have any drain in the pond. I build a pond first and look up how-to later :grumble: that's why I didnt have a good planning for my pond like a place for my filter!! :grumble:

I could do a drip, but now if it's leaves then I would want to wait until all the leaves are gone then i'll do one large water change (if not too cold).

I'll also invest in some more activated carbon, I have 2 little bags already. But how much is good for the 600 gallon pond? Where to put it for best result?

The fence is old, probably 10 years old. I dont see a run off from the fence that can go in the pond, a little splash may be. I dont know what it made of.

I dont think it's primarily the fence because this is a new problem, and leaves are a lot more during this time of year but the fence has been there and I did not have any problem before.