What might be causing this "foam"?

[island_pondscum]

This is my fourth version of this pond, which now has a stream running to a shallow pond, which spills into a larger pond (shown below).

The water in the stream and upper pond are fine (other than a little algae-heavy) but as it comes off the spillway into the bottom pond it creates a lot of surface bubbles that don't' go away, they just clump together float on the surface. It bugs me because it looks like soap or chemicals or something... which it's not.

The bottom pond in the is 4' deep, plants seem to be doing fine and my fish are growing and healthy. Any idea what might be causing this foaming? Is it just a byproduct of oxygenated water?

PNW climate; 50-60's in the spring, 70-90's lately.

 

[sissy]

I get it and never worry unless it smells or looks green .Mine comes from the extra air in the water and sometimes fish spawning or from frogs

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Caused by protein compounds on the water's surface. As Sissy said- spawning, frogs, etc. can cause this. At the level you are showing, it will not cause a problem.

 

[Dave 54]

Caused by protein compounds on the water's surface. As Sissy said- spawning, frogs, etc. can cause this. At the level you are showing, it will not cause a problem.

Agreed

Dave

 

[DrCase]

Do you have a skimmer ? It would suck it up

 

[island_pondscum]

I don't but it sounds like I should! Thanks for your help, everyone!

 

[sissy]

I don't have a skimmer you can net it out or buy an in pond floating skimmer .It is there one or 2 days then gone .

 

[DoDad]

DISSOLVED ORGANIC COMPOUNDS: Are often shortened to DOCS. DOCS are the result of too much pollution in your pond from over stocking, over feeding, under filtering, and under maintaining the filters and water changes. No water testing needed here as DOCS are easily detected when a foamy scum is observed on your pond’s surface or in the skimmer. Higher levels of decaying organic compounds creates population explosions of disease causing bacteria and undesirable algae. High levels of DOCS create an hostile environment for beneficial bacteria and algae species by consuming significant amounts of dissolved oxygen which creates additional stress on your koi. Remember how earlier I said many of these issues are interrelated? DOCS indicate a ticking time bomb for your koi’s future health. The solution to high DOCS is a combination of increasing aeration, increasing filtration, increasing water changes, reducing fish load, and reducing feeding. You could also build a DIY protein skimmer.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Just for clarification, DOC are naturally occurring at some level in all ponds, with or without fish and provide a food source for the myriad species of bacteria found in these bodies of water. DOC becomes problematic only at sustained chronic high levels.

 

[teeemkay]

I get foam like that every once in a while, but it's usually when something is different from usual (fish spawning, too many leaves decaying in the pond, dead fish in pond :/, etc). The skimmer does catch most of it, but netting it out with a fine net helps too.