Winter Clear Pond - Spring Greenish pond

[hammer]

Crystal clear pond all winter, ran the aqua 4000, had a bit of a freeze on the outer wall and sent my pressure gauge 1.5 times around the dial and now the normal zero is half the dial, lol. anyways, I digress. I mean we were crystal clear, the temps warmed up to the 50's, my water temp is 46. we a few days in the 60's lots of sun and the algae started to cover all the surfaces. no algae all of the fall or winter.

I think my Aqua II bacteria are not alive and well yet, seems like i'm going to have to wait a couple more weeks for it to recover, correct?

I have sequence that pumps 6000gpm. I have a valve on my filter output pipe to create head pressure when it's not running my full setup. typically i shut that valve down by a third to get near the 4000gpm. last night i set it wide open and the pond water cleared up a little bit but now i've got bubbles suggesting there is leaf litter in the pond. I had it quasi covered with 2" foam all winter and couldn't skim it. it's been open now 2 weeks and I skim it all the time.

not sure if it's my bacteria in the filter not working, or the pine needles, or a combination of both?
keep in mind, i also take 800 square feet of my roof into this pond and we've had a lot of rain so i'm guessing my filter isn't alive yet and it's just a perfect storm.
it's not pea soup but i started to get film on my masonry, so i used a broom and scrubbed it off.

another hint is the leaf tannins are giving me a not peasoup color but more of a rotted leaf color, broomed the bottom and roughed it up and clouded up my water last night.

thoughts?

 

[BKHpondcritters]

It's Spring. Ponds can look a bit funky/cloudy (at best) early in the season as they start getting rebalanced. If you have actual debris in the pond (leaves, pine needles, whatever...) then I'd suggest getting out your net & scooping as much of it out as possible and then give it time.

Don't worry excessively about algae this time of year. I think of it like crabgrass in a lawn - it takes advantage of its ability to thrive in cooler temperatures & pops up early, then when the more desirable, warm-weather grass (ie, your pond plants) gets going it gets choked out. As long as you have sufficient plants in your pond, once they get going you'll see that algae start to fade.

And yes, cold winter water is always crystal clear!

 

[hammer]

there's a link in my signature to my pond if you want to check it out but I have no plants, I have more of a roman bath setup than a "pond". it's not traditional to say the least lol. it's kinda like a huge cold tub and I didn't want to deal with plants and roots in the system so I'm relying solely on my Aqua II filter and a water replacement strategy. Each 1" of rain puts 500 gallons of water into the "pond" from my roof. There's 100' between the roof basins and "the pond" and it gets the 1st settle/aeration splashing into my basins beneath the eves to flush out some of the rain water nutrients and travels through canals and a short stream before entering the "pond" basin, rain water is a major contribution. I get a lot of evaporation and some water loss to splashing in this setup. I can lose over 500 gallons a week or 25% of my water.

I was debating chlorinating it like a pool cause it's more similar to a pool than pond, but that's not a good choice for my dogs and they love to drink the water and wade around on the bench with 6" of water above it.

I'll add a photo in a bit, but opening my restriction valve to wide open has nearly cleared up the situation. it's still got some protein foam and a leaf tannin color but the filter seems to be coming alive and the sequence running 6000gph.60gpm through my filter seems to be working to a point. absolutely nothing visible floating or on the bottom, i think the stuff is stuck in the void space of the bricks, thanks for the reply

 

[hammer]

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Oh, I see. Yeah, that is more like a pool or fountain than a pond. I'm a plant person, so I don't think I'll have any useful suggestions for you, sorry. Good luck!

 

[WaterGardener]

Potassium permanganate can be used to clear up pond water. We sometimes use it in the spring and it clears out the slight tan color that my pond can get.

It first turns the water purple, then creates a brownish foam as it works on the brown color of the water.

I keep the filters going, since at the right dosage it doesn't harm the beneficial bacteria, or the fish, of course, and the filters clear the foam. The water looks amazing afterward. The process is finished when the water clears. Usually takes a few hours.

You do need to be careful with it, wearing gloves and eye protection. And it needs to be very accurately measured. We use a balance scale to be sure we get the right amount.

It works very well, but it takes some precautions. It's not to be used nonchalantly.
.

 

[hammer]

Potassium permanganate can be used to clear up pond water. We sometimes use it in the spring and it clears out the slight tan color that my pond can get.

It first turns the water purple, then creates a brownish foam as it works on the brown color of the water.

I keep the filters going, since at the right dosage it doesn't harm the beneficial bacteria, or the fish, of course, and the filters clear the foam. The water looks amazing afterward. The process is finished when the water clears. Usually takes a few hours.

You do need to be careful with it, wearing gloves and eye protection. And it needs to be very accurately measured. We use a balance scale to be sure we get the right amount.

It works very well, but it takes some precautions. It's not to be used nonchalantly.
.

safe for dogs in the water after a couple hours or something like that? thanks for the reply

 

[WaterGardener]

I would consider it safe after the water clears, however long that takes. The time may vary.

Interestingly, if you want to clear the brown color more quickly, use peroxide. That stops the process and clears the water.

 

[hammer]

I think I'm going to try activated carbon, 10lbs in (2) 5lb bags. I'll put 1 in my 77gallon hdx intake bay and the other in the "pond"

 

[GBBUDD]

I have sequence that pumps 6000gpm

Betting it's 6000 gpHour

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I think I'm going to try activated carbon, 10lbs in (2) 5lb bags. I'll put 1 in my 77gallon hdx intake bay and the other in the "pond"

Activated carbon needs to be in an area that has the water flowing past in order to be effective. Putting a bag in your intake bay would be good. One just laying in the bottom of your pond? Probably not going to do much.

 

[GBBUDD]

The water needs to pass through the pile of carbon a thin layer with the water being forced ythough is the best other wise it's not going to do much . a good place might be a waterfall area

 

[hammer]

our dog water bowl has recycler and a carbon filter so I was aware of the moving water, I was going to set it beneath my waterfall or at the intake bay but instead put both bags in my intake bay, it passes 60 gallons a minute which at 77 gallons is just about the entire bin because it's not full. i sized it specifically to run 1 min with the pump 100% so it turns over 6000gph in that bin, should do the trick. I have a screen in there separating the pump siphon from the 3” siphon pond bottom drain. this is one of my favorite design features because the amount of organics i capture in this bay, is insane..... i had to clean it out again this morning. the screen captures so much stuff and keeps it out of the siphon side of the bay. the intake basket works great as well, sometimes leaves get around my screen. there's hardly ever anything in the priming pot basket.

 

[GBBUDD]

Make a trap with a matala mat.

 

[hammer]

my water tds test somehow returned 95ppm...... clear water???????????
my ph test came back 9.1, tap water from MDC is 8.5 at my house. i was surprised by that. i tested my dog water fountain/drink well with the carbon filter and it returned 8.0, i'm hoping the carbon I added to the pond intake bay has the same result.