On Sun, 30 Mar 2008 18:14:56 EDT, Bootfit
wrote:


Hello all - first post here.

We moved into our first home in September last year and have inherrited
a pond in the back garden that is about 2m x 3m. It has a dead looking
lilly pad, a load of pond-type water plants, a few frogs and a fair few
fish.

I usually work with gallon figures, since that is what I need to treat
the water, so many ounces of treatment for so many gallons of water.

For the past 5 months the water has been clear but the last month it
has gone really murky with brown/fury sludge appearing on the rocks.
There is also some foam/bubbles appearing where the water from the pump
flows back into the pond. There is also a shed load of frog spawn.

Pretty typical this time of year. The water usually clears in winter
and begins to go South when the water warms and frogs and toads begin
to appear.

I cleaned the pond filter in january and I also removed loads of the
pond-type water plants - will this be the reason for the watern being
cloudy now?

About what I did too, and my pond is not only murky, but beginning to
show green color along with the murky look. I was hoping my new
filter wouldn't have to be cleaned so often and plants would take
enough nutrients out of the water, so I wouldn't need to use the
bucket filter with quilt batting to keep the algae down so I can see
the fish.

I've done a course of Interpet Pond Health Test Kit with all results
coming back normal and I've done a course of Interpet Pond Balance
(clears blanket weed) all to no availe.

Not familiar with that treatment. I've used Alum (aluminum sulfate)
with good results although temporary, and the latest, one by PondCare
named Algifix. Chemical solutions to clear a pond are temporary at
best. Alum will kill algae and cause it to clump in masses on the
bottom and if not removed will rot and release the nutrients it
absorbed to grow back into the water again. I think all chemical
remedies for green or murky water are similar and require repeated
treatments.

I also found a pooly fish a week or so ago tha looks like it's fins and
gills had some sort of fungus infection that killed it.

I'm like most of the others here who don't want to make a guess, but
the plants should have been removed before being killed by the cold
and decaying in the water. The water lily can simply be pruned and
left on the bottom, but floating plants should be removed in winter
and replaced in spring when the water begins to warm. Some plants
begin to grow at 40F, but most really get going when the water reaches
about 70F. Plants absorb some nutrients that the filter action leaves
behind, at least that is the theory. Water quality goes down when
things are left in the pond to decay and parasites wake in the spring
about the same time the fish's immune system is beginning to come back
online and sometimes the parasites and disease kill fish this time of
year. If water quality isn't good that can happen any time of the
year, but this is the beginning of the battle for this year at my
house.

Can anyone help with clearing the water and getting the pond back to a
healthy balance agin - we'd like to keep it as we want to encourage
more wildlife into the garden.

Okay the first part is filter, clean filters clean debris off the
bottom and add plants to help absorb nutrients that algae feeds on.
The theory being that nutrients absorbed by larger plants will take
away nutrients needed by algae. That may not be totally correct, but
it seems to work.

About wildlife in a fishpond. If you want healthy fish, you need to
remember fish have a toilet bowl existence and wildlife just brings in
more ammonia. Fish in the wild live in more gallons of water per
fish. Birds carry parasites in their droppings and they drop where
they drink. IMHO a wildlife pond should be much bigger than a garden
fish pond and I see a big difference. I have no experience with a
wildlife pond and try to keep fish in mine. Good luck!
--
Hal Middle Georgia, Zone 8
http://tinyurl.com/2fxzcb