alum
 

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?
Carolyn

alum
 

I dont believe it is temperature dependent. what is your pH? Ingrid

On Sat, 5 May 2007 08:43:20 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?
Carolyn

alum
 

Not sure about the pH, haven't tested that yet. There is a lot of sludge in
my mom's pond. It's twice as big as ours, with less fish, and ours is
clear.

wrote in message
.com...
I dont believe it is temperature dependent. what is your pH? Ingrid

On Sat, 5 May 2007 08:43:20 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?
Carolyn

alum
 

On Sat, 5 May 2007 08:43:20 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?

Why? You leave me puzzled, because I don't have green water when it
is cold. I only use alum (aluminum sulfate) to kill algae and help
coagulate floating particles to the bottom. It is not a permanent
cure for algae, only temporary. Alum will kill it and clump it on the
bottom, but you must remove it or it decays into nutrients that
promote more algae growth.

Alum should be used with a caution that it is acidic. It will remove
some of the KH. (KH is the carbonates in the water that keep the pH
stable.) Baking soda is a quick, safe and temporary cure for KH loss.
Suggested dose 1/3 pound per 1000 gallons. That will raise KH by 20
ppm. or about 1 degree.

Regards,

Hal

alum
 

it would be better to clean the sludge out of the pond first. do a pH
to make sure there is enough hardness, then use the aluminum sulfate.
and pH after it is added to make sure the pH is stable. if your water
out of the tap is soft and low pH, dont use alum. Ingrid

On Sun, 6 May 2007 07:27:44 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

Not sure about the pH, haven't tested that yet. There is a lot of sludge in
my mom's pond. It's twice as big as ours, with less fish, and ours is
clear.

wrote in message
e.com...
I dont believe it is temperature dependent. what is your pH? Ingrid

On Sat, 5 May 2007 08:43:20 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?
Carolyn

alum
 

The water isn't so much green, but murky. Not clear.

"Hal" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 5 May 2007 08:43:20 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?

Why? You leave me puzzled, because I don't have green water when it
is cold. I only use alum (aluminum sulfate) to kill algae and help
coagulate floating particles to the bottom. It is not a permanent
cure for algae, only temporary. Alum will kill it and clump it on the
bottom, but you must remove it or it decays into nutrients that
promote more algae growth.

Alum should be used with a caution that it is acidic. It will remove
some of the KH. (KH is the carbonates in the water that keep the pH
stable.) Baking soda is a quick, safe and temporary cure for KH loss.
Suggested dose 1/3 pound per 1000 gallons. That will raise KH by 20
ppm. or about 1 degree.

Regards,

Hal

alum
 

How do you remove the sludge without emptying the whole pond?

wrote in message
.com...
it would be better to clean the sludge out of the pond first. do a pH
to make sure there is enough hardness, then use the aluminum sulfate.
and pH after it is added to make sure the pH is stable. if your water
out of the tap is soft and low pH, dont use alum. Ingrid

On Sun, 6 May 2007 07:27:44 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

Not sure about the pH, haven't tested that yet. There is a lot of sludge
in
my mom's pond. It's twice as big as ours, with less fish, and ours is
clear.

wrote in message
re.com...
I dont believe it is temperature dependent. what is your pH? Ingrid

On Sat, 5 May 2007 08:43:20 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

When do you start putting alum in the pond? Do you have to wait for the
water to warm up?
Carolyn

alum
 

On Mon, 7 May 2007 08:43:41 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

How do you remove the sludge without emptying the whole pond?


How big (LXW) of a pond are we talking about? If over 8X10 & 3 feet deep
you will need to drain the pond. Those under that, with a width of 6 feet
or less, you can use a shop vac to suck out a lot, though depending on the
amount of gunk this might be more work, as you need to dump the canister.
At least the fish don't have to be removed and it doesn't foul the water
while doing the job.

Speaking of dumping the canister, I have some of the huge size of mesh
baskets. If I'd used them for plants I would not have been able to lift
them, I got them cheap at a yard/pond sale. (Apparently they realized they
couldn't lift them either.) They work really well as a sieve for this type
of dumping. Water and small particles flow out, but the main gunk stays,
dries and goes in the composter. ~ jan :-)
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

alum
 

If your pond slopes to the drain, you can let the muck be pulled into
it and the filtered in your filter or allow it to settle in a vortex
or veggie filter. Ours slopes gently (very...less than 1/4" over an
8' radius). The fish stir the muck and the pump at the deepest part
pulls the muck out into our berm veggie filter ponds. It settles
there. We drain the berm pond annually, runnig the muck our a bottom
drain.

Jim

alum
 

normally, you dont. in big ponds a sludge pump is set in a milk crate
on the bottom and it sucks out the sludge. the pump is slowly moved
across the bottom. Ingrid

On Mon, 7 May 2007 08:43:41 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:
How do you remove the sludge without emptying the whole pond?

alum
 

On Mon, 7 May 2007 08:43:41 CST, "Henry & Carolyn"
wrote:

How do you remove the sludge without emptying the whole pond?

Shop Vac works if it is small enough to reach with the hose end.

If it is a large pond it might be easier to drain, however it is
possible to hook up a pond pump with a leaf catcher in the line (to
protect the pump.) and vacuum the bottom with that. That usually
means the pump has to be in the pond. I've done it with an external
pump above the waterline by priming the pump and lines with a Shop
Vac, but laying out lines and priming the pump is lots of work and I
gave up on that after a couple cleanings, but it did work.

There are available for sale pond vac's too, but they are a bit
expensive, I think the cheapest ones start around $200.

Regards,

Hal