Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Like many people here our pond developed it's usual pea green algae
bloom this spring. On top of that the fish had been mostly unseen for about 18 months after a plant emptied it's soil into the pond and turned it murky. So, after reading all the useful replies here, I decided to tackle the problem. The methods that I chose were UV clarifier and filter wool. The UV device is an 18 watt basic unit off of eBay, it cost about £45 with postage and packing. We plumbed the UV clarifying in between the submerged pump and filter tank. The filter wool is 12mm thick, 1m wide and came in a roll of 10m. We layered that two ply on top of the filter media as a final filtration step before water exited into a small veggie filter. Without the wool I don't think my Skipy style filter would have caught the flocculated algae cells. The result - After one week the water was looking less murky, but still pea green. After two weeks the water was 'transparent' but green. After three weeks the water was crystal clear. I suspect that the dissolved solids were rendering the UV clarifier almost useless to begin with. Once the water was clear and 'transparent' the UV could travel further and do more work on the algae. The filter wool clogs up quickly, it will change from white to brown in a few hours. We cut it in to squares that fit the filter tank and used either 2 or 3 layers. They needed changing or cleaning every 4 or 5 days while the algae was being removed. Now that the pond is clear they last a week. It's wonderful being able to see the fish again, so I highly recommend tackling the problem seriously to solve it in time for summer. Thanks again for the r.p.m wisdom. -- DavidM www.djmorgan.org.uk |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Congratulations, David!
Your post should be kept as an example of follow through with algae! Now, lots of plants to continue grabbing nutrients and you will not need the UV. You might try that out in a short while. We needed ours at the start of the season for a number of years. This year, we have not bothered as the water has been clear throughout. Jim |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Phyllis and Jim wrote, On 31/05/2008 01:39:
Congratulations, David! Your post should be kept as an example of follow through with algae! Now, lots of plants to continue grabbing nutrients and you will not need the UV. You might try that out in a short while. We needed ours at the start of the season for a number of years. This year, we have not bothered as the water has been clear throughout. Jim Thanks Jim. I think half the fun on ponding is overcoming these kind of challenges, it gives a real sense of achievement. The trouble is, I'll now find different things in the pond to focus on, that will probably cause new problems :) For the first few years our pond was crammed full of plants and the algae was less of a pest. That seemed to introduced it's own problems though, such as filters clogging up with partly decomposed plant and trapped material rotting in the pond. I'm pretty sure that a bad fish infection was due to organic pollution in the water. I removed most of the plants a couple of years ago, and now try to keep them to their baskets. Now that the algae has been removed, the small veggie filter is overflowing with water cress and mint. The large iris in baskets are also doing very well. Like you say, the aim is to turn off the UV soon and hopefully let the plants starve out the algae. I expect it will take a while to get the balance just right. Do you allow water to flow through the until UV unit all year, or do you divert it. I'm not sure how much damage will be done to the glass pipes inside. -- DavidM www.djmorgan.org.uk |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
The water has been moving through the filter for a decade. No problems. We do clean off the sleeve from time to time. Jim |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
I am baffled, but after having NO algae with my "in pond veggie filter" this spring I
suddenly got algae. The temp had dropped again (outside and in the pond). I turned on the UV and in 3 days it was clear. But I am surprised that the algae reappeared. maybe because the pond was getting more sun. sigh. so my hope for not having to use the UV are once again dampened. Ingrid |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Bummer about the algae. I am hoping my pond does not hear about the
situation! Jim |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Phyllis and Jim wrote:
The water has been moving through the filter for a decade. No problems. We do clean off the sleeve from time to time. Jim Hi, We have a fountain that is like a pond, in that it is 2ft deep and 10 feet in diameter. The problem I have is not only algae, but lots of muck in the bottom. I don't raise fish or plants in the water. Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds. Does the filter you use fix that problem? If so, what kind of filter do you use. Thanks, Sheila |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Sheila wrote:
Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds. The way I would attack this is 1) Siphon almost all the water out 2) With a hose, spray as much muck out of the corners and crannies as you can. 3) Repeat 1) and 2) as necessary. Chip |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Sheila wrote:
Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds. Hi Sheila, have you tried a shop vac after you've gotten it empty? ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
If your fountain has no living things in it, you can use an algecide
to keep it clear. You will still have to clean out the muck. Jim |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
If nothing else I would get a sump pump or the like to empty out the
fountain so you can clean it properly. What is the sprinkler/fountain mechanism? Do you have overhanging trees or something else that is dropping litter in the pond or is the organic debris simply from algae? You can get pool chemicals that will keep the water free of algae. If you don't have anything else dropping litter in the pond, then that should be enough to keep it clear and clean. With something that size I would not able to resist at least a few plants and gold fish - of course then you could not use the pool chemicals... Donna "Sheila" wrote in message . .. Phyllis and Jim wrote: The water has been moving through the filter for a decade. No problems. We do clean off the sleeve from time to time. Jim Hi, We have a fountain that is like a pond, in that it is 2ft deep and 10 feet in diameter. The problem I have is not only algae, but lots of muck in the bottom. I don't raise fish or plants in the water. Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds. Does the filter you use fix that problem? If so, what kind of filter do you use. Thanks, Sheila |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Chip wrote:
Sheila wrote: Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds. The way I would attack this is 1) Siphon almost all the water out 2) With a hose, spray as much muck out of the corners and crannies as you can. 3) Repeat 1) and 2) as necessary. Chip Thanks Chip, I drained it the other day and was waiting for it to completely and was waiting for it to dry. It rained 2 days ago and refilled it a couple inches, I'll drain again and will try using my husband's shopvac. There was lots and lots of algae in the pond, also tadpoles, red mud and sand. Your idea to spray in the cracks and redrain and repeat is a good idea. Sheila |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
~ jan wrote:
Sheila wrote: Last year I emptied it and scrubbed it down. This year it was even worse with leaves and debris on the bottom. The problem is since it is vinyl lined with folds in the bottom, it is very hard to get the muck cleaned out. Also we don't have a drain so I have to siphon the water out, so I can't use water pressure to clean in the folds. Hi Sheila, have you tried a shop vac after you've gotten it empty? ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us Jan, I drained it a couple days ago and am waiting for it to completely dry and that is what I was going to try next. It rained that night a couple inches and we had company all day today, so I haven't tried it yet. Thanks for the suggestion. Sheila |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
Phyllis and Jim wrote:
If your fountain has no living things in it, you can use an algecide to keep it clear. You will still have to clean out the muck. Jim The trees a quite a ways off, but it was full of algae, mud, sand, and tadpoles. I will now use an algaecide to keep it clear, but it the muck that builds up that I was hoping to filter, out mainly mud and sand. Sheila |
Clearing algae and silt loaded water
On Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:29:55 EDT, Sheila wrote:
The trees a quite a ways off, but it was full of algae, mud, sand, and tadpoles. What did you do with the tadpoles? builds up that I was hoping to filter, out mainly mud and sand. Is it real dusty around you, or has it been a long time since the last clean out? ~ jan ------------ Zone 7a, SE Washington State Ponds: www.jjspond.us |
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