Hi, I have a 3000 gallon pond and the water was clear a couple days ago
now it's getting so I can't see the pump on the bottom. What can I do to
make it clear again? I have a 3600gph pump that recycles the water to my
veggie pond and stream. I also have 2 Koi and some water hyacinthe.

Thanks
Mike S

Mike S.

The normal pond cycle will result in the pond going green for a while.
Google K30a as author and "green water primer" as topic in rec.ponds. Of
course the most important thing is patience.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"Michael Shaffer" wrote in message
...
Hi, I have a 3000 gallon pond and the water was clear a couple days ago
now it's getting so I can't see the pump on the bottom. What can I do to
make it clear again? I have a 3600gph pump that recycles the water to my
veggie pond and stream. I also have 2 Koi and some water hyacinthe.

Thanks
Mike S

I'll go ahead and post it as I am avoiding doing paperwork...

(the long version)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a collection of tips offered by readers of rec.ponds
To achieve clear water, instead of pea soup green water, in your pond you
should:

~ Realize that algae is tough! It exists in extreme conditions, like ice, just
fine. It has many, many different
forms. It even has a home page! http://www.nmnh.si.edu/botany/projects/algae/
And, finally, without algae we wouldn't
be here so we should treat it with a little respect ;-)

~ Learn as much as you can about the natural balance of a pond and realizing
that new ponds must go through
a growth period which usually means green water before balance occurs.

~ Mother Nature designs pond to have few fish, many plants and subtraction and
addition of new water from time to time.
She lets the fish find food on their own, lets the fish fertilize the plants,
encourages predators and lets the plants run rampant.
She never cleans her ponds out unless she sends a flood. If things really get
out of control she throws up her hands and lets the chips fall where they may -
lets the pond fill in, turn emerald green, flood it out, earthquakes,
hurricanes, record snowfall, elections too close to call - whatever...

~We pondkeepers stuff in lots of pretty fish, spoil them rotten with tasty fish
chow, over fertilize our plants and do everything possible to discourage
predators.

~Plan on 20 gallons of water per goldfish and 100 gallons of water per koi
(with a 1,000 gallon minimum) and as many plants as you can stuff in.

~ Do not use chemicals, killing algae just makes lots of suddenly dead algae,
rotting algae robs the pond of oxygen and makes more stuff for the new algae to
feed on (unless you have a bottom drain to get it out).

~ Do not worry about green fuzzy algae on the side of the pond, that is good
algae and helps balance your pond.

~ Ignore a little string algae.

~ Install bottom drains and skimmers for ease of removing sludge and debris.

~ Net the pond during the fall to keep leaves out of the pond.

~ Trim dead growth from the plants and removing floating tropicals if you live
in colder climates.

~ Lower your fish stocking, not over feeding fish - algae loves fish waste
(lots of yummy phosphorous)

~ Add lots plants of any type, marginal plants such as reeds, cattails, iris,
pickerel weed, arrowhead, floaters such as water hyacinth, water lettuce and
lots of underwater plants such as anacharis uses the nutrients up that the
algae would like.

~ Shade - lilies, the floaters (water hyacinth and water lettuce) and
artificial shade - shade cloth, umbrella, arch or trellis planted with vines,
No sun for the algae.

~ Clean up debris from the bottom of the pond and
stock snails to chew up the debris - less decaying stuff for algae food.

~ Cut back or stop fertilizing plants - same principle.

~ Plant in fine gravel and top with larger rocks if you have koi.

~ Mechanical filtration of the fish waste - usually a settling chamber in your
filter, or the first row of brushs, filter media.

~ Biological filtration - more than you think you need as your fish are going
to grow and you will probably add more fish to your pond via purchase or your
fish breeding in the pond. (This does not help with the algae problem but
contributes to the overall health of your fish and any critters. )

~ Construct a veggie filter - an area, 10% to 20%, of the size of your pond
surface area. A couple of inches deeper than the plant baskets (the rigid black
mesh baskets made specifically for water plants) you are going to use to plant
in. Plant the baskets with marginal plants with fine gravel. Pump the pond
water through at a turnover rate per hour 1/2 to 1/4 of the pond volume. Veggie
filter uses up many of the nutrients and provides a good place for bacteria to
grow. Build it with a bottom drain (or two) for ease of cleaning - very
important or you'll end up with backups and leaking over the edge. Go here to
read a great description about how to build one
http://hometown.aol.com/k30a/myhomepage/garden.html
or
A veggie filter can be as simple as floating water hyacinth at the top of your
stock tank filter. Mine get to be almost three feet tall with leaves as big as
my hand.

~ Purchase sludge eating product - concentrated bacteria culture.

~ Some folks love their UV sterilizer. Does cost some $. And you have to change
the bulb every year.

~ Add a bale of barley straw to your pond for string algae. Read this webpage
http://hometown.aol.com/rosiedawg/my...ollection.html

~Phosphate Remover - It comes in a large clear container (maybe about gallon
sized) but it's also available in a smaller quart sized carton. It's usually
near the aquatic plant fertilizers and different chemicals available such as
ammonia remover and such.
You measure out the amount suitable for your pond size, place it in a mesh
bag, and first soak it in a pail before you put it in your filter. You need to
soak it because it gives off heat when it first gets wet.

~ Read this web page for interesting theroy on the life and times of algae
http://www.koiclubsandiego.org/GRENH2O.html

~ Make sacrifices to the Pond Goddess.
Run to your nearest garden center and buy a gazing ball,
a dragonfly garden stake and bullfrog spitter.
Place around your pond and ask humbly for clear water.

~ Patience, patience and eternal optimism.


k30a

I'd suggest you crank up the aquatic plants, in batches. Say three
varieties at a time. That would be a convenient quantity to phase in
as parcels by mail order. When the pond, whatever size, or
configuration is planted about 60% area with aquatic plants, they will
take control of water quality, converting the surplus fertility the
algae exploits and converting it into attractive foliage, creating
shade, protection and additional sources of food for your fish.

.....Heres a short list of the better 'algae busters'

fast foliage plants- they grow fast but need restraining soon:
lizards tail
azolla (not hardy)
water hyacinth (not hardy)
parrots feather copes with fish grazing
typha's (reeds, the small varieties, not the nasty latifolia) copes
with fish grazing
salvinia (not hardy)
bladderwort

slow foliage types, easier to control in the long run:
aquatic iris... slow but steady growers, easy to control copes with
fish grazing
sedges copes with fish grazing
cyperus copes with fish grazing
scirpus copes with fish grazing
pickerel copes with fish grazing
sweet flag copes with fish grazing
any small to medium water lilies copes with fish grazing

The reason I'd categorise plants into two categories for algae busting
is that the 'slow' varieties are best in the long run, having more
attractive features and being well behaved and easy to control, while
you wait for varieties like that to take control, a combination of the
'fast foliage' types can be used to get control.... these are
extremely invasive plants but do have the redeeming feature that they
are fairly easy to control at a later date

One of the problems for new ponders is that 'green water' is a sudden
event and there is often the desperate attempt to go for the 'quick
fix' to hide embarrasement at all that work to make a pond going to
waste to end up with a green soup bowl.... which often results in
inneffective solutions like emptying, silly pumps and junk,
chemicals... The plain fact is green water is healthy water.... and
your fish are accellerating the process.

Cranking up the plants steadily will with time crush the algae, big
time, long term

Regards, Andy

http://www.members.aol.com/abdavisnc/swglist.html
(andys aquatic plant list for interesting swaps
------------------------oo------------------------

Michael Shaffer wrote in message ...
Hi, I have a 3000 gallon pond and the water was clear a couple days ago
now it's getting so I can't see the pump on the bottom. What can I do to
make it clear again? I have a 3600gph pump that recycles the water to my
veggie pond and stream. I also have 2 Koi and some water hyacinthe.

Thanks
Mike S