soo...if i were to add this filteration plants i would start seeing the
water being to clear up within weeks? or is one of those... take all the
water out and start over and add the plants with new water kinda thing?

"blah" wrote in message
...
soo...if i were to add this filteration plants i would start seeing the
water being to clear up within weeks? or is one of those... take all the
water out and start over and add the plants with new water kinda thing?


Keep in mind, I am first season ponder, so have your salt on hand and take
it by the grain. IMHO, large volume water changes are a bad idea, unless you
have something very nasty in your water, like Jerry Lewis VHS tapes. IMHO,
You want to get a body of water rolling, and cycling and keep it there,
tuning it for issues. If you have algae in the water, combat it by choking
it, with plants. Killing it will just make a food supply for more algae if
there is nothing to compete. Changing the water will give you a temp
solution, with a problem that will just return.

I learned the hard way. Mess with the pond, and you get a mess. I think if
you spent $15 bucks or so, you could get some anacharis and WH. Toss them in
and wait two weeks. I bet there will be a nice improvement. CAVEAT: This
assumes you have good filtration and you don't have 350 koi in 400 gallons
of water. There is a reason GF and Koi are called pond pigs, and it ain't
because they taste good with eggs.

BV.

blah wrote:
hey k30a ....u didnt answer my ? before thats ok...
heres my current situation:
fairly new..month old 13x12x2feet deep pond.. i have massive amounts of
algea or scum or something building up. i can only view up to about a foot
down. i have about 10% plant coverage, 2 pumps, one is being filtered the
other is for aeration. 2 of the 4 plants i have are producing coverage.the
lily i have only has about 9 or10 pads now..wont seem to grow more...do i
need to buy like 6 containers of lilys? i would like to a way to help
clarify the water. Besides a UV. If needed.. i have 5 large comets. 1 koi, 2
bass, 3 sunnies(large). any ideas?



by my calculation you have 2340 gallons if every thing is perfectly
square you are overstocked a tad
keep in mind for every plant pot you put in it takes away and equivalent
amount of water.


--





John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

will adding plants actually solve my problem? or just help it?
"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...

"blah" wrote in message
...
soo...if i were to add this filteration plants i would start seeing the
water being to clear up within weeks? or is one of those... take all the
water out and start over and add the plants with new water kinda thing?


Keep in mind, I am first season ponder, so have your salt on hand and take
it by the grain. IMHO, large volume water changes are a bad idea, unless
you
have something very nasty in your water, like Jerry Lewis VHS tapes. IMHO,
You want to get a body of water rolling, and cycling and keep it there,
tuning it for issues. If you have algae in the water, combat it by choking
it, with plants. Killing it will just make a food supply for more algae if
there is nothing to compete. Changing the water will give you a temp
solution, with a problem that will just return.

I learned the hard way. Mess with the pond, and you get a mess. I think if
you spent $15 bucks or so, you could get some anacharis and WH. Toss them
in
and wait two weeks. I bet there will be a nice improvement. CAVEAT: This
assumes you have good filtration and you don't have 350 koi in 400 gallons
of water. There is a reason GF and Koi are called pond pigs, and it ain't
because they taste good with eggs.

BV.

gothcha..i can take out fish anytime..i get them from the river behind my
house.. but is it that much to worry about?

blah wrote:
gothcha..i can take out fish anytime..i get them from the river behind my
house.. but is it that much to worry about?



yes
as the fish eat they poop fish poop turns into amonia which is baad for
the fish burns gills,
bateria turn the amounia into NitrIte which is still bad, causes brown
blood disease other bacteria turn this into nitrate which is fertilizer
for the plants
more fish more of these chemicals harder for the filter to deal with
especialy if the filter is undersized.

google rec ponds for filter we have had many discusions on this and
how to size them for the pond
--





John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

"blah" writes:

yeah thats basically the problem i have right now....EXACTLY..i really
wouldnt like to buy a UV but looks like i may have to.......so for now im
going to try and get some more coverage of plants and apply the 2nd pump to
aeration of the pond instead of filtration. so.....the long waiting process.
Does anyone have any ideas for cheap plants or something that grows really
fast and supplys the amount of coverage i need? maybe i can work on this for
now?

As a fast test, you might try a shade cloth. I used a 50% one for a few
weeks after a heron scare (didn't have bird netting). The lilies bloomed
under it just fine.

Roughly speaking, if 50% shade cloth fixes the algae then 50% plant
coverage should too.

so.. i should buy some new plants such as lillies and add the cloth (or i
heard styrofoam works) over atleast 50% of the pond and wait 2 or 3
weeks....ur saying the algea would be gone and the plants will have
grown...that actually sounds like a good idea. thanx
any other ideas?

"blah" wrote in message
...
so.. i should buy some new plants such as lillies and add the cloth (or i
heard styrofoam works) over atleast 50% of the pond and wait 2 or 3
weeks....ur saying the algea would be gone and the plants will have
grown...that actually sounds like a good idea. thanx
any other ideas?

I suggest something other then lilies. You already have a couple. How about
something for variety that will also soak up nutrients, speeding your algae
clearance?

BV.

i want something that will spread pretty fast... some kind of floating
plant maybe ...or if i havto a potted one. wat ever is cheaper, easier and
spreads quikest

"blah" wrote in message
...
i want something that will spread pretty fast... some kind of floating
plant maybe ...or if i havto a potted one. wat ever is cheaper, easier
and
spreads quikest


Duckweed spreads like...well...a weed.

Water Hyacinth spreads like duckweed only slower.

Water lettuce spreads like Water Hyacinth.

Frogbit spreads slower then duckweed, but faster then Water Hyacinth.

Just toss any of these in, and let them go to work.



BV.

"blah" wrote in message
...
i want something that will spread pretty fast... some kind of floating
plant maybe ...or if i havto a potted one. wat ever is cheaper, easier
and
spreads quikest


Duckweed spreads like...well...a weed.

Water Hyacinth spreads like duckweed only slower.

Water lettuce spreads like Water Hyacinth.

Frogbit spreads slower then duckweed, but faster then Water Hyacinth.

Just toss any of these in, and let them go to work.



BV.

"blah" wrote in message
...
i want something that will spread pretty fast... some kind of floating
plant maybe ...or if i havto a potted one. wat ever is cheaper, easier
and
spreads quikest


Duckweed spreads like...well...a weed.

Water Hyacinth spreads like duckweed only slower.

Water lettuce spreads like Water Hyacinth.

Frogbit spreads slower then duckweed, but faster then Water Hyacinth.

Just toss any of these in, and let them go to work.



BV.

I hope that you have taken the lilies out of those little 4 inch pots they
were in when you bought them. They need a rather large pot, about the size
of a good size dishpan. Use the poorest soil that you have on your property
for planting them in and fertilize with PondTabbs or one of the tree spikes
or tomato spikes. Cover the soil with very large gravel, egg rock, or
pieces of slate to keep the koi from rooting in the soil an uprooting the
lilies. Get some hyacinths or lettuce. Only need a few, and within weeks
you will be using them for compost.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"blah" wrote in message
...
not sure if it matters...but the water is warm...its almost directly in
the
front of our yard. so is this the source of all the algea? and approx how
long can this process of waiting take? also...i read that atleast 70% of
the
surface of the pond needs to be cover by plants. i dont have that much. i
have less than 10%..the plants i have dont seem to grow enough to cover a
larger area...i bought a lily and it has about 8 or 9 pads and thats all
that have grown since i bought it.. do i need to buy like 10 of the 4inch
pots just to have that many pads to create the 70% of coverage?
"RichToyBox" wrote in message
news:dp_Va.23123$Ho3.4268@sccrnsc03...
This sounds like a new pond, and a new ponder. The algae carpet that
forms
on the side of the pond is good, in that it provides for some of the
filtering of the pond, and it uses the nutrients needed by the floating
green algae. My recommendation for the green water that is making the
pond
less than clear, is patience. But you should be getting the complete
list
of things to do, including getting more plants in the pond.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"AFE" wrote in message
news
hey everyone...I have a problem with my pond and I cant figure it out
whatso
ever! i have a massive amount of green/brown algea forming on the
entire
inside of the pond and im not sure if thats whats making the water
unclear
or if its the water its self that is dirty..i have tried making the
pond
deeper and adding a filter and large waterfall to it. this didnt work.
i
have 4 plants providing a little shade. the pond is 13x12x2ftdeep.
there
are
2 pumps pushing a HUGE amount of water through the waterfall which is
being
filtered....no matter how hard i try the pond becomes very hard to
view
the
fish. i would realllly like the help from someone if they know my
problem
and how to solve it..i spent alot of money on this and want to have a
nice
pond

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 19:14:42 GMT, "blah" wrote:

i want something that will spread pretty fast... some kind of floating
plant maybe ...or if i havto a potted one. wat ever is cheaper, easier and
spreads quikest

Water fern/azolla with grow before your eyes.
I have never had duckweed, but maybe some of that.