HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I clean it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I clean it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out with some
of this water. Don't use tap water.

I seem to have the same problem, David. I used a bucked of pond water to
rinse out the filter matting in my BioFalls, then poured the gunky (it's a
technical term) water on my roses. They didn't seem to complain.

My problem is now that the weather is getting hot and I'm getting more sun
on my pond, the pebbles and rocks seem to be growing the stuff! They look
like they're growing plants of their own! The water is clear enough to see
the fishs coulors clearly at the bottom of a 4 foot pond.. There's a bit of
this sludge floating around the lily pads and inside the water iris stalks,
but not free on the surface.

My Water Hyacenths have a floating root system you wouldn't believe! Since
they're multiplying quite well, and the WHs are firm, I guess they're doing
their job!

I guess I need to wander down and try some of that new MicrobeLift-SA....

--
~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

john burton
Bach 50B3
Bass Trombone, Charleston NeoPhonic Orchestra
South Charleston, West Virginia

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?

"John Burton" wrote in message
...
I seem to have the same problem, David. I used a bucked of pond water to
rinse out the filter matting in my BioFalls, then poured the gunky (it's a
technical term) water on my roses. They didn't seem to complain.

My problem is now that the weather is getting hot and I'm getting more sun
on my pond, the pebbles and rocks seem to be growing the stuff! They look
like they're growing plants of their own! The water is clear enough to see
the fishs coulors clearly at the bottom of a 4 foot pond.. There's a bit of
this sludge floating around the lily pads and inside the water iris stalks,
but not free on the surface.

My Water Hyacenths have a floating root system you wouldn't believe! Since
they're multiplying quite well, and the WHs are firm, I guess they're doing
their job!

I guess I need to wander down and try some of that new MicrobeLift-SA....


Add aquazyme to your water. It is a powdered form of aerobic bacteria that will
colonize the walls, rocks, and the water in your pond, and digest the nutrients,
and decaying matter, and the sludge as well. It competes with algae for
nutrients, and is a natural algae control. Having said that, you likely won't
get rid of all of the algae in your pond unless you nuke it with algaecide or
spend a lot of money on a UV filter. By why bother with that? A little algae
is a good thing, as long as you control the growth.

John wrote
the pebbles and rocks seem to be growing the stuff! They look
like they're growing plants of their own!

Algae that grows on rocks and pebbles, make it look like a fuzzy sweater?, is
good stuff. It contributes to your clear water.
Also all sorts of little critters live in it which make for good fish food and
overall health of the pond.
A pond is so much more than lilies and fish, though usually we don't see much
of it..... which is why some of us go really overboard buy a mircoscope and
start checking these things out.
One of my favorite ponders I've met on the web hosts this page - Ron's Pond
Scum
http://www.silkentent.com/gus1911/RonPond.htm


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

George wrote:
"John Burton" wrote in message
...

I seem to have the same problem, David. I used a bucked of pond water to
rinse out the filter matting in my BioFalls, then poured the gunky (it's a
technical term) water on my roses. They didn't seem to complain.

My problem is now that the weather is getting hot and I'm getting more sun
on my pond, the pebbles and rocks seem to be growing the stuff! They look
like they're growing plants of their own! The water is clear enough to see
the fishs coulors clearly at the bottom of a 4 foot pond.. There's a bit of
this sludge floating around the lily pads and inside the water iris stalks,
but not free on the surface.

My Water Hyacenths have a floating root system you wouldn't believe! Since
they're multiplying quite well, and the WHs are firm, I guess they're doing
their job!

I guess I need to wander down and try some of that new MicrobeLift-SA....



Add aquazyme to your water. It is a powdered form of aerobic bacteria that will
colonize the walls, rocks, and the water in your pond, and digest the nutrients,
and decaying matter, and the sludge as well. It competes with algae for
nutrients, and is a natural algae control. Having said that, you likely won't
get rid of all of the algae in your pond unless you nuke it with algaecide or
spend a lot of money on a UV filter. By why bother with that? A little algae
is a good thing, as long as you control the growth.



I have some MicrobeLift PL here, would that do the same thing??

"john burton" wrote in message
...
George wrote:
"John Burton" wrote in message
...

I seem to have the same problem, David. I used a bucked of pond water to
rinse out the filter matting in my BioFalls, then poured the gunky (it's a
technical term) water on my roses. They didn't seem to complain.

My problem is now that the weather is getting hot and I'm getting more sun
on my pond, the pebbles and rocks seem to be growing the stuff! They look
like they're growing plants of their own! The water is clear enough to see
the fishs coulors clearly at the bottom of a 4 foot pond.. There's a bit of
this sludge floating around the lily pads and inside the water iris stalks,
but not free on the surface.

My Water Hyacenths have a floating root system you wouldn't believe! Since
they're multiplying quite well, and the WHs are firm, I guess they're doing
their job!

I guess I need to wander down and try some of that new MicrobeLift-SA....



Add aquazyme to your water. It is a powdered form of aerobic bacteria that
will colonize the walls, rocks, and the water in your pond, and digest the
nutrients, and decaying matter, and the sludge as well. It competes with
algae for nutrients, and is a natural algae control. Having said that, you
likely won't get rid of all of the algae in your pond unless you nuke it with
algaecide or spend a lot of money on a UV filter. By why bother with that?
A little algae is a good thing, as long as you control the growth.

I have some MicrobeLift PL here, would that do the same thing??


It should.

I've been using tap water for a decade and never had bad results.

--
Don
"George" wrote in message
.. .

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out with
some
of this water. Don't use tap water.

"Don" dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
I've been using tap water for a decade and never had bad results.

--
Don

You will likely get better results if you don't. Is your tap water chlorinated?

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out with
some
of this water. Don't use tap water.

Yes, it is. Large colonies of bacteria reappear within days.

--
Don
"George" wrote in message
.. .

"Don" dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
I've been using tap water for a decade and never had bad results.

--
Don

You will likely get better results if you don't. Is your tap water
chlorinated?

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I
clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out
with
some
of this water. Don't use tap water.

"Don" dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
Yes, it is. Large colonies of bacteria reappear within days.

--
Don

I'm just saying that it is not recommended. Do whatever works for you.

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"Don" dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
I've been using tap water for a decade and never had bad results.

--
Don

You will likely get better results if you don't. Is your tap water
chlorinated?

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I
clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out
with
some
of this water. Don't use tap water.

I know. Just putting in my two cents (which is usually over valued)

--
Don
"George" wrote in message
...

"Don" dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
Yes, it is. Large colonies of bacteria reappear within days.

--
Don

I'm just saying that it is not recommended. Do whatever works for you.

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"Don" dbitzerATcomcastDOTnet wrote in message
...
I've been using tap water for a decade and never had bad results.

--
Don

You will likely get better results if you don't. Is your tap water
chlorinated?

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I
clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out
with
some
of this water. Don't use tap water.

"George" wrote in message
.. .

"david williams" wrote in message
...
HI,
My filter seems to soon fill with a browny green sludge. Should I clean
it
or will cleaning it destroy the bacteria i need?


Take a bucket and fill it with some of the pond water. Rinse it out with
some
of this water. Don't use tap water.


The brown-green sludge is most likely a combination of the dead bacteria,
algae, and sediment that settled onto the filter media. It can be safely
washed off.

As for not using tap water. I wouldn't worry about it. The bacteria are
growing everywhere in your pond. Within a few hours of replacing the filter
media, the bacteria colonies will begin to establish themselves on the
filter media.

The few million that die from chlorinated water exposure may cause a spike
in ammonia/nitrate levels for a day, until the bacteria can fully establish
themselves. Hardly worth worrying about, or the extra effort of using pond
water to clean.

When I clean my bio filter, I use a garden hose and spray the muck off the
filter. I usually try to save as much of the mucky water as I can, to water
the roses. The rest just gets dumped onto the lawn.

Snooze