I thought a half barrel with plants would go well with our two raised ponds
and mini barrel.

Got it home, rinsed it, lined it, filled it with water, installed pygmy
water lily, umbrella palm, and Pickeral weed all in aquatic plant pots with
aquatic compost, and small Hozelok pump (all same as the mini-barrel which
is something like a quarter barrel).

All OK, then 3 days later there is foam and the water seems very cloudy and
grey-ish.
I've been cleaning the pomp sponge daily, but don't know what's happening as
the mini barrel was fine from the start.

Peter

It sounds like one or more of yuor plants pots are allowing the soil
inside to migrate out and make the water off color. I ran into that
last yar with some plants and on occasssion when a pot may get upset,
but using standard nursery pots with a good layer of filter batting
over the holes then the soil and plant and topped with small gravel
has worked extremely well in my wifes triple half barrel setup in
keeping the water gin clear.....

On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 23:16:21 +0100, "2pods" wrote:

===I thought a half barrel with plants would go well with our two raised ponds
===and mini barrel.
===
===Got it home, rinsed it, lined it, filled it with water, installed pygmy
===water lily, umbrella palm, and Pickeral weed all in aquatic plant pots with
===aquatic compost, and small Hozelok pump (all same as the mini-barrel which
===is something like a quarter barrel).
===
===All OK, then 3 days later there is foam and the water seems very cloudy and
===grey-ish.
===I've been cleaning the pomp sponge daily, but don't know what's happening as
===the mini barrel was fine from the start.
===
===Peter
===


==============================================
Put some color in your cheeks...garden naked!
"The original frugal ponder"
~~~~ }((((o ~~~~~~ }{{{{o ~~~~~~~ }(((((o

"2pods" wrote in message
...
All OK, then 3 days later there is foam and the water seems very cloudy
and
grey-ish.
I've been cleaning the pomp sponge daily, but don't know what's happening
as
the mini barrel was fine from the start.
==============================
Foam on the water? It sounds like the soil is escaping from the pots,
perhaps with the help of a few frogs. You can line the pots with ground
cloth or any old non cotton material. Cover the soil with an inch of
gravel. That should help quite a bit.
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

On Mon, 4 Jul 2005 23:16:21 +0100, "2pods" wrote:

I thought a half barrel with plants would go well with our two raised ponds
and mini barrel.

Got it home, rinsed it, lined it, filled it with water, installed pygmy
water lily, umbrella palm, and Pickeral weed all in aquatic plant pots with
aquatic compost, and small Hozelok pump (all same as the mini-barrel which
is something like a quarter barrel).

All OK, then 3 days later there is foam and the water seems very cloudy and
grey-ish.
I've been cleaning the pomp sponge daily, but don't know what's happening as
the mini barrel was fine from the start.

Peter

Sounds like a bacteria bloom, if it is a milky white cloudiness. Stop
cleaning the pump sponge, unless it is restricting water flow? Are there
fish in the barrel? If not, you can probably take off the sponge. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

"Roy" wrote in message
...

It sounds like one or more of yuor plants pots are allowing the soil
inside to migrate out and make the water off color. I ran into that
last yar with some plants and on occasssion when a pot may get upset,
but using standard nursery pots with a good layer of filter batting
over the holes then the soil and plant and topped with small gravel
has worked extremely well in my wifes triple half barrel setup in
keeping the water gin clear.....

Thanks Roy

That's the first thing I checked but they seemed OK.
I really like the sound of your triple barrel setup :-)

Peter

Sounds like a bacteria bloom, if it is a milky white cloudiness. Stop
cleaning the pump sponge, unless it is restricting water flow? Are there
fish in the barrel? If not, you can probably take off the sponge. ~ jan


See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

Thanks Jan
I'll give it a try.
It seemed quite smelly and had what looked like a film on the surface as
well as the foam.
I don't want to put any fish in while it's like this.

Peter

On Tue, 5 Jul 2005 12:43:20 +0100, "2pods" wrote:

Thanks Jan
I'll give it a try.
It seemed quite smelly and had what looked like a film on the surface as
well as the foam.
I don't want to put any fish in while it's like this.

Peter

Both smelly and a film can equal a bacteria bloom, if it doesn't go away
within the week a little potassium permanganate will take care of it. ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~