Freshwater Outdoor Pond Advice

[mario8402]

My mother in law has a pond that we dug about a year or two ago. Lately is has been really green. the landscape store has been selling her some additives etc that are supposed to be clearing it up but nothing has really worked. She removed the gravel on the bottom a few months ago bc we thought it was holding algae so she removed it and cleaned everything and didnt put the gravel back in and it turned green, again! Can you run UV on outdoor ponds? is it recommended? I would estimate the pond at 300gal. The pump is on the very bottom of the pic inside the "skimmer" portion. the filter and nets are cleaned out peridocially to remove leaves etc.
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[Astex]

I know I've seen pond UV filters specifically for "green water" so I would take that as a yes. Does she have any plants in there to possibly soak up excess nutrients?

[PlanB]

I've used UV filters to remedy green water before. Your pump's flow rate will impact it's effectiveness though. Basically, the slower the flow rate, the longer the water's in contact with the UV light. Problem is, larger ponds require faster flow rates. It might be necessary to plumb a smaller, slower pump to a UV filter and have it's return into a different water feature.

There's also Laguna's Turbo Twist line where the water flows into a coil around the UV bulb maximizing radiation exposure.

Lily pads and marginal plants help. They'll compete with algae for nutrients and provide shade.

[tcuduc]

hi,

for a 300 gallon pond, all you need is an 18watt UV (contact www.azponds.com or http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.co...ps/c/5163/5165)

tell the operator what you need and they will match your pump/equipment. the wattage is in relation to the flowrate/contact time to effectively kill the single algae that is causing your green water.

additives are not good to add, usually are harmful to the rest of your pond inhabitants as they restrict the oxygen content. the other consequence of adding chemicals is that once the massive die off is achieved, your filters will be overloaded with dead cells to convert.

you should look into some sort of cover to provide some shade, being out in full sun with only 300 gallons of water is not ideal, the water temps must be crazy high during the summer.

good luck.

[blacksmith37]

It may be caused by the algaecide; That has been my experience in aquariums. I not seen green water in my pond in 12 yrs, but I don't clean out leaves, etc ( every other yr). I maintain a 55 and a 29 in a nursing home; someone puts algeacide in the 55. It kills the plants (java moss, hornwort, val) ( and then plecos and Koi), then with no plants, the algae covers the glass.

[mario8402]

theres really only a couple of plants astex, that may be the issue. this green water thing didnt start until recently, and i think she had more plants in the beginning

planb - thats what I was thinking, probably gettin MJ 900 or something and just route it to the UV under the house or something so it doesnt get wet. Would like to solve naturally so its just one less thing to buy or worried about but it seems liek the additives would help, its a powder of some sort and was sold to her by the local pond/plant place.

thanks for the link tcuduc. I will look into this, maybe get her to plant some larger plants for cover. She had some elephant ear plants around it at one point and i think they started to get a little out of hand and were pulled out but im sure they provided shade.

blacksmith, i will have her double check what she puts in, but i dont think this is the case

[merkurmaniac]

Mario,

I can give you some pond plants. I have a bunch and I will not be needing them soon. Anachris is a plant that stays submerged and should outcompete the algea. My water was never green and murky. I barely did naything to it. I did grow a bunch of plants in it. I could give you a potted lillie or two also.

Richard

[mario8402]

that would be awesome richard, Im sure she would appreciate that a ton. I think she will be in town this week I could send them back with her unless is there a right time to put plants in a pond? (kinda like planting plants in the spring? lol)

[rebelliondog206]

My mother in law has a pond that we dug about a year or two ago. Lately is has been really green. the landscape store has been selling her some additives etc that are supposed to be clearing it up but nothing has really worked. She removed the gravel on the bottom a few months ago bc we thought it was holding algae so she removed it and cleaned everything and didnt put the gravel back in and it turned green, again! Can you run UV on outdoor ponds? is it recommended? I would estimate the pond at 300gal. The pump is on the very bottom of the pic inside the "skimmer" portion. the filter and nets are cleaned out peridocially to remove leaves etc.
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Do a full clean out and start over.....

What is being used as filtration? I had this same problem with mine, about 400 gallon. Full sun will grow algae.

I built a bog filter.....37 gallon tote with rocks and plants, the water flows up through the rocks and roots of plants that are planted in it (pretty simple plumbing project), then back to the pond......water cleared within a week. I manually removed the string algae and scrubbed the liner.

I have had no algae bloom since. This has been since last June. Sink a small bale of barley and I use Phos-X in the mechanical end of the filtration......no chemicals.

[marymatters]

I check out some UV filter at truepump.com, do you think their price were fair enough?

[Oldsgirl]

I have a pond that's about 1500 gal and it's in a shaded area, but I built it based on advice from a coworker who had numerous HUGE ponds. His were all in full sun, and he ran bog filters only. He said once you set up the pond, it will turn green, but leave it alone (no additives or anything) and it will clear up and never turn green again. Mine went through that stage and has never had a problem since. It shouuld be pretty easy to build a bog filter, and it would also add another waterfall to the pond, which is nice.