green water?
 

i just dug a pond and put the fish in a while, but for some reason teh
water is turning green.

CN wrote i just dug a pond and put the fish in a while, but for some reason
teh water is turning green.


Water turns green because algae is growing in it.
The algae is made up of individual small cells. Millions of them and they turn
the water green.
To get rid of algae you should put lots of pond plants in your pond, do not add
too many fish and don't feed the fish too much.
It will take a long time to clear, probably about a month's time unless your
weather cools off fairly quickly.





kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish


"cn" wrote in message
m...
i just dug a pond and put the fish in a while, but for some reason teh
water is turning green.

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish



A year ?
You're kidding, right ?

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but in my case I let it sit for a couple
of days, added the plants and filter.
Let it sit for a week then put a few fish in.
Then I started testing the water quality.
Added some more fish after a couple of weeks (add plants whenever you want).

By this time the water had cleared.
Tested water
After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it functioning
pond.

Peter

no, soo you'll be testing and shoving in chemicals to lower the ph and then
to raise it again

a pond (at least) needs a year's cycle to sort out its own chemical balance


"2pods" wrote in message
...

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish



A year ?
You're kidding, right ?

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but in my case I let it sit for a
couple
of days, added the plants and filter.
Let it sit for a week then put a few fish in.
Then I started testing the water quality.
Added some more fish after a couple of weeks (add plants whenever you
want).

By this time the water had cleared.
Tested water
After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it functioning
pond.

Peter

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message ...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish.
Leave it a year to settle and sort out its own chemistry

"cn" wrote in message
m...
i just dug a pond and put the fish in a while, but for some reason teh
water is turning green.

A year? Fish killing device?? That seems excessive. Even for the far
side of the pond. Plus, how is a pond going to stabilize without any
fish?
CN has been pointed in the correct direction for cycling the pond.
Lighten up.
--
Crashj

On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 14:09:37 +0100, "Oxymel of Squill"
wrote:

===no, soo you'll be testing and shoving in chemicals to lower the ph and then
===to raise it again
===
===a pond (at least) needs a year's cycle to sort out its own chemical balance
===
===
==="2pods" wrote in message
...
===
=== "Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
=== ...
=== a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
=== and
=== sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish
===
===
===
=== A year ?
=== You're kidding, right ?
===
=== Maybe this won't work for everyone, but in my case I let it sit for a
===couple
=== of days, added the plants and filter.
=== Let it sit for a week then put a few fish in.
=== Then I started testing the water quality.
=== Added some more fish after a couple of weeks (add plants whenever you
===want).
===
=== By this time the water had cleared.
=== Tested water
=== After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it functioning
=== pond.
===
=== Peter
===
===
===

When I dug my natural pond 1 acre out, it was filling in almost as
fast with water as each bucket full of dirt that was removed. The
water table was extremely high. The day we finished digging it, it
was totally full the next day all from ground water infiltration, and
later the next day in the afternoon I was stocking it with
fish.........which I now regret as I am now trying to rid the pond of
all those fish, so I can have just Koi and GF in it.

I was told to let even the wifes half barrel alone for months so it
would stailize........I had it planted and fish in it within a week or
so and they all are doing fine. Maybe if I as buying the expensive KOI
I may be a bit more concerned, but a year or even months is kind of
absured, to me anyhow.
Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wife,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Oxymel of Squill wrote:

no, soo you'll be testing and shoving in chemicals to lower the ph and
then to raise it again

He definitely didn't say that. I wouldn't leave it more than a couple of
days before adding plants. Fish, _maybe_ a few weeks. Then you start
testing the water quality. Once the whole nitrogren cycle gets stabilized,
you can add more fish. There's no need to mess with chemicals, but you
don't want to add so many fish at once that they all die in an ammonia or
nitrite spike.

a pond (at least) needs a year's cycle to sort out its own chemical
balance

A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too small to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the first
fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.

After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it
functioning pond.

To each his own. I don't like artificially clear ponds, but if it works for
you :-)
--
derek

No chemicals in this pond.
ph is fine.

If no fish or plants, how can you avoid a algae bloom and green water ?

So a year later, in go the fish and the pond chemistry changes completely ?


"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
no, soo you'll be testing and shoving in chemicals to lower the ph and
then
to raise it again

a pond (at least) needs a year's cycle to sort out its own chemical
balance


"2pods" wrote in message
...

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish



A year ?
You're kidding, right ?

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but in my case I let it sit for a
couple
of days, added the plants and filter.
Let it sit for a week then put a few fish in.
Then I started testing the water quality.
Added some more fish after a couple of weeks (add plants whenever you
want).

By this time the water had cleared.
Tested water
After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it
functioning
pond.

Peter

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish
snip

While I would not toss fish straight into a new pond, waiting a year is
IMHO, overkill. Once your pond is filled and the water is being circulated
through a proper filter, your water will be safe for fish within days to
weeks. A water test kit at this point is critical.

BV.

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
snip
A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too small
to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the first
fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.
snip

I disagree with this as well. I use only a vegetable filter system. It is
oversized to the pond it is servicing, so I have struck a balance quickly,
and easily. I suffer from extended algae blooms in the spring because it
takes time for the veggy filter to catch up, but aside from that all water
params are perfect. I add nothing to adjust anything, except for dechlor
when I add new water.

My fish spawn every year. We have numerous frog species, toads, turtle,
snakes, etc.
BV.

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish

Who has the patience to wait a year? What kind of pond chemistry do you
expect to settle in a year? Algae and bacteria colonies will have
established themselves in a few weeks if not less.

Even if the pH levels settle after a year of exposure to acid rain and
various salts leaching in from the ground, is it really worth it? Will the
pH level be acceptable, or will you need to fiddle with it anyways? A year
is a long time to wait for such minimal gains.

Snooze

Benign Vanilla wrote:


"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
snip
A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too small
to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the
first fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.
snip

I disagree with this as well. I use only a vegetable filter system. It is
oversized to the pond it is servicing, so I have struck a balance quickly,
and easily. I suffer from extended algae blooms in the spring because it
takes time for the veggy filter to catch up, but aside from that all water
params are perfect. I add nothing to adjust anything, except for dechlor
when I add new water.

You just acknowledged that it's rocky in spring. In fact (as I expect K30
still reposts occasionally), any pond is just a space that's in the process
of filling in and becoming a meadow. Unless you have a really odd pond,
you must clean out your veggie filter - pulling overgrown plants and
composting the excess. You divide your lilies, don't you? There's no
stability in a pond.

My fish spawn every year. We have numerous frog species, toads, turtle,
snakes, etc.
BV.

My point exactly :-) A pond is never in balance, but that certainly doesn't
mean it's unhealthy - or that you need to do much to keep it healthy.
--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
Benign Vanilla wrote:


"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
snip
A backyard pond, as such, will _never_ properly balance. It's too
small
to
be a full ecosystem, but it'll be as close as it's likely to get much
sooner than a year. And I guarantee you that as soon as you add the
first fish, you're starting over in the balancing game.
snip

I disagree with this as well. I use only a vegetable filter system. It
is
oversized to the pond it is servicing, so I have struck a balance
quickly,
and easily. I suffer from extended algae blooms in the spring because it
takes time for the veggy filter to catch up, but aside from that all
water
params are perfect. I add nothing to adjust anything, except for dechlor
when I add new water.

You just acknowledged that it's rocky in spring. In fact (as I expect K30
still reposts occasionally), any pond is just a space that's in the
process
of filling in and becoming a meadow. Unless you have a really odd pond,
you must clean out your veggie filter - pulling overgrown plants and
composting the excess. You divide your lilies, don't you? There's no
stability in a pond.

I was refering to water quality, so I guess we were on two different topics.

My fish spawn every year. We have numerous frog species, toads, turtle,
snakes, etc.
BV.

My point exactly :-) A pond is never in balance, but that certainly
doesn't
mean it's unhealthy - or that you need to do much to keep it healthy.

Ya see, I don't agree that news species showing up means the pond is out of
balance. I think the reason my pond is so healthy and attractive to the many
species in there, is that it is well balanced.

BV.

Assuming we are discussing an *unlined* pond (which is how I interpreted the
original post), I could see how it could take a year depending on the soil,
size of pond, type of dirt, water source, etc. -- unfortunately, the
poster did not give any details on that.

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC

"2pods" wrote in message
...

"Oxymel of Squill" wrote in message
...
a newly dug pond is a device for killing fish. Leave it a year to settle
and
sort out its own chemistry before introducing fish



A year ?
You're kidding, right ?

Maybe this won't work for everyone, but in my case I let it sit for a
couple of days, added the plants and filter.
Let it sit for a week then put a few fish in.
Then I started testing the water quality.
Added some more fish after a couple of weeks (add plants whenever you
want).

By this time the water had cleared.
Tested water
After 6 weeks switched on UV to keep it clear, and that was it functioning
pond.

Peter

Benign Vanilla wrote:


My point exactly :-) A pond is never in balance, but that certainly
doesn't
mean it's unhealthy - or that you need to do much to keep it healthy.

Ya see, I don't agree that news species showing up means the pond is out
of balance. I think the reason my pond is so healthy and attractive to the
many species in there, is that it is well balanced.

Sorry, but it just doesn't happen that way. A garden pond is such a small
space that every new animal addition will add to the ammonia input. That
throws the balance out and the cycle starts over.

Obviously, the bigger the pond, the less disruption, but there's no way to
avoid it. You think we're talking about different things, because I
mention pruning and composting plants, but removing the excess growth is
the only way you can hope to keep the whole nitrogen cycle working. You can
argue that your pond is "in balance", but only because your action is part
of the whole balance.
--
derek