Floating scum?

Hi. I have a 4,000 gallon koi pond with UV, skimmer, biofilter, veggie
filter, and waterfall. it's probably 50% covered by lilies, hyacinth, and
parrot feathers, and it's in its fourth year. The plants are all blooming
more than I've ever seen before, and my water parameters are the best I've
ever seen, so I guess my pond has cycled into a healthy phase.
Unfortunately it's not as "gin clear" as it has been in the past, but I
guess that's part of having a "healthy" pond so that doesn't bother me.
What DOES bother me is the amound of floating scum I find out there mid day,
every day. When I come home for lunch and check on things, there is always
floating, dead algae, or at least that's what I think it is. It's
coagulated around all the plants, and I daily use a net and skim as much as
I can off. By the time I get home from work and the heat of the sun isn't
directly on the pond, the scum is gone. I constantly scoop debris off the
bottom, so there really isn't much there. Why do I have this floating
ugliness every day, and how can I get rid of it? I figured by July it would
have worked it's way out, but it's still coming daily.
Sue

You sure this isn't a political thread ;-)
It is a political year after all... bad kathy.

From what I've read over the years, and not
having a UV but paying attention to the UV users, I'm wondering if it is dead
algae from the light. Or have you had the UV light all along?
Where is your UV light in the general scheme of things? Before or after the
mechanical part of your bio filter?
Having asked all that I'll let the UV folks jump in here.


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

Yes, Kathy . . . your political joke was very bad...... very good!

I've had the UV for 3 of the 4 years now, so don't think the "dead algae"
theory is the problem, but it's a good guess because I do believe the scum
IS dead algae. But not sure why so much of it THIS year, and this late into
the season. The UV is located after my skimmer but before my mechanical
filtration.

Here's a theory I came up with a while ago..... this year is the first time
I've used "koi clay", and I've read that that aids in killing string algae.
So maybe my floating scum is dead string algae letting loose?
Sue
"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

You sure this isn't a political thread ;-)
It is a political year after all... bad kathy.

From what I've read over the years, and not
having a UV but paying attention to the UV users, I'm wondering if it is
dead
algae from the light. Or have you had the UV light all along?
Where is your UV light in the general scheme of things? Before or after
the
mechanical part of your bio filter?
Having asked all that I'll let the UV folks jump in here.


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

Sue wrote So maybe my floating scum is dead string algae letting loose?

That sounds like it, doesn't it?
String Algae's Revenge...


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

Sounds like a reasonable theory to me. ~ jan

Here's a theory I came up with a while ago..... this year is the first time
I've used "koi clay", and I've read that that aids in killing string algae.
So maybe my floating scum is dead string algae letting loose?
Sue


(Do you know where your water quality is?)