Newbie and frustrated

OK....

Live in San Diego. Had a pond installed last September. About a 3
foot rise waterfall into a pond of about 800-1000 gallons. Installed
by local contractor. Gave us Koi (6) and some water lillies plus
"Aquascape Designs String Algea Buster (SAB)" and "Aquascape Design
Aquaclear"

Followed all directions rigorously in respect to bacteria, cleaning,
etc. But as you may have heard, southern california had more rain than
we have had in the last 100 years. So a fair amount of run off into
the pond and outright rain. Had to pump out water on numerous
occasions and other times simply let it overflow in to landscape.

With warmer weather planted some more lilles and some marginals.
Lillies going well. I have about 10-15% surface area covered and more
pads every day. I do not have any "bottom plants" but strongly
considering adding them.

HOWEVER, I have a serious string and single cell (green water) algae
problem that is driving me to frustration.

Been spiking (triple the dose every day) my pond with both "clear"
bacteria and SAB. Hand cleaning out every day the string algae that is
easy to get out and actually pulling some off from individual rocks.

But not sure it is helping! Or at least I can not noticeably see a
difference. Is my only hope to drain the pond and start over? Should
I have patience with the product I am using? Should I try something
different (there seem to be a huge number of different concoctions out
there - any objective reviews?)

"ebruvold" wrote in message
oups.com...
OK....

Live in San Diego. Had a pond installed last September. About a 3
foot rise waterfall into a pond of about 800-1000 gallons. Installed
by local contractor. Gave us Koi (6) and some water lillies plus
"Aquascape Designs String Algea Buster (SAB)" and "Aquascape Design
Aquaclear"

Followed all directions rigorously in respect to bacteria, cleaning,
etc. But as you may have heard, southern california had more rain than
we have had in the last 100 years. So a fair amount of run off into
the pond and outright rain. Had to pump out water on numerous
occasions and other times simply let it overflow in to landscape.

With warmer weather planted some more lilles and some marginals.
Lillies going well. I have about 10-15% surface area covered and more
pads every day. I do not have any "bottom plants" but strongly
considering adding them.

HOWEVER, I have a serious string and single cell (green water) algae
problem that is driving me to frustration.

Been spiking (triple the dose every day) my pond with both "clear"
bacteria and SAB. Hand cleaning out every day the string algae that is
easy to get out and actually pulling some off from individual rocks.

But not sure it is helping! Or at least I can not noticeably see a
difference. Is my only hope to drain the pond and start over? Should
I have patience with the product I am using? Should I try something
different (there seem to be a huge number of different concoctions out
there - any objective reviews?)

A lot of us here will tell you that you should avoid using algacides, if at all
possible because they can damage your aquatic plants, and the resulting dead
algae will settle to the bottome, decompose, and add evern more nutrients to the
water. You should be adding a product like aquazyme, which provides beneficial
bacteria to your pond to help reduce the nutrient load. Adding more shade to
the pond also helps. You can accomplish this with more water lillies, which
will also use up those nutrients. You are having a problem with too high a
nutrient load in your pond. You need an effective filtration system, either
mechanical that you can clean, or biological (much preferred). I recommend that
you read the information provided at this web site. It contains very valuable
information, and should help you solve your problem:

http://www.naturalsolutionsetc.com/g...ae-control.htm

The keyword with garden ponds - patience. Don't rush things. Nature is on her
own schedule. The key is to learn what that schedule is and how to facilitate
it in a way that is beneficial to the flora and fauna of your pond. Whatever
you do, don't clean or do partial water changes with straight tap water, and
don't change all the water at one time. UV filtration (very expensive) will
help with pea soup algae, but not with string algae, and may actually make the
string algae problem worse. I also have a big problem with nuking pond water to
solve what is essentially a biochemical imbalance in an ecosystem.

!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"
html
Is there a filter for that pond? Which type is it?
pA HREF="http://la.znet.com/~seannydinh/"http://la.znet.com/~seannydinh//A
pMy lovely green water went away a week after installing a bigger TT
filter.
pebruvold wrote:
blockquote TYPE=CITEOK....
pLive in San Diego.  Had a pond installed last September. 
About a 3
brfoot rise waterfall into a pond of about 800-1000 gallons.  Installed
brby local contractor.  Gave us Koi (6) and some water lillies plus
br"Aquascape Designs String Algea Buster (SAB)" and "Aquascape Design
brAquaclear"
pFollowed all directions rigorously in respect to bacteria, cleaning,
bretc.  But as you may have heard, southern california had more
rain than
brwe have had in the last 100 years.  So a fair amount of run off
into
brthe pond and outright rain.  Had to pump out water on numerous
broccasions and other times simply let it overflow in to landscape.
pWith warmer weather planted some more lilles and some marginals.
brLillies going well.  I have about 10-15% surface area covered
and more
brpads every day.  I do not have any "bottom plants" but strongly
brconsidering adding them.
pHOWEVER, I have a serious string and single cell (green water) algae
brproblem that is driving me to frustration.
pBeen spiking (triple the dose every day) my pond with both "clear"
brbacteria and SAB.  Hand cleaning out every day the string algae
that is
breasy to get out and actually pulling some off from individual rocks.
pBut not sure it is helping!  Or at least I can not noticeably see
a
brdifference.   Is my only hope to drain the pond and start
over?  Should
brI have patience with the product I am using?  Should I try something
brdifferent (there seem to be a huge number of different concoctions
out
brthere - any objective reviews?)/blockquote
/html

More information seems in order.

The filter is an Aquascape "BIOFALLS" filter. The contractor who put
it in suggested not to clean that often as it would kill off the
benefial bacteria. I believe the recommendation was to change out the
filter once a year. It looks generally clean (or at least not clogged
and too soiled).

The pond gets a LOT of morning shade and then afternoon and evening
sun.

I am using supposedly beneficial bacteria - the Aquascape Clear
bacteria plus SAB enyme. I haven't tried (but thinking) Barley (which
as I understand it I can place either in the pond or in the water
course. I am tyring to get the lillies to cover at least 60% of pond.
What I am trying to figure out is how to make sense of ALL the products
out on the market. There seem to be scores of different "bacteria"
products. Are there any reviews????

Woudl just like to see the bottom of my pond at some point ;-)

"ebruvold" wrote in message
oups.com...
More information seems in order.

The filter is an Aquascape "BIOFALLS" filter. The contractor who put
it in suggested not to clean that often as it would kill off the
benefial bacteria. I believe the recommendation was to change out the
filter once a year. It looks generally clean (or at least not clogged
and too soiled).

The pond gets a LOT of morning shade and then afternoon and evening
sun.

I am using supposedly beneficial bacteria - the Aquascape Clear
bacteria plus SAB enyme. I haven't tried (but thinking) Barley (which
as I understand it I can place either in the pond or in the water
course. I am tyring to get the lillies to cover at least 60% of pond.
What I am trying to figure out is how to make sense of ALL the products
out on the market. There seem to be scores of different "bacteria"
products. Are there any reviews????

Woudl just like to see the bottom of my pond at some point ;-)

As advertized, your filter will not eliminate string algae. You should read
these articles about filtration:

http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/bioch0101.htm

http://www.worldofwater.com/filtration.htm

http://www.bestfish.com/sprngpnd.html

http://www.hoerrnursery.com/GardenIn...tionBasics.cfm

http://www.ponddoc.com/Topics/Filtration.htm

And about the beneficial bacteria, if you are using it, have some patience.
These guys take a while (usually about a month) to get firmly established in
your pond.

It is possible to have a clear pond without using any chemicals
at all. (which is a relief for those of us whose brains freeze at
'1 teaspoon per gallon')

Our ponds are nutrient heavy. We have WAY too many fish in
our ponds than Mother Nature recommends.
Like the other posters
recommended higher order plants are the way to use up the extra
nutrients.
Ways to cut down on nutrients is to cull the fish population,
stop feeding the fish as much and use a filter to screen and convert
fish waste.

Fresh water is a nutrient for algae and you've had more than your
share of fresh water this year. There isn't much you can do about
that.

Algae and string algae are very efficent at growing when the higher
order plants are still waking up. Spring is usually a time when ponds
will suffer an algae bloom.

I use watercress in the spring to get ahead of the algae. I place stems
of it (from the grocery store) under a rock (one stem to a rock) in my
waterfall. The stuff loves fast running, cool water. It spreads but the
roots
are shallow and brittle and it is very easy to rip up. I have
watercress that
wintered over, frozen in the ice, that is growing like crazy right now
and
the only other plant growth out there is two inch high iris.

The problem with algaecides is that they make lots of suddenly dead
algae which feeds the next algae bloom.

Your pond isn't old enough to need cleaning yet, but dead plant matter,
fish waste, mulm, muck and crud are also good food for algae.

And finally sun. Floating plants will shade the water, like lily pads.
Water hyacinth are
good floaters in that they reproduce like crazy. In zone 7, where we
are,
they don't survive the winter so have to be taken out as with their
demise
they will turn into decaying plants (more algae food).

Patience is always helpful. Frustrating, but helpful.
It takes a while to get to know your system and how to
manage it.
good luck!

kathy :-)

ebruvold wrote:

The filter is an Aquascape "BIOFALLS" filter. The contractor who put
it in suggested not to clean that often as it would kill off the
benefial bacteria. I believe the recommendation was to change out the
filter once a year. It looks generally clean (or at least not clogged
and too soiled).

Note how "Biofalls" and "Contractor" appear so close together... I'm not
much of a fan of contractor-based solutions. Biofalls just seem to me to
be another way to separate recreational ponders from large amounts of
money.

I am using supposedly beneficial bacteria - the Aquascape Clear
bacteria plus SAB enyme. I haven't tried (but thinking) Barley (which
as I understand it I can place either in the pond or in the water
course. I am tyring to get the lillies to cover at least 60% of pond.
....
Woudl just like to see the bottom of my pond at some point ;-)

Frankly, short of a UV treatment system, I doubt you'll ever see the bottom
- and it's not something I'd aim for. It's unnatural, and it limits the
hiding places for fish. Being able to see a couple of feet into the pond
is good enough for me.
--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
ebruvold wrote:

The filter is an Aquascape "BIOFALLS" filter. The contractor who put
it in suggested not to clean that often as it would kill off the
benefial bacteria. I believe the recommendation was to change out the
filter once a year. It looks generally clean (or at least not clogged
and too soiled).

Note how "Biofalls" and "Contractor" appear so close together... I'm not
much of a fan of contractor-based solutions. Biofalls just seem to me to
be another way to separate recreational ponders from large amounts of
money.

I am using supposedly beneficial bacteria - the Aquascape Clear
bacteria plus SAB enyme. I haven't tried (but thinking) Barley (which
as I understand it I can place either in the pond or in the water
course. I am tyring to get the lillies to cover at least 60% of pond.
...
Woudl just like to see the bottom of my pond at some point ;-)

Frankly, short of a UV treatment system, I doubt you'll ever see the bottom
- and it's not something I'd aim for. It's unnatural, and it limits the
hiding places for fish. Being able to see a couple of feet into the pond
is good enough for me.
--
derek

Hmmm. I've never used UV and I've always been able to see the bottom of my pond
(45" deep). If I use a UV filter, will I be able to see 'past' the bottom? lol

I use a veggie filter and can always see the bottom of mine also. My
pond is 3 foot deep. Oh by the way this is rebeljoe on someone elses
box.

George wrote:

Hmmm. I've never used UV and I've always been able to see the bottom of
my pond
(45" deep). If I use a UV filter, will I be able to see 'past' the
bottom? lol

Perhaps :-)

I don't believe in UV either, but I have never expected to see the bottom of
my pond (about the same depth, perhaps a little more). I can see it just
fine in the early spring, and occasionally in the summer, but algae's a
normal part of a pond. It doesn't bother me.
--
derek