Water Turned Green Algae in new pond......Help!

I have a pond I just got started about 6 weeks ago. It's 5' x 8' and
22" deep at the deepest point. I calculated it to be around 450
gallons. I have 5 Goldfish and 3 Koi in the pond. So far I only have 1
Iris plant. I'm running a 750 gph pump with fountain and a waterfall.
My water is turning very green and murkey. I can only see about 6"
deep into the water. The pond get's sun most of the day. I feed my
fish 2 times a day with shrimp pellets. I've tried Accu-clear and it
only seems to have gotten worse. I put a clean filter near my
waterfall to filter it before it drops into the pond. In 1 hour the
filter turned dark green. Do I need to do water changes? Will this
green water harm my fish? Any suggestions about how to get rid of this
green algae?

Thanks in advance

There are lots of previous posts about this.

You need LOTS more plants for a natural solution. Watercress, water lettuce,
water hyacenths are all good. (water cress can be found cheap at some
grocery stores.. just drop it in the pond.)

You may be over feeding your fish as well, and the number of fish seems a
little high, from comments I've read here.

For a mechanical solution, getting a uv filter will clear up your problem in
a few days, but they cost a lot, and the lights need replacing every few
years.


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Hello!

Green Water is caused by single cell algae.
Algae thrives on sun, fresh water, fish waste, fertilized run off,
rotting plants and blown in dirt. In new ponds and spring ponds algae
is always the first thing to start growing.
The best defense against algae is to have lots of plants to compete for
the nutrients, few fish, not overfeeding those fish, some shade and
cleaning up debris.
So not use algaecides, they only make lots of suddenly dead algae to
feed the next algae bloom. Gently remove string algae. Don't worry
about fuzzy algae that grows on the sides of things.
You can purchase an Ultra Violet light set up to eliminate suspended
algae, running the water under the light. It does not work on string
algae.
Filtering with plants works well. I run my water into a stock tank
topped with water hyacinth and down a waterfall planted with
watercress.
Most algae blooms will pass within a couple of weeks.
Time and patience is key.
Remember patience...

kathy :-)
www.blogfromthebog.com
this week ~
pictures of the pond and the
watergardening labradors

Sorry about your pain. Green is the color of nutrient success! People
seem to have given you good advice about plants and UV. We run both as
needed. This year I left the UV off as the season warmed up and before
the plants took off. Result: algae in a 6 yr old pond. UV is on and
the algae are gone. Shortly, I will try killing the UV again...plants
ramping up. Our pond is 4,000 gallons, so we do not even think about
filtering our an algae bloom. You could do it and soon have the algae
reduced. They will, however, come back if the nutrients are there.
Plants, UV!

Water change does not help! New nutrients. Food does feed algae...but
then, fish like to eat. Fish don't care about green water. babies get
help surviving when visibility is less.


Jim


Bowhunter wrote:
I have a pond I just got started about 6 weeks ago. It's 5' x 8' and
22" deep at the deepest point. I calculated it to be around 450
gallons. I have 5 Goldfish and 3 Koi in the pond. So far I only have 1
Iris plant. I'm running a 750 gph pump with fountain and a waterfall.
My water is turning very green and murkey. I can only see about 6"
deep into the water. The pond get's sun most of the day. I feed my
fish 2 times a day with shrimp pellets. I've tried Accu-clear and it
only seems to have gotten worse. I put a clean filter near my
waterfall to filter it before it drops into the pond. In 1 hour the
filter turned dark green. Do I need to do water changes? Will this
green water harm my fish? Any suggestions about how to get rid of this
green algae?

Thanks in advance

"Bowhunter" wrote in message
ups.com...

In addition to what kathy said, you are feeding way too often. Twice a day?
Remember feed no more then what the fish can eat in 5 minutes, otherwise it
just sinks to the bottom and rots, which reduces water quality. Additionally
the more the fish eat, the more they poop, which is just perfect algae
fertilizer.

Cut down on your feeding to once a day or once every other day. Remember
plenty of mosquitoes, flies, gnats, etc fall into the pond, and the fish
feed on them too. Add plants like water hyacinth and watercress to suck up
the nutrients in the water, try add shade to prevent full sun exposure.

Water changes don't really help, it takes about 2-3 water changes to clear
up the pond, and a week later the pond is pea green again anyways, unless
you do the above mention items.

-S

I have a pond I just got started about 6 weeks ago. 450
gallons. I have 5 Goldfish and 3 Koi in the pond. 1 Iris
running a 750 gph pump with fountain and a waterfall.
My water is turning very green and murkey. I put a clean filter near my
waterfall to filter it before it drops into the pond. In 1 hour the
filter turned dark green.

Filter isn't big enough.

Do I need to do water changes?

New pond, you should be doing 10% every 5-7 days and using a dechlor
product that also binds ammonia. Amquell, Ammo-Lock, ChorAm-X are some
brands.

Will this green water harm my fish?

It is what is keeping your fish alive, if not for it, they would perish in
their own waste.

Any suggestions about how to get rid of this
green algae?

Bigger filter, and as others have said, more plants. Water changes are a
must, frequent and small till the cycle is established, imho. Don't feed
the fish till the cycle is complete, and then start off with small feedings
1/day. ~ jan

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

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

I had the worst algae bloom in almost 10 years. Total thick green slime.
The water fall would hit and I would get huge green slimy bubbles. The
plants had a hard time starting. I added a Laguna bio starter, and each
day it got clearer and clearer. Amazing.


I have a pond I just got started about 6 weeks ago. 450
gallons. I have 5 Goldfish and 3 Koi in the pond. 1 Iris
running a 750 gph pump with fountain and a waterfall.
My water is turning very green and murkey. I put a clean filter near my
waterfall to filter it before it drops into the pond. In 1 hour the
filter turned dark green.

Filter isn't big enough.

Do I need to do water changes?

New pond, you should be doing 10% every 5-7 days and using a dechlor
product that also binds ammonia. Amquell, Ammo-Lock, ChorAm-X are some
brands.

Will this green water harm my fish?

It is what is keeping your fish alive, if not for it, they would perish in
their own waste.

Any suggestions about how to get rid of this
green algae?

Bigger filter, and as others have said, more plants. Water changes are a
must, frequent and small till the cycle is established, imho. Don't feed
the fish till the cycle is complete, and then start off with small feedings
1/day. ~ jan

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

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

WM- (Wed, 18 May 2005 02:01:32 -0400):
I had the worst algae bloom in almost 10 years. Total thick green slime.
...I added a Laguna bio starter, and each day it got clearer and clearer.

And perhaps, the same result without doing anything at all.
Do you want clear water, with much less unwanted bio mass?
Harness the power of the sun! See your AquaUV dealer today!

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