Brown Water - Can Someone Explain This Phenomenom?

[Julles]

In another thread, someone said that brown water is a whole 'nother story from green water.  Green is healthy, brown is bad.

Well, my pond has been darkening for months.  I was told that brown or tan is only "stain" from leaves, etc., so I haven't been worrying about it.  But it's darker than ever today, and getting cloudy, too.

Yesterday, I took the manufacturer's foam out of my Tetra bio filter and put in the media I got from KrewKut.  I like the look of the KrewKut stuff much better, because it seems the correct density for capturing muck, which the original Tetra stuff seemed way too dense.

But today my pond is worse looking than before.

Can anyone give a primer on brown water??

[Sunbeam56]

Ummm... that would have been me.
Have you got a microscope?
If you have stained water, it stays clear, and when you look at it, it looks like tea. There isn't a particularly organic component to it. Its clear, just a darker color.
Mostly that would be tannins - which change the Ph slowly, but most fish will adjust and its not a problem.

If you have murky/cloud/ un-clear water its either turbid or muddy. A microscope will help you see the difference.
Muddy water has suspended clay. Clay is a colloid (like jello - only thinner). The clay makes the water dark and you can't see through it. Koi ooze slime on their gills, which has the effect of protecting them from clay. They LOVE muddy water.

If you have turbid water - you have suspended particles in the water. This is very apparent under the microscope. Normally its bits of poop, dead algae, bits of leaves and other plant material that have made it through the pumps and filters. These are all dead and decomposing materials. The fish will also slough this off of their gills - but it encourages pathogenic bacteria, which consume the decaying material.
So its bad. The bacteria will also attack the koi, particularly if they have little cuts, bits or other normal inflictions of a great life.

[happyoutsidegirl]

Most likely something leaching in from the side? Beauty bark or dirt run off? Check all around your sides good for run off!

[Esther]

Clean your Krewcut filter when it looks gunky. I use the hose attachment sprayer thingy and first rinse one side and then spray down the other side. Sometimes I even spray it twice. If I'm trying to get gunk out of the pond quickly, I also put the filter media in a curved mesh basket and set two baskets in the drops of the waterfall. When it comes to tanins from oak leaves or runoff, haven't I heard to use charcoal? I have a problem in the fall when the oak leaves from up the road blow into my pond. But then I do a coulple of water changes and eventually it goes away as I keep the leaves out of the pond. Tanins come from leaves, or decaying plant matter. You haven't used some purchased garden soil that is made up of things like cow manure or pete moss have you? They will cause a mess because they are going to decay and give off "uck". What kind of bottom is your pond?

[Julles]

It's a rubber liner pond, no dirt on the bottom, and very little gunk.

After reading all this, I think it's suspended muck.  Now that I've changed to the KrewKut filter media, I think my filter will start working better.  I cleaned it Monday, one day after my weekly Sunday cleaning, and the top two layers were full of gunk. 

If I keep doing that, hopefully I'll eventually remove all the suspended matter that the filter's original media wasn't catching.

Thanks for all the tips. 

[happyoutsidegirl]

It could be that if you clean the filters daily it would clear up faster? I know in the early summer like now I clean mine daily in the skimmer. Good luck!

[karen J]

I've resigned myself to perpetually tea-stained water. We are completely surrounded by Oak trees, so even in the summer (when no leaves are falling), the water is always stained. No amount of water changes will fix it.

There is also a certain amount of turbidity to my water, that my filtration cant seem to fix. I think it's caused by having too many plants- and too much decaying plant debris that I can't clear fast enough.

[EagleEye]

I'd try some quilt batting in your filter to see if that might just clear it up a little sooner.

Steve

[Esther]

Having used quilt batting, originally, and then discovering the stuff from Krewcut, I'd stick with Krewcut if I had it. QB is fine in a emergency. KC holds up for many rinsings and easily catches the fines just as well as QB but holds it's shape much better. Krewcut medium has two layers of texture. One is a tiny more coarse and the green layer is very fine.

Yes, I'd rinse frequently too and do, depending on the amount of gunk I'm after.

[Ky Kim]

Krewcut, tell me more, tell me more.     I must have missed the post about it.       Sounds great.  Tell me more, tell me more.

Kim

[Sandye]

OMG, I wanted to order some (the 12" X 10' for $9.99)...but the freaking shipping is $11.48!!!   

These high gas prices have ruined all of my internet shopping.  :'(

[happyoutsidegirl]

Iv'e never heard of it either what is it? and where do ya find it? I have used the polly foam for years is it better?????

[Julles]

I found their prices pretty darned good, and my order came within a week.

It's VERY flimsy, though, and I'm going on trust that it can be rinsed and hosed and reused.  So far, it's held up.  But then again, I've only washed it twice.  It DOES catch much more gunk than my previous medium.


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[Sandye]

I thought their prices were very good, too, Julles.  I was objecting to the almost $12.00 shipping on a $10.00 order. 

[cokeisit]

concerning tannins, I have heard and read many places that activated carbon can help remove tannins from water and reduce the tea-stained coloration resulting from leaves and pine needles.  I dont have any first hand experience, but it sounds reasonable since the primary purpose of activated carbon is to absorb chemical toxins from water.