icky water after a week of the 90's

[karenskoipond]

Hi there...
New to posting here but I've been mulling around reading just about everything that's been posted.  My hubby and I put in our first pond that is just over 2500 gallons.  After a wickedly hot week of 98* or more I'm having cloudy water issues.  We're using a bio filter a UV clarifyer, the attached pond was transformed into a fully planted bog garden that is making e-gads worth of fresh oxygen.  But the main pond area is in full sun.  I've got spitters and pumps and waterfalls all over the place with 2 large air bubbler stones.  Hubby is a bit overwhelmed as for what to do next.  I've tried both algefix and the barley peat extract route and they were keeping it extremely clear with just a maintenance dose up until this week.  Any suggestions?
Thank you in advance.
Karen in Hot Chicago

[Julles]

I had green water some years back, but got rid of it when I added a filter, and then shaded the pond.  Plants help, too.

I am doing what people advised in other posts, like my thread on "Brown Water" and think I'm having some improvement.  New type of filter media, cleaning it often, partial water changes, and I think I'm gonna get some carbon, too.

Hopefully someone else will chime in with more ideas.

[Esther]

Just what I was going to say Julles. Filter, filter (both bio and mechanical) to remove particles in the water.

[miguynmkoi]

If your pond is new that may be a big reason the water is brown.  From my experience I notice that when the pond is new and the bio-filter is newly started or spiked with the necessary bacteria it still takes time for the bacteria to start doing its job properly.  Lots of filtering or water exchange is necessary, IMO, for clean sparkling water.

I just dug myself a second pond recently too and I'm experiencing the brown water.  Over the past week the water is looking better with all the lilies I have in it growing more and larger pads.  I have a large bunch of parrot's feather and a few other bog like plants on a shelf (milk crates).  The fish don't seem to mind the murky waters but I can now see the bottom (32" now) of the pond.

I am also cleaning the pre-filter a couple times a week for the past 2 weeks.  Looking good!

BTW Do you have a photo if your pond for these wondering minds? 

[crazyfishlady]

I had to use algae fix for a month this spring due to extremely heavy string algae growth over the winter. Problem with it though is it is real hard on the growth of beneficial bacteria. On recommendation of the pond store here I started dosing with Aqua Clear and Clarity Max both natural bacterial clarifiers. They do wonders. May water stays crystal clear and I have no filter media except mechanical in the skimmer box that is cleaned weekly.

My pond is in full sun also (couldn't believe how warm the water was today, felt like a hot tub). I try to keep 50% surface coverage with plants and have a lot of dwarf cattails along the stream and in the bog without pots or dirt. They have the best root filtration.

I'm not an expert, just know what works in my pond.

[Bartman]

If you are not getting around 75% surface coverage and cannot quickly increase that you could try floating some styrofoam sheets until the plant coverage catches up and/or the UV can handle what is there.  You can also add Watercress tucked in around any moving water such as a waterfall.  It grows quickly in moving water and sucks out a bunch of nutrients.  When it gets to looking beat-up and too thick just remove it and replace with new stuff (best place to get it is the grocery store).  Any floating plants you can add will help starve out the algae.  Seems like you either get string algae and clear water or pea soup water and no string algae.  Take your pick!  My in ground pond at the farm had a lot of string algae when I was out there Friday.  Pulled it out by the buckets again and gave it another shot of Algae Fix.  No problems with the pea soup since I added the UV quite a few years ago.

Bart

[greenthumbnails]

Bartman,

  I've only seen watercress as a cut green organic food at the grocery store....Can it be bought with roots and in a pot at the grocery store too?  What section would I find it at?   

  Question about Algae-Fix:  Does it work both for pea soup algae and string algae or only the pea soup kind? 

[carver]

Bartman,

  I've only seen watercress as a cut green organic food at the grocery store....Can it be bought with roots and in a pot at the grocery store too?  What section would I find it at?   

  Question about Algae-Fix:  Does it work both for pea soup algae and string algae or only the pea soup kind? 

We could not find it at any of the local stores, I found it at the farmers market.
Watercress works very well, but anything you can put in the water will help use up the nutrients being created by the sun.
Our 100 gallon skippy is now chuck full of Iris and we have the clearest water we have ever had. I have to credit that to the iris, it is the only thing we did differently this year than in years past. We never had any sign of green water, however we do still have string algae but so far it has not been very bad, will have to see what August brings.

[Bartman]

Yes, just buy it fresh from the grocery store or a Farmer's Market and tuck the ends into the water.  I just used a couple rocks to hold it in place.  Like Carver mentions you can use anything that will root without soil.  Impatiants (sp?) also work.  Wash all the soil off the roots first.  Parrot's Feather is another.  I'm not sure about Algae Fix on pea soup algae, but I would think it should have the same affect.  Since you have tired it, though, with no positive results it may not work well on that algae form.

Bart

[Kat]

Try using some polyester quilt batting to catch the fine particles.  It will need to be cleaned/replaced often until the water clears up.

[karenskoipond]

Yay!!!!!!!! ok here it is

[karenskoipond]

Pond last tuesday before the icky water began.  The fish are happy and gorgeous.

[LeeAnne151]

Algae Fix is a temporary fix and it can harm fish and plants no matter what the label says. Many over the years have found out the hard way. If you kill algae and don't remove it then you are feeding another algae bloom.

Koi tend to eat the roots of water hyacinths and water lettuce. You might try putting some in the bog/filter pond. Anacharis and hornwort and cabomba are underwater plants that are good at using up nutrients.

[crazyfishlady]

I had to result to algae fix because the string algae was gowing faster than I could muck it off. The bottle says it works on all forms of algae. The big caution is it works by rapidly depleting the oxygen supply. This is really scary with fish.

I used it early in the season when water temps were below 70 degrees and in the morning. It says right on the bottle not to use it at night or when temps are high.

Even then the fish went to the bottom and became motionless for about 8 hours. It definitely stressed them. I also think you should follow with a sludge disolver, and physically scum of any debris on the bottom.

By the way I didn't think your pond looked bad at all I could see the rocks. 3 weeks after my pond was first put in, definitely pea soup. You couldn't see an inch below the surface. I just kept adding plants and in two weeks it totally cleared without any chemical intervention.

[miguynmkoi]

Start growing waterplants of your choice.  Works well like everyone above says it does.  The past couple of years parrot's feather has worked the best for me and they do not make the mess hyacinth and lettuce can.  They winter well in SoCal.