Green water is finaly gone!

[Bearb]

It finally happened. . . I can see the bottom of my new pond (and my fish). I finished building/filling on May first, the water went green in less than a week and cleared (almost overnight) July 4th weekend. I was determined to wait it out and not add anything, but you know how that goes. I started having pond scum float up in the afternoons. After reading a bunch of references to koi clay / kitty liter for string algae, I tried it (so I guess I kind of cheated). That worked great for the scum not so much for the green water.

In past years I used Microbe-Lift and always had clear water. This year I played a hunch that I would have clear water without it. I started the pond up in the spring and never had any green. So when I re-built the pond, I knew I had a clean slate to experiment with (which is why I didn't want to add anything). The water would clear a bit and green up again each time getting a little better. After 9 weeks, I broke down and added Microbe-lift. Over the next two days the water cleared. Now I am left to wonder, is it possible that the first application would work that fast (doubtful) or was it just finally time? I wish I had waited. . .

The water is not crystal clear (like a pond with UV) there is a slight "whiteish" tint. I feel like i have read that this is part of the new pond cycle and will go away shortly, but don't remember where I saw that.

So I guess what I am saying is, if you are cycling a new pond, wait just a little bit longer. . .

[Joyce]

YAY!  Just so glad it's clear. Have no answers for you though. 

[Missa]

I've seen a couple people mention kitty litter for algae scum .... but doesn't that leave a layer of clay mud on the bottom that will need to be cleaned out?

[sooks]

You are lucky. Did your water turn brown after the green was gone? I had green algae water and now it's alll brown   I added rocks and didn't clean them off before i put them in the pond so now my pond is brown. Can't wait to see the bottom of my pond like you can. 

[jw]

I put my kitty litter in a fabric bag...........actually I used a thistle seed holder that I had for feeding the birds that I bought at Lowes for cheap. Make sure you buy the kitty litter that has Bentonite (clay) for the ingreds. You can buy it at Wal-mart for $2.59 for 25lb bags. I just fill up the bag (about a quarts worth depending on the size of your pond but more doesn't hurt anything)and hang it in the water near the waterfall so that water rushes by it. It will cloud the water for a bit but goes away quickly. It is supposed to eat up the excess nutrients in the water. And it worked for me just fine  .

[Bearb]

Missa, I got a 7 pond bag at the dollar store. I intended to pour some in the waterfall flow and let it slowly dissolve. While scrambling back there, I dropped the bag (in the water [open]). So yes I have a layer of clay that will need to be cleaned up. . . I scooped some off the bottom with my net and set the net in the waterfall, I wouldn't say it is mud just wet kitty litter. It doesn't look bad on the bottom either I will probably leave it there until I get ready for winter.

Sooks, Yes it went brown. at first the water turned classic thick pea soup green. slowly over weeks it became dingier green and brownish green at times. Some days clearer than others. I think that I was seeing a bunch of natural adjustments: A large percentage of algae would die and turn brown. Dead algae would settle out (water was clearer). Dead algae would feed living algae (they would multiply but not reach the previous level). A larger percentage of algae would die. . . lather, rinse, repeat.

Thanks Joyce, I'm not really asking a question as much as posting observations. I mostly lurk and would have loved to find more anecdotal information about the expected time table for green water.

[tranquility]

You know I've often wondered why my lily pools NEVER do go thru the green stage...but, I do top off each lily with kitty litter instead of gravel so I guess thats why....I've always done it just because a bag of kitty litter is cheaper than a bag of gravel...never knew it was actually doing something...
Lawanna

[landey1230]

I'm going to try kitty litter.  My pond is going through the same thing.  I rebuilt it over the winter and it's going through the pea soup phase.  I'm having to clean the filter twice a week. 

[Bearb]

It would be interesting to start an ongoing thread for people to keep track of the green water phase of a new pond. Anytime someone builds or re-builds a pond, they could post a message (and edit along the way) with their actions and observations. People could add whatever information they have bothered to keep track of (dates, treatments, temperature, sun, fish load, filtration. . .). This would not provide any real answers, but over time we could compile a lot of helpful history for future ponders. The idea being, to have a collection of (reliable) parameters and observations from many different situations.

Does this forum allow you to edit a message after someone has posted behind you? We would want to keep each story in a single message for the convenience of future readers.

Does this sound like a useful endeavor?

Bryan

[jw]

Sounds simply superb to me   .