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    Thread: Ew...

    1. #1
      mjfromga's Avatar
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      Ew...

      My pond turned green. I've never had green water before. I had a pond all last year. I think the addition of the new minerals played a huge part in this. But the GH went to 10-11 drops and the pH is holding at 8.3 like Rich said it would. The KH was 7 drops this morning too. Happy with all that, not so happy with the green pond.

      All parameters tested at 0 and I see no evidence of high DOCs. I had to use pellets that float a bit so that I could see my fish and make sure they're all okay! All my fish came up and sucked them off the top so they're okay.

      Can I drain this atrocity or is it better to leave it? It's gross and it ruins me sitting out there with my fish. I can't even really see them until they come up. They seem to love it and they've been spawning very roughly so I don't know. I did a small 10% change the other day that absolutely didn't help.
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    2. #2
      kevin32 is offline Inactivated
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      do you have a uv light on the pond?

    3. #3
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      Your ammonia is probably testing at 0 as the algae is thriving off of it. I would work on reducing ammonia first as if you kill the algae first, then the ammonia will spike. Cut back on feeding and complete some water changes. With that you can then do a low dose PP treatment to cut back the algae. Additionally you may want to look into more bio filtration to reduce ammonia as well.



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      Quote Originally Posted by jimfish98 View Post
      Your ammonia is probably testing at 0 as the algae is thriving off of it. I would work on reducing ammonia first as if you kill the algae first, then the ammonia will spike. Cut back on feeding and complete some water changes. With that you can then do a low dose PP treatment to cut back the algae. Additionally you may want to look into more bio filtration to reduce ammonia as well.
      I set this pond up early this year. It has never shown ammonia. Also my other pond has never shown ammonia. I don't feed heavily because I have only small fancy goldfish. The water turned green only after I added some new water treatments to help KH and pH. The last few days. I stocked heavier all last year and never had these issues.

      Also I don't wish to try killing the algae. I would only drain all the water, clean the pool, and then put water and fish back in. In addition, I don't use PP. It's rather harsh on goldfish.

    5. #5
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      Quote Originally Posted by kevin32 View Post
      do you have a uv light on the pond?
      Nope. And though I heard its the #1 way to remove green water, I don't have the money for one and don't wish to kill the algae anyway. This came after I added some additional minerals to control pH better. Had a pond all last year that never got this issue and was stocked heavier and cleaned less.

    6. #6
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      So it happened after adding the Calcium Chloride and after the water turned white?

      What filtration do you have for the pond?
      --Steve



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    7. #7
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      Quote Originally Posted by icu2 View Post
      So it happened after adding the Calcium Chloride and after the water turned white?

      What filtration do you have for the pond?
      Yes it happened after that. Never seen this issue before. Pond filtration is currently a 30 gallon tub with 800 GPH pump running through it with some sera wool, ceramic media, and pea gravel. I had done some water changes to clear out the calcium soup but it never got totally clear after that and then it turned into this.

      It does need more pea gravel in the filter tub because I always plant terrestrial plants in the top during the grow season but all was totally fine until the calcium debacle. I keep testing because I thought something might be wrong but as usual, I am finding nothing.

      My fish seem fine. I want to add a waterfall in the middle for more aeration since its so green, but I don't have an extra plug for it.

    8. #8
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      Oh - and I added a few bags of carbon to see if that would help. It had no effect either. I don't wish to kill the algae as I don't believe it's harmful and I believe algaecides are harmful and I can't afford a UV device right now. Would it work to drain and scrub everything and refill? I'm neigh sure the calcium had something to do with this because I've never had this issue or truly any water clarity issues before then.

    9. #9
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      Well I'm going to hazard a guess and say the calcium set the bio capabilities of your filter back and the green water took advantage
      of the extra ammonia in the water and flourished. Emptying and refilling probably would work for a few days and then it'll turn green
      again if the bio still isn't up to it's previous state. Just about every "new" pond goes through it unless a UV is installed so I think I'd
      just be patient and wait it out. I'd be testing for nitrites if it's restarting it's cycle as that's usually then next spike you may see.
      --Steve



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      Okay thank you very much. That makes sense. I will keep a close eye on nitrites and see if there's anything noticeable.

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      Quote Originally Posted by mjfromga View Post
      I set this pond up early this year. It has never shown ammonia. Also my other pond has never shown ammonia. I don't feed heavily because I have only small fancy goldfish. The water turned green only after I added some new water treatments to help KH and pH. The last few days. I stocked heavier all last year and never had these issues.

      Also I don't wish to try killing the algae. I would only drain all the water, clean the pool, and then put water and fish back in. In addition, I don't use PP. It's rather harsh on goldfish.
      (Someone smarter than I pointed this out )
      Also, if the pond was only set up just a few months ago it really isn't unusual for it go through this stage. Like Jim said earlier you may find
      you need more bio filtration... but without a UV it's a watch and see. Keep testing the water to know where you're at.
      --Steve



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    12. #12
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      Green water algae needs ammonia to multiply and thrive, and when the filter catches up to the load, then like magic, the green water will disappear almost overnight. As was mentioned, it may have been the precipitate from the calcium chloride addition that coated filter material, setting it back. It could be from the pond being somewhat new. It could be from feeding before the filters come out of the winter slump. It could be from the filters being under sized for the fish and feeding load. If it is from the precipitate coating the filter material, then taking the filter apart and cleaning it with some of the pond water will fix the problem fairly quickly. If it is just load on immature filter, then it will get there in time. If it is a case of the filter being too small then it will never get there without additional filtration. You have to remember that the fish grow and as they grow in length, they also grow in width and height, so mass is exponential, and filters that worked yesterday may not work tomorrow.
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    13. #13
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      I did recently upgrade the filter size, which is also why there isn't enough media yet. But I did transfer all the old media. The fish have not truly begun to grow yet but in anticipation that they might, that's why I upgraded the size of the filter bucket from 10 gallons to 30 gallons. This was VERY sudden and has never happened before so hopefully it'll go away on its own. I'll be keeping a close eye out. If this is from a cycle bump, that will take a month or two to resolve correct?

      And I have fancy goldfish. They don't grow as much in length as they do in mass. I don't feed them a lot though. Over feeding them is a really bad thing to do. It tends to cause them to have swimming problems etc.
      Last edited by mjfromga; 03-26-2017 at 08:29 PM.

    14. #14
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      While you are waiting for your pond to cycle, you could run your pond water through some plain quilt batting with out Flame Retardant . You can get it at Walmart for under 10.00. Tear or cut it to the size you want to use. It will have to be rinsed many times during the day. Only use this when you are home and can check it to make sure it doesn't get clogged up and makes your filter overflo.

      How many gallons is your pond?
      Nancy



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    15. #15
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      500 gallons almost exactly to the level it's filled.

    16. #16
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      The plain quilt batting will help to reduce a lot of the green water so you can see your fish better. Rinse it often.
      Nancy



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    17. #17
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      I'm headed to Home Depot for more pea gravel and I'll check Walmart while I'm out for the item you mentioned. Thanks

    18. #18
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      It's doing a bit better but still bad...

      Before


      I am annoyed by it but realize there's nothing I can much do. My fish all seem totally fine and I don't see any parameter issues. Just gotta wait I guess.

      Nancy I couldn't find that product when I went to Walmart

    19. #19
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      Now


    20. #20
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      Question

      .

      Just as a matter of interest. Do your fish eat the same quantity of food not being able to see you as they do when the water is clear?

      When my water is green my fish disappear.

      When the water is clear they are beggars.

      Garfield
      Last edited by coolwon; 03-31-2017 at 03:21 PM.
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