Controlling algae in 3800 gallon indoor pond-

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D

destro

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 6, 2008
36
0
0
Hebron, Indiana
OK, as the pond is in a greenhouse reducing the amount of sun is not really an option. I have a bunch of lilly pads as well as a new UV filter. I hope my algae bloom doesn't come back (did 50% H20 changes Monday and today to get the water mostly clear - VIP tour tomorrow!).

I have an 18W UV filter, should I get a second one? I have a 10K an hour pump and am running the UV on a bypass (UV rated at 2K an hour flow). 5 gallon bucket flow test puts the UV @ about 2000 gal/hour.

My Nitrite/Nitrate levels had just gotten to zero (just got the tank cycled) and BOOM- green water in the course of a couple days. Started with just algae on the bottom, cleaned it off, but turned my water green. Got worse instead of better... Ordered UV filter, took a week to get here then another week to get the plumber to install it. Then the sucker leaked. Replacement took another week. 3 weeks of weekly 50% water changes and now this week with two. My water is mostly clear now (can see the bottom although not very well. UV has only been running since Monday afternoon.

Any ideas? More lilly pads? More UV? Wait it out and see if my green water gets better or worse (right now it is a light green tint, not the dark green water I had on Friday).

HELP!

~Destro
 
Not sure we can do something like that- over the pond will not look right, and the rest of the greenhouse is full of plants that need the light (including several small trees).

The pond gets a lot of direct sunlight, but only for a couple hours a day, as it is in the center of the building. Only when the sun is overhead does it get direct sunlight, but it does get a lot of "indirect" light.

More shade in the form of plants and lillies would be a more workable solution, as I am sure adding a shade to the roof would be quite expensive. This pond had fish before (10+ years ago) so they must have done something.

Found out something interesting today- the water going into the pond is heated. The hose connection in the greenhouse is a mix of hot and cold water. I always wondered why when I fill the pond it isn't too cold- the inline heater is HUGE, but the water out of the hose is in the mid 60's (even when it runs for an hour like during a 50% change).
 
add more plants man my greenhouse pond is full of plants and teh water stayed clear.:headbang2
 
The thing that I have found that clears the water the best is standard aquarium micro polyester floss. Add it into your filter and change it every 1-2 days. Within 5 days your water will be crystal clear.
 
check your levels again. algae gotta eat, thats the source. bigger bio filter; steal the algaes food. use plkants for nitrates. also w/c and more surface cover with lilys; like 60- 80 %. i know you wanna see your fish but it does work. worked for me on my outdoor ponds and i live in hawaii.
 
There's an interesting idea in teh DIY section. Look for the thread titled like mega nitrate reducer, or something like that. They are basically growing algae on other sources and that eliminates it in the tanks/ponds.
 
More plants, more plants, more plants.....

In the form of lillies, Lettuce and Hyacinth, and submerged to help balance out the nutrients. Have you tested the Phos. in the new water? My tap has high. making it hard not to have algae in my tanks. The outdoor pond water is the same, no water changes, and a ton of plants keep it crystal clear year round.
 
barley bails work as well... but increase your plants...
 
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