Stabalizing pond, and controlling Algae

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K

Kaze

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 11, 2009
47
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Canada
The quality of my pond has been declining alarmingly throughout the weeks. My once crystal clear water is now foggy, green, and reeks of a disgusting smell, and my pond's stability has dropped like crazy. As a begineer pond owned, and koi keeper, I really need some help. Every single day, I sturggle with removing String algae that infect my pond, it never happened before, but suddenly their is an explosion of it. I have also noticed the insane amount of gunk that floats around in my pond, so I decided to check it out. To my surprise the entire filter was clogged with algae beyond my belief. I'm using a OASE Filtoclear 3000 and my pond is about 1700, stocked with 10 tiny comet gold fish, and 5, 2 - 3 inched koi's. The Oase filtoclear, takes in water from a below water level pump in the pond, and the water is pumped to an external canister filter, and is then discharged back out a waterfall. However the below water pump is filled with disgusting algae, and bugs, and my filter doesn't seem to be doing the job of keeping my water clean. What should I do?

And what are some advice I can get to stabilize my pond back to crystal clear water
 
How long have you had your pond up and running, and how long have you used this filter? How often do you clean your filter?
What pump are you using, and where is it located in the pond?

What are your water parameters? (pH, GH, KH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)

Is the pond located in direct sunlight for several hours each day? Are there plants surrounding the pond that regularly drop debris into the pond?
Do you use a pool skimmer net to remove debris from the pond regularly?
How often do you perform water changes, and what amount of water do you replace?

Sorry for all of the questions, but they are all import to find a solution to your problem. It sounds to me like the typical summer algae issue from several hot days with direct sunlight. The gross smell is caused by toxic gases that build up in anaerobic conditions. To fix this, you will need better water circulation and better water aeration. You will also need to regularly remove debris from the bottom of the pond before it starts to decay, and perform regular water changes. What I do each week is use a pool skimmer net to scoop up any leaves, poop, etc, from the bottom of the pond, and then do about a 15% water change.
 
Do you have any plants in the pond?

Is the liner covered with gravel or bare?

How big is the pump?
 
it sounds like an algae problem u ''need'' an ''UV'' the algae stop the filter process , no circulation , maybe 100% ''WC'' , clean all string algae/ treat it
 
Thanks for the replies, to answer some of your questions to clear some things up, I do have a gravel bottom pond, but instead of gravel it's rocks about the size of a small fist. I was tricked by my contractor, disregarding the issues with gravel bottom ponds.

The pump I use is one that came with the OASE Filtoclear 3000, here is a link to this product. http://www.oase-livingwater.com/wg/us/products/water-gardens/filters/filtoclear/filtoclear-3000.html On the right hand side, you will see a picture how this filter works, check it out, it shows a perfect diaagram of how this product is installed in my pond.

There is a UVC equipped to the filter, but it says that it won't remove string algea.

My pond is exposed to sunlight for about 4 - 5 hours a day, but after 3 o clock it is shaded by my neighbours tree and fence. There is also no debris falling it, except the hundreds of bugs, and grass after I mow my lawn, but I do scoop out all these immidiatly.

I do about 2, 5% water change and one 15% water change every week.

My parameters are fine, except the occasional ammonia and nitrate boom from the algea, rain and gunk at the bottom.

However after analyzing my pond I think the problem is circulation of water and oxygen. My pond is in the shape of a crescent moon that is almost half a moon, and I have a water fall (small one) that trickles down but the oxygen it created was very limited, so I added another aerator on one side of the cresent and it draws in water and spews it back out smacking on the pond, so it does create a large amount of oxygen and does exchange the water from the bottom to the top creating a current in my pond, but I believe this current isn't able to circle around my pond, and all the gunk is just hitting the other side.

A lot of writing, but tonnes of information, hope it helps you in solving my problem
 
Larger rocks/small boulder that the contractor put needs to be looked at. If they have large gaps in between them, they will collect debris that w/o proper cirrulation, will foul the water. When I install a waterfall, it usually has a skimmer on the opposite end to create as much water flow as possible. The shape of your pond maybe making "dead" spots which will only compound the anarobic (sp.) activity.
 
The large rocks are pretty densly placed, but there are tonnes of gaps and holes. I have a preassure washer that I spray down into the rocks to get the gunk out, but it's becoming a huge nuisance, I am planning on removing the gravel bottom out this winter. So what are some solutions to thses dead spots.

P.S my pond is a horrible 2.5 ft
 
Keep the bottom covered, just replace w/small rocks. I use a mix of #6 and #8 washed gravel for all flat areas in the pond (bottom and any shelves). The #6 is 3/4" and smaller and the #8 is about golf ball size. Smooth and round so fish can root around in it. Any debris that doesn't make it to the skimmer, will sit on top of this gravel for easy removal. I either net it, sweep it to the skimmer end w/a small broom, or use a Rio 2100 on a stick to blow any debris towards the skimmer (my prefered method since I can get anything behind rocks and between lily stems quickly).

Dead spots can be corrected by placing small pumps in those areas. A large air stone for pond use will help. The main thing is to have flow to oxygenate the water. As any organic material settles in the bottom, it uses oxygen to break down. This can harm the fish and water quality if left to accumulate.
 
Last question. How much and how often do you feed?
 
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