New small pond help

gailk · Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 8:38 pm Post subject: New small pond help

I have never had a pond before and can use some advice. I put in a very small pond a few months ago. It is about 3x4 feet and about 6-8 inches deep. It does have a small pump feeding a waterfall feature. I have been reading about ponds and trying to learn what I can. I have four plants in the pond which are doing well. I started to get some algae and my water is muddy and green. I thought that it would be best to add some goldfish to help balance everything. I just added five feeder goldfish two days ago. One didn't look good from the start and he didn't make it. Today, I added some water to the pond to fill it up (less than 15% new water) and another one died. I tested the pH and found it was a little high, but not off the charts. I added half a teaspoon of pH Down to the water. I'm obviously doing something wrong. Is it okay to add water to this pond? Should it be done at a certain time of day? What should I do to keep the water clear? I also have two dogs that like to occasionally drink from the pond, so I really don't want to use any chemicals that might hurt them. I appreciate any advice that anyone can offer.

Mick Mutlow · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:05 pm Post subject:

Being a basic novice myself (I have had a pond for a year but on a much larger scale)I had the same issue. I was first told wait for the natural bacteria to settle in and it would clear automatically. I did not have the patience for that, so I listened to other people and bought a filter with a UV lamp in it. Every piece of water which passes through the filter runs passed this lamp, and what this lamp does is kill the algae. Within 2 weeks my water was crystal clear and still is to this day. It is 4 feet deep in the middle and if you put a newspaper down the bottom, you could read it from the top. The UV lamp has a life of about six months and so therefore must be replaced. Your next problem (going by my experience)will probably be blanket weed - you will get shed loads of it if your pond is open to extreme sunlight, but there are ways to combat that. Both the filter (Green Genie) and the lamp are easily acquired from any pond/garden centre. Hope this helps. Mick

Mick Mutlow · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 5:09 pm Post subject:

Forgot to mention about adding water. As your pond is relatively small, the tap water you are adding I would avoid because it is high percentage that you are adding in. Try collecting your own water from a water butt and adding that in. You'll be surprised by the amount of water you actually lose from your pond by the way - it evapourates at an alarming rate inasmuch as I thought I had a leak at first.

gailk · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 9:42 pm Post subject:

Thank you so much for the advice. I will try out the UV lamp this week. One more question regarding the water. My water is supplied from a well and not public water, so I don't need to worry about chlorine. Is it still a problem adding water from this source? Is it the temperature that causes the problem or something else?

gailk · Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2005 10:18 pm Post subject:

I hope I can ask one more question without wearing out my welcome to this board. Smile

I started searching for the Green Genie product and can't find it available in US. I found similar products though. It looks like I also need an external filter that the UV sterilizer would attach to. Is this correct? Right now, I have a very small submersible pump that has a tube out feeding the waterfall. Do I replace this pump with the external filter and sterilizer? It gets pretty confusing reading about all of this stuff. Thanks!

Mick Mutlow · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 6:53 pm Post subject:

Sorry, didn't realise you were in the US. The UV lamp is housed inside or in the top of the external filter. Mine is set up like this: a pump at the bottom of the water pumps water into the filter, the water then passes through the filtration system and the UV lamp. The water then comes out of the filter back into the pond via a waterfall. The guide I have learned is (especially if you keep koi)if your pond holds 200 gallons, then you must circulate 200 gallons an hour. Your pond is quite small so you should not need a big pump. If your water is coming from a well it should be ok. You green water problem WILL go away with a UV lamp, but it also helps to keep direct sunlight for a long period of time, off the pond. I am no expert, but I have learned an awful lot over the last year.

trevorevans · Posted: Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:52 pm Post subject:

Buy a "fishmate" 8watt bio/uv filter....2 weeks later lovely clear water[ Smile

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