Outdoor Pond - Still murky after winter

[ddechellis]

Help,

I am stumped. This past summer was the first time as a pond owner - to make a long story short - I had a 350 gallon pond with 12 starter goldfish (gotten bigger) and 1 comet. They all survived the winter here in New England - however I think I committed a rookie error - not covering it from leaves in the fall. I tried to get the leaves out with a net but in the spring I ended up cleaning up a lot of sludge/dirt/crap from the bottom of the pond - I'm sure I didn't get 100% of it out - but I think I've gotten 90-95% out.

This I think, is the major culprit to the murkiness of the water and it's still murky and slight smelly into June. The fish seem healthy and are eating, the levels are good and I've also done 3-4 partial water changes this spring/summer (Partial: 30-80%). I also changed the filter pads in my Laguna (non biological) filter and I've tried several over the counter 'cleaners' to try to resolve the situation (one is a white powery substance and the other contains part barley).

I now have 4 'water cabbages' also to maybe try to resolve the situation. The one thing I did notice (it seems a little minor) but some dirt seems to be occasionally getting in the water due to frogs hoping in and out of the water - but it's not more than a finger pinch a day.. I don't know how raw dirt/sand plays into the clarity of the water.

Can anyone suggest anything? Last summer I could see down to my filter down 28" - now I'm lucky to see down 2-3"...

Thanks to any help anyone can provide..

[brads]

Is it algae?

[ddechellis]

Is it algae?

I've always understood algae as being more on the greener side and/or more textured than what I THINK I'm seeing. This is more on the brownish/darker side - is this more consistent with algae?

Thank you

[Yankee Dog]

I vote for algae. Escpecially consdiering all the plant material (leaves) you pulled out. As that stuff decays it feeds the algae big time.

In my experience algea doesnt really look "green". The water just looks murky. I had a situation where I thought I was getting dirt in my pond. It was murky and I couldnt see the bottom. I put a bunch of elodea in the water. In a couple of days the water was clear.


Yankee Dog

[GoldLenny]

Help,

I am stumped. This past summer was the first time as a pond owner - to make a long story short - I had a 350 gallon pond with 12 starter goldfish (gotten bigger) and 1 comet. They all survived the winter here in New England - however I think I committed a rookie error - not covering it from leaves in the fall. I tried to get the leaves out with a net but in the spring I ended up cleaning up a lot of sludge/dirt/crap from the bottom of the pond - I'm sure I didn't get 100% of it out - but I think I've gotten 90-95% out.

Way too many fish for a mini-pond. Each long-bodied goldfish should have a minimum of 50G for comets and 100G for commons. You should probably only have a maximum of 5-6 fish in the pond. You are right about not properly preparing the pond for the overwintering process and you are lucky you only have murky water and not a bunch of dead fish. It's probably because it was the first overwinter and the fish were still on the smaller side. Here is a page of articles on pond keeping with several on the overwintering process. http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/ponds/index.html


This I think, is the major culprit to the murkiness of the water and it's still murky and slight smelly into June. The fish seem healthy and are eating, the levels are good and I've also done 3-4 partial water changes this spring/summer (Partial: 30-80%). I also changed the filter pads in my Laguna (non biological) filter and I've tried several over the counter 'cleaners' to try to resolve the situation (one is a white powery substance and the other contains part barley).

Yep. The pond's ecology is on the fritz right now. The best thing you can do is frequent 25% PWC's (partial water changes) at least weekly or more often if time permits. Get a shop-vac (nothing fancy but the larger the tank the better so you are not having to empty it as often... empty it into your gardens as your plants will love the water and nutrients) and use it to suck up the muck on the bottom. I know they sell lots of different chemicals that are supposed to perform miracles but most of them simply do not work as advertised, IMO. Use the shop-vac to remove the waste, leaves and detritus and your water quality will improve dramatically. DO NOT DO LARGE PWC's as this could change the water chemistry too much, too fast and put your fish into osmotic shock, pH shock, temperature shock, etc., and cause many other problems. They get use to the bad water over time so they have to be acclimated back to clean water again.


I now have 4 'water cabbages' also to maybe try to resolve the situation. The one thing I did notice (it seems a little minor) but some dirt seems to be occasionally getting in the water due to frogs hoping in and out of the water - but it's not more than a finger pinch a day.. I don't know how raw dirt/sand plays into the clarity of the water.
That little bit of dirt won't hurt and if you get the wet-vac, you can regularly suck up the silt/detritus on the bottom to keep it from becoming a problem.


Can anyone suggest anything? Last summer I could see down to my filter down 28" - now I'm lucky to see down 2-3"...

Thanks to any help anyone can provide..

You can also add pre-filters to your fountains, spitters, waterfalls, etc., which will help the ecology of your pond. Here is my blog page on two different DIY pre-filters that you can make for $10-20. http://goldlenny.blogspot.com/2007/03/pond-maintenance-q-about-algae-bloom.html

I hope some of this helps.

[ddechellis]

Just wanted to give people a followup - thanks to all the comments and advice.

I've done 3 PWCs in the last week or so and also took a final stab at cleaning out the sludge/etc in the bottom of the pond. I did that about a week ago and can say with confidence that I got 90% of it - unforutnately I can't afford a wet/dry vac so the occasional 'dirty work' with my hands will have to do.

The water is much better - I can see down to the point where I can see my pump (about 12-18" down) and can see the fish more clearer. I also added some algae cleaner during the week and this created a few little clumps of algae but there wasnt a lot to get rid of.

A few final followup questions:

1. Last year my water hyacinth multipled during the summer to the point that I had to remove a lot - I bought two about 6 weeks ago and two more last week and they don't seem to be growing too much. The roots are definitely extending down into the water - is there anything that could be preventing these from 'multiplying'? They do have ample sunlight.

2. I have a pondmaster 350 pump and the water doesn't seem like it is flying out of my 'cheapo' gargoyle head I bought last year :) -- Do these generally clog up? I took the head off and the water is definitely coming up to the attachment at a good clip. Is there an easy way to clean them? Or do I just buy another one....

3. Right now I have the pump going into a Laguna non-biological filter and then up to the spout above the pond. It sounds like the best bet would be to place an external filter up above the ground before the water goes back into the pond. If I was to build/buy an external biofilter and place it there - I can picture the pressure not being there to 'fly' the water back in since the water has to make its way through the filter. Is the water basically 'dripping' back into the pond? What is the typical GPH on these systems?

Thanks again for all the help

[DeeSeven]

ddechellis you can try craigslist.com for shop vacs I paid 15 dollars for mine and it runs perfect.

[Reddog80p]

If you bunch the hyacinths in tight and not allow them to spread horizontaly, they will grow straight up and tall. Not sure if you have any oxygenating plants, but I would get some. These include Elodea or Ancharis, Mere's Tail, Parrots feather, just to name a few. Check out www.lilyblooms.com for more info on them. I would also suggest getting a small/medium water lily to help with excess nutrients. The water lettuce helps too. I would also look into getting a external bio-filter, these can be made diy or bought. It seems like the only bio-filtration you have is the sponges (ie. pre-filter on your pump). Good luck,

Red

[GoldLenny]

2. I have a pondmaster 350 pump and the water doesn't seem like it is flying out of my 'cheapo' gargoyle head I bought last year :) -- Do these generally clog up? I took the head off and the water is definitely coming up to the attachment at a good clip. Is there an easy way to clean them? Or do I just buy another one....

3. Right now I have the pump going into a Laguna non-biological filter and then up to the spout above the pond. It sounds like the best bet would be to place an external filter up above the ground before the water goes back into the pond. If I was to build/buy an external biofilter and place it there - I can picture the pressure not being there to 'fly' the water back in since the water has to make its way through the filter. Is the water basically 'dripping' back into the pond? What is the typical GPH on these systems?

Thanks again for all the help
The line running through the gargolye is probably clogged with algae. How big is the line? I'm guessing 1/4" or 3/8". If so, they do sell small diameter brushes... a little bigger than pipe cleaners... and you could run a string through the line and then pull the brush through to clean it out. I do that on my spitters on a regular basis. If that is your only return line from your filter, it really needs to be done as it will slow down your filtration and aeration if the water cannot flow properly. Your pondmaster 350 should be running 350 gph which means you may need more than just one spitter for the return of the water. My canister on my 65G runs 350 gph and I have a 1" return line into a spray bar with eight 1/4" holes as the return to the tank.