Green things in the water garden

I have been water gardening for about 3 years now. I dug a new pond last year. I have a flexable liner in it. It's capacity is about 450 gallons. This year I am having a lot of trouble with algae and the water not clearing up. It has just began clearing slightly. I change the filter and rinse it out at least once a day.
I have 4 lillies, several water hycinths, water clover, and three other marginal plants. I also have fish in the pond.

Any one have any suggestions short of chemicals to help me clear up the water enough so I can see my fish again? I know I need help.

Thanks in advance, Mary

Natures answer to Algae....BARLEY STRAW, takes about 3 weeks to start working but once started no more string algae. Change the bundle about every 2-3 months, you can tell when by looking at the straw,it should be desinagrating, that is the time to replace it.
If you want a quick fix, there is a product called "ALGAEFIX, you can get it at Walmart in the Garden dept.
Every spring I start my pond with a dose of Algaefix and add the barley at the same time= no algae and pond stays clean and clear.

not sure on the spelling of this but anacrius (SP?) did more for me then my uv light did. You can pick up a small bunch at a pet shop for a few dollars and it spreads fairly fast. good oxygenator, and shader too.

annabelle 15

Do you have to sink the barley straw to the bottom of the pond?

If so how do you keep it down so it isn't seen?

I had purchased a couple of small bales from a nursery this last month but forgot to ask if it should be anchored to the bottom.

Will it sink after being in the pond?

Thanks, Mary

Nitro, Don't sink the barley under the water, it should be half in and half out. I put mine under the waterfalls, and the water runs through the bundle.
And the anchiris is a great addition to your pond. In 3 years one bunch(7-8 stems) has grown to cover the bottom of my pond. The smaller fish hide in it and it realy helps to keep the oxygen up in the water. And baby fish have a great place to hide. Our local water garden expert says to cut it back in the winter, but I haven't, the water is deep enough(3 feet) so it doesn't freeze, in fact this year it is blooming. Remember your pond needs shade, preferably from surface plants, (water lilies etc.)all of this helps to keep the algae at bay.
Hope this helps
annabelle

Annabelle Thanks for all the great advice. I have the barley straw just floating in the pond right now. I am beginning to see more and more clearing. My pond is only 25 inches deep so would I have to bring the Anchiris in the house to winter it over? I had a water lily that I left in the pond last year as an experiment to see if it would winter over and it made it even though the pond froze to the bottom. How often should the pond be cleaned out and filled with fresh water? I was thinking of doing this next year before I move the plants outdoors. Here is a picture of the garden that was taken 4 days ago. I found a water hyincth blooming today. YIPEE Mary

NG, Unless the pond is really skanky don't completely empty it. You will be basically starting from scratch getting it balanced again. Get a fine mesh net and "skim the bottom to get any big chunks" like leaves, pine cones etc. that may have fallen in, once a month or so use a bio-accelerator to help the natural breakdown of fish waste(various brands available at watergarden centers).Use the barley straw as long as water temp is 50º or more and clean the filter medium as needed and you may be OK indefinitely. Some ponders do an occasional water exchange ( siphon off some water and replace with fresh) but I only top it off if we have a real dry spell and the lining gets exposed. Don't want to add too much "city water" with it's chemicals to it.It goes through a green phase early in the season until the plants grow and establish some cover and the barley straw kicks in then it is clear unless I get it stirred up fishing something out, then it settles right back down. Good Luck, MW

Thanks MW. I sure hope it gets clearer than it has been. I went to a wonderful nursery that I know of and have since bought a beautiful white water lily. It sent up a new bloom yesterday. I have a yellow and 3 pinks in the pond right now plus the marginals. Have been seeing more of the fish lately. Any and all suggestions area definately appreciated.

The placostomus does'nt seem to be doing his job real well so I hired 4 snails to help him. I felt so sorry for those guys in the pet store aquarium. I have 3 rams horns and 1 yellow snail now. You guys think that's enough?

Mary,
Your pond is fairly new it as been said it takes up to 3-8 months before your pond is balanced and clear. by doing a number of water changes you are not letting the water become balncedreally in my experience water changes do not work. the right type of filtering and shading (70%)keeping the water temp. down helps a lot. and barley straw mainly works on string algea not the pea green soup color to the pond. since it is a new pond (fairly)you might need to use bacteria. Just to get the pond kick started, also eats ammonia and sludge.Good Luck!

Mary,

I had the same problem you have! I wrapped my pump intake with quilt batting. The tiny, tightly wound fibers filtered out all the green muck (suspended algea) from the water. After two days and about $3.00 worth of batting, the water cleared up dramatically. The batting did not hurt my fish, frogs, tadpoles or plants.

Dave

kc81cw

Thanks for the great suggestion. I'll have to go out and get some of that. The pond hd cleared somewhat but then I had to go and pull out some of the lilies and repot them. The new dirt has muddy up the water again although not as bad as before. I also put in a larger pump so was moving things around to hide the hoses. I did find a frog in there today. Might have been the freebie from the pet store tadpoles they gave me.

Mary

Hey Dave (kc81cw)

I can finally see my fish without looking real hard. The batting is working well and I will probably use for a while longer. It sure was full of green muck today. Thanks again.

Everyone else out there Please help me out.

Can any one out in the garden tell me more about setting up a bio filter for my pond? I was able to get some small spheres made of plastic in the water garden section of Menard's yesterday on close out. I want to learn more about this subject.

Here's a picture of the pond.

I've made my own bio boxes for all my ponds. real simple.get a rubbermaid tote/bucket/tub. For your size of pond the box should be about 8"x18"x12" give or take. cut a round hole on the side towards the bottom and another on the other side top side to fit a bulk head fitting. would need two. one for the inlet and one for the outlet, they screw tight to the box using the white plumbing tape to keep from leaking. find bulk heads at pool stores or maybe your pond store. I cut a plastic milk crate to lay in the bottom of box so you have a space then I use the white filter foam and then a bag of lava rock layed ontop of filter media. the water will through the bottom inlet, raise upward and flow out of outlet. works great for my ponds. If you need a diagram, I may be able to get you one. Good Luck!

a_leon, Thanks for the information. It would be great if you get a diagram for me. Where do you put the bio box? Does it go into the pond or on the outside? As you can tell I don't know anything about this subject. I am really green LOL.

Nitrosgal, The box would be on the outside. The outlet tube would be for your waterfall. Your pump would be in the bottom of the pond if you don't have a skimmer box. ITs best to put the pump in a small bucket and put some filter media, filter foam and lava rock, around the pump. Keeping the debris from clogging the pump. I say lava because its very pouress and the bacteria grows to it. Then the pump line will go to the bio-filter box. I will have to put something on paper but I'll e-mail it to you.

I can't say much that hasn't already been said. I've tried the UV filter and it does work, but you have to replace the bulb once in a while which can be a pain. I don't have too much trouble with algae, but then my pond is heavily shaded. Since my water garden doesn't freeze over, I use a powdered bacteria when the temps drop to help keep the water organisms in balance and prevent algae blooms before the perennials resprout in spring. It seems to help some. Another tip, don't use rich potting soils and compost when potting up your water garden plants--that adds a lot of nutrients to the pond and can contribute to the algal blooms. I made that mistake myself and now generally use just sand. The fish in the pond will add nutrients to the water for the plants. The trick is to get everything balanced.

The bacteria works very good. I use it from early spring after my muc-out through the summer. It digest fish waste, uneaten food, and plant materials. takes up to 36 days for it to start working but my results are great. It also reduces ammonia and nitrates to nitrites which feed the plants. Washing filter media everyday. Is a waste of anyones time, all your doing is killing the good bacteria. Same goes for water changes. even letting the pond drop 1-2" and then filling it up with tap water, chlorine is killing the good bacteria.