Hi,
I have a pond with water plants and a waterfall in Los Angeles. I put a bunch of water lillies, hyacinths and thrush in and the water has been cloudy for months now. I've been told that eventually it will stabilize. How long would that take? Should I have an expert take a look at it? Are there any experts in the Los Angeles area that anybody knows of?
Thanks,
Maria
water always cloudy
Maria, what kind of cloudy? Milky, brown, green, etc? More or less now than earlier? Maybe take a water sample to a reliable pet shop for testing. How big is pond, filter, fish, etc?
I would do what sylvi says and get your water checked. But dont let them sell you a bunch of [deleted] you dont need. Some will sell ph up, ph down, this and that.
That's very true. I didn't think to mention it, but a bottle of chemicals is almost never the right answer. Hopefully a reputable pet shop wouldn't just try to make a buck, but there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there. One thing that could help is partial water changes. A common mistake is to change all of the water and the pond never gets "broken in" but partial changes can be really good for the fish (as long as the water supply itself is not the cause of the problem).
Maria, you might try adding a bacteria solution like MicrobeLift to the water. It isn't a chemical; it will help your filter get better established. Directions as to quantity are on the package.
I'm in the tropics and my pond too suffers from 'cloudy' water. It's actually blakish. I removed silt twice in 10 days. Mostly the debris are from leaves from the tree 'canopying' the pond. My pond is about 3 months old. I too wonder what this cloud is about. I have a couple of catfish that might be disturbing the bottom debris and the fine particles could be continuously floating all over. I also am looking at how quickly it settles down. I have a water lily plant. It has new growth of about 7-8 leaves. I don't use any filter nor any pump. I circulate the water a few minutes every other day. Is this good or is it not advisable? The main question is, how long does my pond take to settle? Anybody able to give some hope?
I have heard,but not try, that water cress helps to clear the water.This article explains thet you can buy watercress in the supermarket and make it root in water at home , then take it out to the pond.
If anybody does the experiment with good results please make it know as i see its a general problem.
Azulillo
My pond becomes very cloudy when I put a plant in that is planted in soil. It is best to use a special potting soil for water. That can be expensive so all my plants are planted in the cheapest cat litter! Do not get the clumping kind or perfumed. Buy the very cheapest that is just plain clay. This will make a big difference in your water. Also put small river rocks on top of the soil so the fish can't stir it up.I just use the buckets from the Dollar store (like a plastic mop bucket with a handle). These are very easy to get up and cheap! Just put in the litter to half way, stick a couple of pond fertilizer tabs toward the bottom, water, add your plant being careful to position it correctly, continue filling with litter, then water again, place the rocks on top, lower gently to the bottom of pond and place handle down. Now you can get it out easily when you are adding fertilizer tabs, or cleaning pond, etc. Jenny
