Hello,
Should I continue to feed while waiting for water to clear up ??
thanks,
Lisa
green water & feeding fish
If the water is green from alge then no need to feed them.
I agree they can probably do fine on the algea and its probably a good idea to not feed so they will eat the algea. Personally, I am a sap for their greedy little faces so I usually feed a smaller amt :)
charlotte
thanks to all :)
This thread has given me a good clue -- I will drastically reduce feeding since there is a lot of green algae that reduces visibility up to 8 inches. How long should we not feed the fish? By not feeding them, will the algae growth be controlled [since they eat the tiny floating things] effectively and make the water clearer? I keep on adding water once a few days. Growth of algae has been rapid.
I have went to extremes to get rid of green algae and still have not cleared it up.
Dump a little water out the bottom drain every day, started watering my brugs with a 5 gal bucket to give them some good water. Got 50% covered with plants, stopped feeding the fish, Put cotton in the filter media. With this sun and heat it grows like crazy. My Koi are only shadows in the water but are growing super fast. You can stop feeding as long as they have green stuff to eat.
Last year I quit feeding my fish (3 inch to 9 inch goldfish) from July till this June and they continued to grow and thrive. Best of all my algae problem was fixed cause they eat it. Sometimes there are strings of algae from the rocks on the waterfall which I knock off. You should see them swarm to get a bite! Most of the problem with my pond was overfeeding. Now I clean my filters less often and have much clearer water. Of course I do have a small uv filter which helps tremendously. Jenny
Thanks for the suggestions. I will follow them.
Another question. Does the oxygen content in the water reduce when the water is a lot greener with algae? Does it affect life of fish in any way?
Algae (and/or submerged plants) induced oxygen swings:
During the day, submerged plants and algae release oxygen into the water which helps animals. At night, they remove some oxygen from the water. If they remove too much, the drop in oxygen concentration may cause some fish to gasp at the surface for air or even die. To prevent this, aeration must occur 24 hours a day in a pond. The water can be aerated by any combination of air stones, waterfalls, fountains, jets, or spitters.
Is there any way the pond water can balance on its own? They say that the dragonfly visits to the pond is an indication of 'balance' -- no idea how true this is.
OMG, after reading this thread and some of the others in the Water Gardens Forum, I sure have a lot to learn. We just moved into this home that has a cement pond (500gal) in the back yard. I didn't even know there were 4 gold fish in it until I finally saw a couple about a week after we moved in. I know nothing about Ponding. I have always wanted to try my hand at Water Conatiner gardening, so I thought I'd have a go at it. I started feeding the fish. Until yesterday when I ran into the past owner of our home and she informed me that they'd had the fish for 3 years and had never fed them. (They are pretty small though, so I felt justified). But after reading a few of these threads though, I realize I am adding to the problem of the algae growth, big time! I will quit feeding them (not entirely, ok), but I don't think I'll ever get the pond clear again this year. My husband and I drained and cleaned it already once this summer, and it was so nice to see the plants and fish, but that only lasted for about 2 weeks!! Now I worry about the prospect of winter coming. I plan on running the fountain through the winter and cutting the plants down to 2 inches when it gets cold, but I wonder if I should put a piece of styrofoam in there too? May try this Barley Straw that they are talking about too. Any other advice...other than - give up OldFlowerGirl! (Sigh)
Donna
Whoa, don't give up! Run right out to the library and bring home all the pond books! First, don't drain and scrub a pond. You have lots of good bacteria in the pond that break down fish waste. If you drain the pond all the way, you throw out all your good bacteria. Partial water changes are a much better idea-up to 50% no problem.
Is there a filter? What kind?
You can get pieces of styrofoam and poke rigid tubing through them. Let it float on the water and the tube should stay unfrozen to allow gas exchange through the ice. Maybe you can find out what the former owners did for winter care?
Let us know more details and how it's going!