OK, the newest thing. Just as my water is clearing up to clear green tea I now notice lots of foam in the water. It's almost like soapy with a film on the water. What gives? I shut down one of my waterfall pumps to reduce the foam but why all of a sudden?
Anybody ever have little bubbles all over their pond before?
Fred
foamy water
I think it's just oxygen.
Pond foam is supposed to have three main causes. First, excess algae growth. The algae release compounds that form bubbles. Second, water additives or conditioners that have vitamins included will cause a suface foam. Third, and most likely, is protein in the water. The two main sources of protein are fish waste (protein based fish food) or fish eggs and sperm in the water from a heavy spawn, both of which are protein based. Some experts also claim that a heavy buildup of pond detritus will cause foaming as it decomposes.
My larger koi pond never has foam. My small goldfish pond will produce a foam quite often. I have yet to sort out what exactly causes the small goldfish pond to foam. It will disappear and reappear with no rhyme or reason. I do have a skimmer in the koi pond but not in the goldfish pond. The small goldfish pond began producing foam this year within minutes of starting up the pump and filter this spring. So, that rules out protein based fish food (they hadn't been fed since November), water additives, (none had been added yet) and spawning activity (too early in the year). I was left with the diagnosis of pond detritus.
Although there was next to no stuff on the bottom I vacuumed out the pond bottom anyway and the foam subsided considerably. There is an assortment of gold fish and shubunkins totaling 8 in 350 gallons. There just shouldn't be a lot of stuff in the water. I guess it's a case of "foam just happens". If anybody comes on here and posts some real solid information on pond foam I will be grateful to you fredrump for posting the question.
It's almost midnight and the FL-OH game is history. Earlier this evening I shut off my submerged pump which does nothing but help to feed the waterfall. I figured the foam is produced by the water splashing to heavy into the pond. Why now is the mystery. Anyway, the reduced flow or nightime have taken care of the foam. There is still some of the stuff in the skimmer but the water has very little of it left. I'll leave the extra pump off for a while to see if that will help.
As to the three reasons snapple gives - some food was still left in the feed ring. I suspect the fish got tired of snapping at bubbles and getting nothing in return which is why the food was left. Normally they snap up everything from my Koi Cafe within a few minutes. I reduced the feed time anyway. Excess algae growth: the water is clear but lots of string algae has formed where the water runs down from the bio-filters. The rock is also all slimey. Water additives: working in my garden shed two days ago, I found some old additives for clear water which I dumped into the bios. I have no idea if that stuff can still work as it is about 5 years old. Maybe it made for the bubbles a day later. Detrious: I don't think I have any of that. My water test shows no nitrates at all but maybe the water is turning soft for some reason which eases the bubbling. I'll see what happens tomorrow in sunlight again.
Fred
PS I now have two blue lilies blooming. Are the blue ones early bloomers? None of the other colors are anywhere near blooming stage. They also seem to have the largest leaf growth. I think they are PAMELA which I planted Feb 16th. They have varigated leaves.
Today I put everything back the way it was and no foam. Wierd!
Fred
Not to me!
Nor to me - happens here and there - one reason or another - comes and goes. Dax
I guess there are a lot of mysteries to be resolved yet. I swear something was wrong with my pond and my fish knew it yesterday. They didn't eat and generally stayed out of sight. Today only the big ones could be seen until late in the afternoon. My feeder goes on at 4PM and I was there watching to see if they would again ignore the food. Well, they devoured it in seconds like they were starving. Everybody was swimming behind and underneath the big 18 inch monster as if he/she is to protect the whole gang. I'm getting four big fish from a friend whose pond is really too small for all his 6 year old koi. So we tried a transfer in a cooler and it worked fine. Now I can get the others one by one.
I think the clear water has everyone scared to death during the day. It's a whole new thing for them to see the world above them. The big boy is used to clear and shallow water so swimming around in plain sight is nothing new to him.
They others use him for cover. It's quite a sight.
Today I had four lily flowers but all of the same color.
Fred
That's a funny picture, little koi hiding under a big koi. Could you quit already with the lily flowers? ;) It was 81 this afternoon for a brief time. By tomorow night it will be in the 40's and the next four days it will be well below freezing every night. I will have to run the pond heaters and the pump at the same time. The electric bill should be just dandy. The heaters are 1500 watts. I can report however that I successfully repotted a big Nelumbo "Mrs. Perry D. Slocum". It had just broken dormancy. I had to get into the pond to properly position the tub. The water was 57 degrees at the time. Obviously I didn't linger long. This was my first repot of a lotus. Very interesting plant. Next year I am digging a lotus bog adjacent to the pond. No more heavy tubs perched precariously on the edge of the pond while I clamber in and out of 57 degree water.
Great story, fredrump - but have to agree with snapple - you're making me SOOOO envious - and snapple, I'm very interested in the bog/lotus idea. I haven't tried a lotus yet, but have an 8 x 10 bog that I need to refurbish. I was going to use it as a natural bog filter, but it didn't move enough water (or work) so it has been ignored for 2 years now. Would love to work through the project together. I can get some hardy lotus here, but need an area where the water is mostly still - right? Would this area work do you think? It's a foot and a half of gravel covered by organic material (leaves, etc.) covered by pebbles/sand/rock. It's lined and so holds the water, and I originally had a 300 gph pump slowly moving the water through and returning to the pond. Will that work?
That's Lotus heaven! I might replace, or place on top of, the pebbles/sand/rock some plain cheap unadulterated unscented kitty litter.The kitty litter becomes clay and the lotus root well in it. You will have to occaissionaly run some fresh water in to freshen the stagnant water and a mosquito dunk might be in order. I am going to bury a 55 gallon Rubbermaid tub and throw in some cat litter and a mosquito dunk. I'll "overflow" it from time to time with fresh water, plunk in some pond fertilizer tabs monthly and that's it. The hardest part will be digging the hole. A bog that size should hold one large lotus comfortably. I have seen, but never grown, a dwarf lotus called "Chawan Basu" It's a beauty.
Great!~ Will follow your advice, and will send pics - I'll look up the Chawan Basu - how big does it get?
The one that I saw was about 2 ft. tall. The blooms were exquisite. You know I should be taking lessons from you. I wish I could make your garden tour. What you have done is just outstanding. You probably hav'nt even reached your peak yet. I'm going on six years out and just now realized I don't like climbing in and out of 57 degree water. By the way - it is snowing sideways here.
Ugh!! We're into the second day of freezing temps and looking at three more days of temps in the 20's at night - thanks for the encouragement - I'm blushing! I found a lovely Shawan Basu on the internet and ordered yesterday. As you said, it looks exquisite and shouldn't get too big (if I can get it to grow at all). But, believe me, your great advice has guided me for the last two years, and I truly appreciate it so much! Your set-up is just beautiful, and I can see what mine can become if I work hard - Dax
Hey, fredrump - how's it going with you? With your energy (and moola), you're going to outpace us all with your paradise -
Sorry about all the cold weather up there in the north country. I have the opposite problem here. Too much sun.
The foam came again today and I'm sure now that it is the heat that does something to the water as it splashes into itself. The foamy bubbles pretty much go away in the evening. I think I may have a real problem with all this sun. I may have exacerbated the situation when I added all the rock into the stream. These now are heated by the sun which in turn heat the water. I mean it is warm to the touch. Tomorrow I'm going to get a thermometer.
The plants seem to love the heat and sun but the fish stay out of the sun and are more or less lethargic. My new big koi aren't used to the sun at all as they grew up in a shady shallow pond. They pretty much spend the day under the waterfall where the water splashes down. Maybe it's cooler there. Are there any other full sun ponders here? Any in Florida? Maybe I need to add a fountain or something to help cool the water down.
If it's not one thing, it's another.
Like I said, the lilies love the heat and are blooming and growing like crazy. The near lily shows three blooms and about 5 additional buds.
Fred
Oh my gosh. That is SO gorgeous. I believe that heat does play a role in foam production. I had to plug in a 1500 watt deicer in a 380 gal pond with a triple ledged waterfall and small stream because of the terrible cold here. I wanted to keep the waterfall running through the freeze. Of course the waterfall and stream super chill the water. As soon as the heater got the water to 46 degrees the foam started and has been increasing ever since. Now I have another problem. The extreme low humidity in the cold air is evaporating the warmer pond water at a pretty good clip. Down two inches in two days. Today I will haul buckets from the house to bring the level back up. I couldn't be without a thermometer. I have remote sensing thermometers for both ponds that I can monitor from the house. www.ambientweather.com has a wide ranging catalogue of remote sensing temperature equipment. I have had both Oregon Scientific and LaCross systems. I hated the LaCross stuff and eventually threw it out. The instruction book was useless and the equipment frequently lost it's programming. I called their 800 help line so often I was on a first name basis (when I could get through). fredrump, believe me when I tell you that you would prefer your heat to this cold. This is AWFUL.
Ditto - how beautiful!! But yes, your heat, fredrump, will surely be difficult to manage. Another plant that absolutely loves the sun is algae. So don't be surprised if you don't suddenly get an algae bloom going - that's when it multiplies very quickly. I've read that it can take three years to get the eco balance you want. For sure, the thermometer is essential as you are right, it could over heat for the fish. Do you have shade at all? We've got two more days of sub-freezing weather here, and luckily I've got the pond overfull so the level hasn't dipped too bad yet. I'm just SOOOO antsy and want it to be SPRING! Dax
Hey guys, my name is Fred for short. :-)
I just came back from the one and only large pond and garden place here in Naples, Driftwood Nurseries. I wanted to buy a thermometer but - bless their hearts - they don't have any as they aren't useful around here. I asked about the heat and was told that there are many ponds around and they all manage just fine as long as the water has enough volume and depth. My measurements are fine and I shouldn't worry about it. Supposedly the bottom, where the koi hang out, is much cooler then the top which I can feel to be warm.
They are correct in that the fish seem to not even want to come up to eat. I can see them eye the food from below and circle about before they get their act together and do a quick upwards lounge only to dive right back down again.
Then I asked about the soapy bubbles. They give all the possibilities mentioned here but really have no idea why that happens. They do sell a chemical for foamy water and I bought an 8 ounce bottle. I dumped it and the bubbles were gone in no time at all. So somebody somewhere knows the chemical reason for these bubbles and has a cure for them. Sure looks better without the foam.
I was also going to buy some barley straw but it wasn't marked for price. I walk over to the counter and the girl calls a pond expert over to do a price check. She couldn't believe what the register said: $85 for three little bags of straw. I mean I've seen fields of barley galore and the straw is just waste material but here they have woven gold fibers into the stuff and sell it for a fortune. The price was correct and they claim they've never sold any either.
They asked why I wanted barley and I mentioned the folks on the net talk about all the time. Oh, you just want some enzymes and that will clear up any algae you might have. But I wanted to try barley. Ok, we do have barley pellets but I'm much better off with the enzyme/bacteria powder. That's all they ever use and it works. Well - I don't go down easily. I bought the powder AND two bags of pellets. I put the bags in the bio-filter near where the water runs out and we'll see if the water tunrs any clearer. I mean I can see the bottom just fine but it still looks like weak tea and the string algae is growing on the rocks.
I also bought a small pump to take water out and add some fresh stuff every once in a while. I can also use that pump for a small spray fountain. It's just a 500 gph job.
Anyway, I was really concerned about the heat and I'm a little relieved now that they claim it's OK. The fish will not cook.
:-)
Fred
Well Fred -"I don't go down easily" I'll bet you are a trip when you have made up your mind! It seems as though UV's are not all that expensive compared to barley straw after all. Wow! I had no idea.
Mary (for short)
Mary,
that was the most expensive straw in the world and I have no idea who would buy it at that price but the pellets were only around $14 and we'll see if they do anything to the pond. I must say things looked great without all the bubbles all over the place. That stuff is like magic.
Reading up on this foamy thing: "Most ponds with a waterfall or fountain have some foam or froth from normal water agitation. But if that foam keeps accumulating and does not dissipate, spreading like a white carpet across your pond, it may be a sign of an underlying problem with your pond's water conditions. These stubborn bubbles (white foam) are commonly due to an excess of dissolved organic compounds (DOCs) collecting in a slick along the water's surface. The DOCs can come from many sources including overfeeding, a buildup of fish waste, or decaying plant material. DOCs not only produce unsightly foam, the can also reach a level at which they become deadly to your fish." leaves me only one conclusion - the algae that is dying and leaving dead plant material all over the place is causing these DOCs. I can't think of any other reason but I do know that the sun helps the process. Today was an overcast day and there were few bubbles to be found and when I added the bottle of anti-foam stuff, they all went away immediately. The pond sure looks nice without the bubbles.
Fred
Fred
If you had wanted a spa with bubbles you would have put in a spa! Koi spas dont look good with bubbles. I am still struggling with some foam in the small goldfish pond. The koi pond is fine. But there is nothing fine about the weather. I have heaters running in both ponds and the pumps running as well. I can get the koi pond to 43. The goldfish pond being much, much smaller is at 52. We have until next Friday before we get any real reliefe from the worst and most prolonged cold and below freezing temps on record for this time of year.