Dirty Pond

We have a pond at our house that is terrible. Had it cleaned out about 8 years ago. It is loaded with algae. I have an aerator in it. It is about 8 feet deep at deepest point. Don"t know what to do to clear up the water. Has to be something to put in it to make the water clean looking, instead of the green color. Any one know how to fix this?

We baled barley straw for that purpose this year. Google barley straw algae, and see what you think.

Grass carp may help. They don't reproduce in ponds. Neighbor put 4 in his 10 years ago and it still looks good.

Gary

I may be mistaken, (generally am,) but it's my understanding that the green or blue color that the water turns when it is treated, blocks the sunlight and that is what kills the algae. Personally, I would settle for a green or blue pond rather than one infested with algae.

That might be pretty shallow this summer as hot as it has been.

Last few years we anchored 2 or 3 small straw bales close to the shore in our trout pond, seems to clean it right up.

Copper sulfate. I work in the water works industry and its what we use.

I have two small 150 gallons each plastic fish tanks connected with a 20 ft rubber lined stream with a pick up load of septic rock in the stream in the front yard.

The water in my little fish tanks stays clear only because I have a small pump pulling water out of the lower tank and sending it up the the upper tank. The water bubbles down a water fall, into the stream and into the lower tank.

If my pump fails, my fish will die because lack of oxygen. If you have sun light and water that's not moving, you will have green stuff, fact of nature.

I get a lot of long green stuff growing on the septic rock, mother nature way of keeping the water clean. That said, I've seen water gardens with lots of green stuff, because the water is just sitting there.

Rural King sells a windmill with an air pump to add air to ponds, but it's $1300.

George

couple bales of barley straw might help. water usually needs to be circulated over the straw.

(quoted from post at 22:41:54 07/19/12) We have a pond at our house that is terrible. Had it cleaned out about 8 years ago. It is loaded with algae. I have an aerator in it. It is about 8 feet deep at deepest point. Don"t know what to do to clear up the water. Has to be something to put in it to make the water clean looking, instead of the green color. Any one know how to fix this?

Click to expand...

aybe a dumb question, but mother nature put it there, so what is the harm that you perceive it doing?

i keep about 12 grass carps in mine and keep putting aqua shade in it.keeps it oh so nice.
RICK

grass carp don't eat algae,only weeds.

Too shallow

My experience and what I have been told, for what its worth....

Grass Carp like weeds and grass. The last thing they will eat is algae. Found that out early on.

As someone else mentioned, 8ft seems a bit shallow for this heat. Warm water is not helping. Not sure if your aerator is bottom based or a surface type fountain. Bottom is better. I battle it in my shallow end even though I have a bottom based aeration system at the 25 ft deep end. Sometimes, like now in a heat wave, I run a shore mounted pump that spits water out in the shallow end (a poor mans fountain...) just to help that end out and keep the top moving

Copper sulfate does work. Surface applied through a sprayer seems to work for me.

The blue type dye filters sunlight and helps prevent submerged weed growth. Not sure, but sounds like your algae growth is surface. I use the blue stuff in February or March before the grass carp get active. At least for me, using it at only half the recommended dose seems to work. I do that because I don't care for the artificial blue look.

Algae loves fertilizer. Livestock produce a lot of fertilizer. So does your neighbor who fertilizes his lawn. Look at the ground area that drains to your pond and see what is draining there.

Is your pond site wooded? Leaves that make it to the bottom and decompose add to the algae problem.

I know I haven't given many solutions here, but maybe finding the source will help. My solution is catch the algae when it first starts and keep at it with the copper sulfate in a garden sprayer. I prefer the liquid type products - your choice and what works may be different.

If the water is just a green color and not a surface mat of algae, you have a different issue. I think that is called an algae bloom? Can't help you on that - have not had that one yet.

Good Luck

Tony

My pond is 8 feet at it's deepest point. Had a problem for first few years with algae and weeds. Got a few sterile carp and no problems with it for years.
Richard

google barley straw treatment for algae and follow directions. can substitute wheat straw with good results, whole bales don't work very well.

I see a couple problems that I fight with constantly. My pond is only 5 foot deep at it's deepest point. (They stopped digging at 5 ft because it was solid rock and the owner at that time did not want to pay for blasting it deeper) Anyway I use Aquashade to darken the water to keep the algae from growing up from the bottom. I also have several grass carp. For algae that turns the water green I use copper sulfate. I place the crystals in a burlap bag and use a john boat with a electric motor to drive around the pond. Before I had the boat, I threw it a handful at a time while walking around the edge of the pond. It takes about 15 pounds for a 1 acre pond that is 4 foot deep. It can be purchased at TSC, but I go to a agriculture supply store and buy it in 50 pound bags for about half the price that TSC sells it.

We have very good results with Princep 90..

Copper Sulphate is our last resort (expensive)..

Does anyone know of a source for BLUE DYE..???

There must be a source for Blue food coloring that is cheaper than that at TSC...
Let us KNOW where to find it..!!

Ron..