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Ponds & Aquatic Plants

Algae on pond liner. Question....

16 years ago

Hello all. I have a 1300Gal pond and have a UV light running constantly. My water is pretty clear, but my problem is with the pond liner itself, its turning green from algae. Could this be because my UV is not strong enough or is something else causing this problem? Any help would be appreciated... thanks.

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Comments (12)

chrisl1976
16 years ago
I believe I read here somewhere your gonna get green algae on the liner no matter what kind of UV filter you have. Thats where fish come in....limit their feeding so they are forced to eat the algae in the pond.
ericnmel99
Original Author
16 years ago
Good point.... i do tend to spoil the fish. I feed them twice a day, mostly because they are growing and they eat like crazy when i feed them... Maybe i'll slow down the food and see what they do.
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curb1
16 years ago
Most feel that a layer of nice green algae on the pond liner is fine. Correct me if I am incorrect.
ccoombs1
16 years ago
a UV will only kill the algae that is in the water...not the algae that grows on the walls. The algae on the walls is perfectly normal and is also beneficial, so leave it there. It's supposed to be there.
christianme
16 years ago
Chris is correct if you try feeding them less it won't be long before you see them eating the algae off the sides of the liner.
okpondlady
16 years ago
Tell them to go eat some algea... and slow down on that feeding.
Feeding->pooping,
pooping->higher fertilizer in the water,
More fertilizer->more algea.

Have fun.
Karen
ericnmel99
Original Author
16 years ago
Thank you all..
jmorris271 Morris
16 years ago
Algea on the side of your pond is also host to your natural bio filter. Benificial bacteria reside in that algea. The worst thing people can do in their "clean up" is scrub that algea off.
Just my .02's.
albartsch
16 years ago
I know this has probably been answered, but I have a lot of algae and now I can't even see the fish through the green/brown water. I put in a uv filter and have two mechanical filters. Any other suggestions?
loma_ponder
16 years ago
albartsch,

The obvious question is coming; how long have you had your pond? I've seen people mentioned here and else where that a pond takes a year or more to mature. My pond has gone through three clear / green/ brown / clear cycles since I started it up in October.
{{gwi:195786}}

Sometimes it just takes time, and patience. Allow for the beneficial bacteria to catch up. Don't feed your fish for awhile, clean out any floating debris on your pond surface, check to see that your UV is working right (Not burnt out -UV loses a lot of its effectiveness when it runs through a heavy green sheet), and make sure your filters are free of build-up. And one day, you'll come out and BAM; it's clear.

LP
Steven Dyer
3 years ago
Just a quick one I have mixed goldfish and koi, how many water changes should you be doing
papnnana
3 years ago
What about String algae? That can't be good. 😬

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