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marni_gw

green water every 2 weeks

marni
16 years ago

Hello,

I've spent the last 2 hours reading about algae blooms.

I have a 3000 gallon pond. Bio balls and spheres in laundry mesh bags,savio string,Koi mat and batting in my filter. I have 2 55w Uv lights(one is supposed to handle 5000 gallons)( and the lights are ok) that I throttle flow thru so it will kill algae, and a waterfall 6 feet long.. I also have an areator that adds bubbles to the pond.I'm on well water and have tested pond consistantly for 2 years, no nitrate/nitrites, ph in safe levels, water soft. I have fish, tadpoles, and algae eating fish. I also had an awning built over the entire pond (11x16) to decrease the sunlight. I have anacharis and lillies(small), iris, and assorted other plants.

I can put in a complete change of water, and within 2 weeks I get algae bloom. I have tried algaeicide, barely straw and liquid(expensive) water clarifier, bio booster, pond activator. My fish eat all their food. I even took a water sample to the pet store for a "professional analysis", just in case the strips were crap.

So...I have all the components that should keep the water clear, yet after 2 weeks I consistently get algae blooms.

What I haven't had is PATIENCE. I did not spend thousands$$$ of dollars to look at green water! So after I can't stand it anymore,( I think I actually waited 4 days once-) I drain the entire pond down to like ankle level and refil with clean water. I do not scrub the pond. I will wait a week this time even though it's killing me. I'm hoping the algae will run out of food and kill itself, and/or the dead algae will make it's own antibiotic which will kill itself...This is really frustrating.

BTW green water only bothers me not the fish or plants

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