Hi,
Congrats on your new pond! Here is a link to the best article i've seen on getting rid of algae.

http://skippysstuff.com/fmbest.htm

In a nutshell, patience is key at this time. Nothing is broken; nature is filling the void of plants in your pond with one of her favorites - algae. Once your other plants get going, and microbes and bacteria have time to get established in your filter material, your pond will find balance.

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How long does it take for the bacteria to start to work.I am now putting the bacteria in now once a week. Should I put more in or what? In the mornings, you can see the first shelf in the pond but as the day gets hotter the water just looks like its gets thicker green. I haven't clean my skippy but i have clean the skimmer filter because it has like green slim on it. The fish are doing fine and the water hyanicths have double their size in a week.

Just wait. Seems like mother nature can be coaxed but not pushed too fast. It may take a few weeks for a cycle to be complete. That green water is feeding your plants and probably keeping the water temp cooler filtering sunlight.It took my pond 4-5 weeks to cycle and that was without adding any baccteria or anything. have fun when it clears youll be so amazed.

Waiting has been the hardest part of the of the pond project.Should I put in more plants or just wait it out? The temp this week here has been 95 to 103 all week so I know that ain't helping none.

How are are your hyacinths doing? Healthy hyacinths should be growing rapidly at this time of year. They should be doubling their mass every two to three weeks. They should be a vibrant green. The plant tops should be robust, with compact root structures. They should have lots of plantlets sprouting from the plants.

If the above description doesn't sound like your plants, it is likely that your pond is deficient in potash, nitrogen, or maybe iron. If your pond is missing any one of these nutrients, the hyacinths cannot process phosphates, which is likely the nutrient that is currently in surplus. Phosphate equals algae.

Since you have very few fish for the size pond you have, the fish aren't contributing significant nutrients to the pond. The nutrients you do have likely came from the water you filled your pond with. Water nutrients vary widely from one water source to another. We fill our ponds with the water we have, but sometimes it is necessary to make adjustments if the water contains too much phosphate, or too little potash, iron, or even nitrogen.

Take a good look at your hyacinths. They are good indicators of the nutrient status of your pond. Check for the things mentioned at the beginning of this post and let me know how they are doing.

If the hyacinths are doing really well, you might need to add some more. Twenty-five plants isn't that many in a 3,800 gallon pond. Many ponders are now composting excess plants, so you might be able to find a ponder in your area that will give you a bunch.

Hi,

At this time you are probably thinking about doing a water change to clear the water up.. don't.. you will just start the cycle over again. The new water will be clear, then *BAM* another algae bloom.

If you absolutely have to do something at this point go to wal-mart and buy all the quilt batting they have. Place it under the falls so the water goes through it. You will have to change the batting every 10 minutes or so from now til October, or until your bloom is over. Seriously, quilt batting will give the water a nice polish but should only be used when the algae is under control. I wouldn't do it now because you could go broke.

Don't change he water :)
Dont' add chemicals :)
Don't clean the bio-filter :)

Do be patient :)
Do keep the skimmer mechanical filter cleaned :)
Do enjoy the swamp-thing color and attempt to replicate it in a mint julep :)
Do predict the day your pond will turn crystal clear. Assuming your pond is 3 weeks old, I predict that day will be on September 9. At 10:12 a.m.

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