The suspended algae might or might not be caused by the fertilizer. Sometimes there is just the right amount of nutrients and light in a pond to make it go green. This is especially true of new ponds and ponds that have just been through a spring cleanout. I just put a new liner in my pond this spring, resulting in thick pea soup algae. I struggled with it for weeks, fussing and fretting about the fact that my pond is on a tour this weekend and I didn't want my guests and potential new ponders to be turned off by the nasty looking water. Finally, even though I'm not an advocate of putting additives in the pond, I bought a product called "Eco-Floc" and added it to the water. Within minutes, I coudl see the suspended particles binding together. To avoid having this stuff go to my filter, where it would rot and cause another algae bloom, I wrapped quilt batting around my skimmer mat to catch it. I had to rinse it out every couple of hours that first day, but the pond cleared up completely overnight. And to keep it clear, I bought a U.V. Clarifier. I know that's a dirty word to some, but I like to see my fish. The water is now gin clear and I'm ready for the tour.

Pepto Bismol too funny. Horton I don't understand your S.W.M.B.O. abbreviation--assume it's your wife. It's like texting which I don't do although my daughter texts a mile a minute. The stuff I mentioned came from a health food store and no I didn't buy it as was way too pricey. I checked the health food store out as know they carry "weird" stuff. Anything from a health food store is way over priced which is why I don't go there. If you find a CD source for the real deal let me know--. I did order some from fishsempai. Andrew waived the shipping costs as I order ProGold from him all the time. I also got my wakins from him 4 or 5 years ago. He no longer carries them as the wakins he had from whatever breeder he orders from had those lumpy growths. Some of mine had those as well. He said he had lanced some and removed some but they just come back. Are a genetic defect on wakins. Won't kill the fish and aren't contagious just ugly. He sells koiclay at $29.95 for a 5 lb box. I know David will freak at that but in CD you only have some options for some stuff. Gotta take my daughter to work.

Judy, Firstly glad you posted the photo of the pond planted. It is gorgeous and the shape is wonderful. You have planted beautifully around the pond, and the entire pond looks very natural. Firstly, our pond is 3 1/2 feet deep in the big section and the rest is about 2 foot deep. None of our rocks are mortared in. We move them around like furniture. :) Especially as the plants grow and cover our favorite rocks....and yes, the heave and hoe through the winter and some fall into the pond. Cliff does spend a day every spring in the pond, arranging them and moving plants around the rocks. You'll need waders for sure, to do this task, as the water is cold in early spring. I don't like mortared rocks, to me it takes away the natural look. You have plenty of room for pond plantings, so on the 7-8" shelves just place big rocks on them. I think I mentioned that we plant a lot of stuff bare root in the rocks (no pot) and they do very well. Just the rocks on the shelves are holding them in place. We plant taro, umbrella palm. water Iris, parrot feather, horsetail rush to name a few, and they are all planted bare root. Actually the only thing we plant in pots (in the pond) is lilies. The other thing we plant in pots is lotus (the lotus is planted outside the pond) Getting back to the shelves. I was delighted to see directly in front of the pond a section that looks to me to be a natural beach section where you can sit and feed and admire your fish. The only problem I see is the walls are slanted in this area. You could place flat slate type rocks up the sides and at the top overhand the big rocks on the ground slightly. The other thing you can do is plant English Ivy in that area next to the beach. That would cascade over the beach wall and look very good. Warning: it can be invasive and doesn't like to share space, so you have to keep it contained and trimmed in the specific area you want it. Another option is Vinca vine, it is another beautiful cascading vine and shares space well with other plants. Here is the beach section. Just use big rocks and get rid of all the small pebbles, as the fish grow the dig in the rocks and move them around. For perspective...Notice the little blue frog on the right, and see the same frog in the other beach section. Here is another shot of the beach, showing the right section. Notice the English Ivy ...I think that would look well on the sloped sides of your pond. If you look on the right side, it is a shelf that goes down about 15" the rocks on the shelf are built up to above ground level a little. This is a blow up of the dog leg section...again the shelves go down below the water level about 15-16" and again we pile up the rocks to ground level and beyond. This is what You can do on the edges of your pond shelves, even the one that is deep like the 40" shelf, build rocks up to the pond edge to create plant pockets, and the rest of the remaining shelf (the part under the water) just place large rocks and stones on it, under the water. I hope this is clear. This is the shelf in the dog leg section of our pond (I blew up a photo for a close-up) It's from this past June. the 'shelf' goes down about 15" below the water line. These photos are from June 08, notice the lotus...it is planted in a big pot that is sunk into the ground, so that the lotus looks like it's in the pond. again, dog leg section. Keep in mind, once you take out all those small pebbles, you'll have lots of pebbles for paths and to fill in areas around the pond. :) Your pond is beautiful, and now you'll have all winter to do some arm chair planning, as well as rock hunting. We bought a few tons of flat rocks, however all the round rocks you see, we hunted for...oh my aching back! Joann

Hi Vinci The dosage recommended by Willard is a good "maintenance" level. BTW that should be a per week dosage. Dosage will depend on the amount and intensity of sunshine in your area. I usually mix one Tbsp. of H2O2 per cup of water then pour it over my medium (I use lava rocks and the drip technique). This helps control the algae growth on top of the medium. I have not observed any adverse affects on my plants (tomatoes and peppers) doing this. Some plants may be more sensitive so observe any changes if any if you do this. If you have algae on your roots already you might want to soak your roots in plain water with an H2O2 level of 1000 - 1500 PPM for a day or two then replace it with your usual nutrient solution. I've done this with my tomato plants and it seemed to have worked. Oh and be sure to thoroughly clean out your pot and soak it in an algaecide. The kind of algaecide to use is discussed on previous threads in this forum. Not sure what you meant by "flow through" in your previous message. I'm guessing it means using an open system where the nutrient is passed through the plant and is then discarded along with any free floating algae. My opinion is this in unnecessary.