Yep it's algae but it's alled cyanobacteria because it's a strange combination of plant and animal. And yep it really is a bacteria. It's also called blue-green algae. Sometimes it's green and sometimes it's reddish brown in color. It can get really thick and bubbles form in it. I've seen it several inches thick with so many bubbles forming and popping that it sounds like a giant bowl of Rice Crispies. Controlling the phosphorus level in your pond will keep it down, calcium bentonite sprinkled on top of it will slowly kill it and a lot of floating plants will also keep it down. Floating plants like water hyacinth, pennywort, watercress, bogbeans, yellow monkey flower. Anything that has a massive root system that floats. Lily pads don't count as floating plants. As for beneficial bacteria? Well it seems that somewhere down the line somebody started a rumor that beneficial bacteria kills algae and does all kinds of other strange things. The beneficial bacteria does two things and of course there are two separate types. The first type eats ammonia (fish poop) and excretes NITRITES. The second type eats nitrites and excretes NITRATES. This cycle converts poop into plant food. That is the ONLY thing that the beneficial bacteria do. Nothing else.

Re: "The only plants with soil are the lotus & lilies & there's no holes in the bottom of the pots. The others are in gravel with landscaping fabric lining the holes in bottom of pot." When I rebuilt my pond this year I repotted all my aquatic plants by removing and washing off all the soil and then planting them into peagravel (in baskets). Some of the plants I put directly into a section of peagravel in the pond (no baskets). Its been 3 months now, and everything is so slow... very little growth. I was starting to think that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. With the fish chomping away on the roots of the floaters, and then the lilies and mariginals hardly growing and providing very little coverage, I'm also battling with water thats too warm and lots of algae. (Geez... I wish the fish would eat all that algae and leave the roots alone!!) Anyways, I was starting to think this was a bad idea, when I talk to the guy at the pond shop/nursery who told me that putting the plants in peagravel is the new way of thinking and is actually much better in the long run as the plants are truly hydroponic. He said I might not get much leaf and flower growth this year, but the roots are getting established and are getting used to taking the nutrients from the water instead of soil. (I can see the roots have grown alot when I lift up the baskets). Next year and the future years, I should have good growth, and the plants will be strong with much larger blooms than if I had left them in soil. So perhaps it just takes some time and patience... its definetely frustrating. I rebuilt my pond this spring and I can't wait for it to look more filled in (even just a bit more..)... sometimes is embarrassing when people see the new pond and all I have are piddly plants and lots of algae....

Hawkie, I hate to give advice. Most people like to buy lots of filters and "stuff" to add to a pond and make it as complex as possible although they always say they want simple solutions. Not judging you, just seems to be human nature, my self included. Algae is complex. We think of it as one or two things, green water and string. You're pond looks to be very healthy, with many types of algae. If you think there is going to be one solution and that it will work for long periods of time you will never find a solution. Causes many a ponder to fill in a pond. Look at it like weeding a garden and you will have some successes from time to time. I don't know your pond, just the pictures posted here. I'm no expert, there are none. That I have learned. Anyone who tells you they know how to clear your pond is talking out their bottom drain. I see two basic routes, water garden and pond. Of course you can mix the two and change course from time to time. Mixing it up can keep it more interesting. One route is to keep it natural and hope for the best. You'll see many cycles. You will have lots of insects which I think are cool. I call this a water garden. Nothing wrong with 12" of muck on the bottom as long as the fish load is not super high. Koi generally mean high load, goldfish not so much. Koi in a water garden, I don't see it. Possible for sure, but hard. The other route is pond This just means (to me) a water garden with a clean bottom. That almost always means cleaning by hand. It is possible to design a pond that moves muck to a mechanical filter, but that's pretty rare. Mechanical filters are also rarely cleaned. If a ponder isn't welling to clean a pond by hand once a week they're also unlikely to clean a mechanical filter once every few days or as needed. My self included. Cleaning a pond is not something you do, it's something you keep doing. Like mowing the lawn only messier and smellier. The key is to find tools and tricks you enjoy. If you don't like cleaning a pond you won't keep doing it. Don't aim for spotless on the first few cleanings, it isn't going to happen. The goal is to remove stuff faster than it is produced, and it can be produced at an amazing rate. Macro algae, stuff you can feel, is your friend. But a friend that tends to get drunk and stay too long. Remove what you can by hand weekly or so. Rakes, simple wooden sticks, hand if you can reach, whatever works. Don't try to remove it all. Don't try to kill it unless you want a swimming pool type pond. Use nets or venturi type vacuums to remove large stuff from the bottom. Leaves, sticks, algae. This will stir up the bottom and make things way worst. I've never had a lot of big Koi so I'll offer no advice on the dangers of stirring up the bottom. I've never seen a die off of goldfish even in water stirred up so bad you'd call it mud. I mean real want to puke mess. If you've seen ponds where goldfish and prize winning Koi are grown you'll understand the type of water they prefer and clear isn't it. At least a day later, after the water has settled a bit, you go after the finer muck. Shop vac works and variations, but basically something that removes water along with the muck. See my web site for suggestions. This will draw down the water maybe a foot or so. Just right for a normal water change. Two birds with one vacuum. You can also just use a net to scoop the bottom. Finer and finer mesh. It takes longer but works and might be easier overall. Just keep at it. Daily or even a few times a day. At some point you'll notice the stuff being removed is larger bits, less like fine silt. You now have a clean pond. There may still be a lot of suspended fine matter, keep cleaning, you will win. Now an interesting thing may happen. All the advice you get in pond chats, or at least some of it, will start to become true. Insects and bacteria will start to have an effect. The myth part is that bacteria and insects can turn a not clean pond into a clean (spotless) pond. Once the muck load is very, very low, what we'd call spotless, bacteria can have an impact. Plus weekly cleaning stirs the water spreading O2. Less suspended stuff means more sunlight getting throughout the pond. That allows what I guess could be good stuff (bacteria and algae) growing. Although unseen they'll help you. You'll start to see something you've maybe never seen before when you scoop, fish poo. Fish poo breaks down real fast, like 5 days. By break down I mean into tiny particles that suspends in water and reduces clarity. This stuff doesn't really disappear, at least on a time scale we'd like. It just gets smaller and smaller. Easier to scoop one tiny turd than 6 billion particles. When you're scooping fish poo you have reached nirvana. Do all this and you'll have clear water? No. I it will increase your chances of having clear water and for longer periods. Once a pond is spotless mechanical filters start to be useful. They're worthless otherwise. UV filters also become more effective. UV will kill single cell algae, but that's only one aspect of clear water. If you want absolutely crystal clear water now is the time for fabric filters, sand filters and the such. For that scum floating on the surface I just scoop it. Dip a cup so it just breaks the surface tension and the scum pulls into the cup. Takes less time than it sounds. And generally I haven't seen it come back. The white foam stuff, scoop out. I'm guessing you have a waterfall or something that breaks the surface. The foam is just dirt. Search for foam fractionating or protein skimming for more info if you like. I enclose waterfalls where it enters the pond. That contains the foam and keeps the surface still for better viewing. I've seen Koi pond keepers string a floating rope around a falls entrance to do the same thing. Streams I think do lots of things. I think because of the shallow water movement they create an environment for bacteria and other algae that may fight with the other algae. See Norm Meck experiments. Don't... Never drain a pond to clean. Once a year? No, never. Once every ten years? No, never. It does no good and kills fish. Anyone who tells you a pond must be drained to be cleaned has absolutely no understanding of ponds or water gardens. Maybe to remove a specific known disease, but that's it. Don't buy bacteria in a jar, flocculants, dyes or anything else in a jar for cleaning water. I know for a fact none of these work. I know this because if any of them did it would be the only one on the market, sell for $100 a bottle and we'd be happy to pay the price. It would come up as the first 7 million hits in a Google search for "clean pond". It would be the only thing you'd hear in pond chats. Same with barley straw, animal sacrifice, and praying to deities (they have better things to do). Chemicals like baking soda and such to fix known problems, sure.

I think I am still a big kid as well. I love going on the swings at the playground and when the little fair comes to Lotherton Hall I go into the teacups as they are like little waltzers for children. Luckily I have the grandchildren to make it look 'normal'. As to our other problem we have now signed up with another company and have asked Streamline to pass over our details which of course they have not so now we have had to ask the new host to get the details for us but I don't understand all that. Sonny deals with everything. He is trying to recreate my website but of course all the work that I had done will have to be started again and it took ages to do. Tomorrow I am going to Citizens advice to see how we stand in getting some of our money back so I will keep you informed. I can't believe it really and just hope that people won't have deserted us but will look again in a week or so and find us back up and running. Kew Gardens is so expensive for it's entrance fee. I thought Castle Howard was dear at about £7 last time. They will soon price themselves out of ordinary peoples pockets. I know they have wages to pay etc but it puts us off going. I am lucky that at Lotherton Hall and Temple Newsam estate it is free. You pay to go round the house and at Lotherton you pay £3.50 parking but I have a yearly ticket which pays for itself if you go more often than 4 times a year.It also entitles me a free visit into the house every time I go. It is lovely there with a deer park, bird garden, pond and formal gardens and a playground for the children. Both houses are about £3.00 entrance fee and at Temple newsam there is a rare breed farm, lakes, rose garden, woodland walks and open land. Capability Brown made the gardens at the price of £2000 I think and had originally put in more lakes in the plans but they only did 2. I think they ran out of money.