Green Pond Water
Green Pond Water Causes & SolutionsServing Lexington & Central Kentucky
Pond Filtration Overview
No Lexington / Central Kentucky (KY) pond owner wants to look out their window and see green or tea-colored water in their backyard pond, which is why creating a healthy low-maintenance ecosystem, is so important. Low-maintenance water features incorporate adequate filtration.
In addition to plants, fish, aeration, rocks and gravel, a low-maintenance ecosystem pond requires adequate filtration to help keep the water crystal clear. Three types of pond filters are available on the market and include biological, mechanical, and sterilizers.
Biological filters use bacteria to break down pond wastes, converting them into less harmful compounds that can be used as aquatic plant fertilizers. Mechanical filters trap and remove debris and sediment.
Water sterilizers pass water through a tube that houses an ultraviolet bulb, killing living microscopic particles in the water.
A good biological filtration system, teamed with a proper mechanical filter to remove solids before the water enters the biological filtration unit, is the most effective way to filter water. With adequate biological and mechanical filtration, the need for sterilizers is eliminated altogether, thereby ensuring a natural ecosystem pond.
Read More about the Ecosystem Pond..
Plants , Gravel, And Beneficial Bacteria. For many of our customers the solution to having a clear and healthy pond is as simple as retrofitting their pond with the 3 of the primary components of a full ecosystem Pond. Aquatic Plants in the Big Picture In the big picture, aquatic plants are a necessary and essential part of a naturally balanced aquatic ecosystem. If plants are excluded from a water garden the entire ecosystem is thrown out of whack. Plants use the excess nutrients in the pond to grow, thereby stealing them from the algae, essentially preventing it from growing.
In the pond/water features context, a pond without plants is…
– A pond without sufficient oxygen
– A pond without happy and healthy fish
– A pond without aerobic (good) bacteria
– A pond without the ability to break down waste products
– A pond without naturally crystal clear water
– A pond without the ability to inhibit algae growth, and
– A pond that most resembles a pot of green pea soup
Gravel and Bacteria In Your Pond.
“I have cleaned my pond before and the sludge in the bottom is Awful. How in the world will adding gravel make my pond easier to Maintain”. We get this question at least once a week in the Spring of the year. The bottom line is that adding gravel to your pond bottom increases the surface area your beneficial have to seed and help break down this sludge debris and fish waste.
“Ponds with a Gravel bottom are Easier to clean than a Bare Liner Pond”. You can quote me on that, we perform over a hundred Pond Cleanouts every Spring and all things equal a gravel bottom pond will have less sludge and debris than a bare liner pond.
Using Beneficial Bacteria
Simply adding gravel is simply not enough. You have to help your pond along by consistently adding Beneficial Bacteria. Sometimes your pond will turn green again soon after you clean it out and add gravel. However, persistence and patience will over come your frustrations in the end.
UV Clarifiers & Pressurized Filters
For some ponds the fish load or surrounding environment simply make the Ecological approach to clearing your water take too long. So if the steps above don’t work after 6-8 weeks of persistence or you are simply too impatient to wait on Mother Nature then a UV Clarifier is the way to go.
A well-balanced pond ecosystem rarely has problems with green water, but any water feature, when out of balance, might require you to resort to artificial means to control algae blooms. This is where UV clarifiers come in handy. Their main purpose is to clear the water and get rid of those nasty algae blooms that cause green water. But remember, UV clarifiers only get rid of the single-celled, floating algae. It does not get rid of other forms of algae such as string or blanket algae.
How They Work
In a nutshell, they do their job by using an extremely high output ultra violet bulb that is protected by a crystal sleeve. These bulbs are designed to emit light (energy) waves that are out of the spectrum of visible light.
So what does this mean? The particular wavelength of light that the bulb emits is harmful when it comes in contact with things around it. So when organisms such as bacteria, parasitic protozoa, and algae cells come in contact with the light from the bulb, their DNA is altered, ultimately causing harm and death to the organism. In essence, they are “nuked.”
Generally, bacteria and algae are pretty sensitive to UV light, and a short exposure is all it takes to “nuke” them. This would be a good job for a UV clarifier.
Now let’s talk about things that affect the efficiency of the bulb. Generally speaking, although the bulb may still emit light, it is only effective at killing algae for about 8 to 12 months. The cleanliness of the water and of the crystal sleeve also influence the effectiveness of the bulb – the dirtier the water and sleeve, the less the UV light will be able to come into contact with the nuisance organisms. To prevent sludge and lime build up, the sleeve can be cleaned with a mild detergent, followed by a rinse of clean water.