I did not want to use an algicide, but the soup was thick and we had hair algae on the bottom. Nastiness. I feared the pond might go oxygen-short if we let it get worse. So I bit the bullet and did it. I keep running out to be sure the fish are ok, but we are getting some major muck in the skimmer, and thus far the fish are annoyed, but don’t seem to be in great discomfort. If they started to have trouble, we would have them out of there and into a barrel of fresh water so fast…
What got us was the difficulty we had with a couple of bad topoffs, where we overfilled (my fault). It got the water out of balance, re ph and alkalinity, and that guarantees an algae bloom if the other resources are present.
Bummer.
We’ll be checking up on them all evening, and I’ll be sleeping with my window open, so if the pump labors and slows down their aeration, I’ll hear it and get up and clean the filter.
I am on a program. Every 30 minutes, I go out and pitch the resultant foam with the garden scoop-thingie, which is convenient and keeps my hands out of it. I did see the fish moving about, so they’re doing all right. But this is going to be a long night.
well, good luck to you. And to the fishies.
This is on a par with the purple expanding waterfall foam. I tried to economize. I should have bought the auxiliary pump and floss and made a pot filter. I think I’m still going to have to do it. I have never seen such nastiness. THe fish are at the bottom of the pond refusing to budge.
Bummer indeed. Hope the fish were all QK overnight. I think you are right that this is “young pond syndrome” and that it will settle down in time, maybe after a hibernating winter(!)
Less sunlight on the water must surely be the final solution. Will your fish let more waterlilies grow? I guess you will ultimately have tree shade from sume of your young hopefuls. Of course that will lead to leaves in the water, and a permanent layer of scunge on the bottom … living ecosystems, so messy! No wonder we hygiene-crazy Americans have fetishized our pristine aquamarine-painted swimming pools .
Well, we’re gaining on it: it did kill a lot of algae, but it let everything settle to the bottom. We are terrorizing our fish with brooms—they are not happy—we are roiling up the stuff to get it into the filter, and I’ve got a 500 gallons per hour pot-filter running with fine filter material which will help. At this rate, in 10 hours, it will have cycled the entire pond. In addition, of course, to the skimmer filter, which cycles 900 gallons per hour. So in about 3 hours, we will have cycled our pond volume through.
Our fish are ok, but scared out of their minds and probably none too comfortable. I will do ANYTHING but use this stuff again if I can possibly help it.
We have water lilies, but they were being overwhelmed by the algae.
I do have a bottle of bacteria I will add when all this calms down.
I can only imagine what will confront the maintenence crew for Pell Station’s gardens…all those blithe Space Age accounts of hydroponic farms feeding and breathing the space folk neglect the considerable “ick” factor of biodomes.
You aren’t kidding. The only good thing you can say for green slime is it does cycle into biofuel; and at a production rate of 1500 square feet yielding 5 lbs of biomass every few hours, it’s pretty efficient.
I pity the poor character who comes from Space Academy with all those high ideals and who finds out what *really* goes on over in the technical sections…
I would not know what to do with a pond though I have been contemplating it this morning. Looking out my patio door…….a pond would look so nice though putting fish in it with all the neighborhood cats…..might not be a good thing. At least from the standpoint of the fish, the cats would love it.
My Mel is a house cat, don’t let her out, not in the middle of a city, she has never seen a real fish, one on tv that had her interest.
I love reading your journal. good thoughts coming your way and the fishes too!
I’d like to yield about 30 lbs of biomass, but it seems I’m doomed to stay at my current weight, unless I can work some of it off. 😀
Join the club.