poorly pond

[roadkill]

Help my pond has gone green and looks very ill , i have two fish so far . Due to the bad winter we had on the plot i was unable to get down in the harsh of it and the pond froze over killing about 30 frogs could this be the problem? i did remove the ones i could get but this is a very deep pond .

Is there anything i can put in the pond like chemicals or a battery operated pump

[Two_Sheds]

The green is because it's in full sunlight, I'm guessing?

It's the same with our school pond, it's a nightmare. It should've been planted on the shady side of the garden. Can you plant anything in or around it to shade it some more?

That won't help your frogs though: a frog pond ideally needs to be a metre deep in the middle

[Potstubsdustbins]

I think 2 sheds is right about the sunlight.

As to a pump I have just installed a solar powered air pump to my pond I will give it a week and post how it performs.

I have also just today treated the pond with barley straw extract again I will post the results when they become apparent.

Colin

[blackkitty]

Buy a bag of watercress, place some in a jar of water for a few days until it starts rooting and then throw in the pond. This will clear the pond and help it 'cope' with the decaying matter. It also makes a good hiding place for wildlife. You do need to keep it under control once it really gets going. I just pull loads out every now and again.

[Shadylane]

Ooh I like this idea. Our lottie pond is in the sun and despite planting oxygenating plants in there it still looks like pea soup. The plants I've put in either don't flourish or die - the one we have at home is doing much better despite being a year younger. Might give it a try.

[purplekat]

That won't help your frogs though: a frog pond ideally needs to be a metre deep in the middle

This is a really good blog about ponds - wildlife ponds ideally only want to be 25-35cm deep and very gradually sloping

How deep should your pond be? « The Garden Pond Blog

Another vote here for watercress to help clear the water

[roitelet]

Chemicals NO!!!!!!!! They kill everything even though the labels say they don't. Be patient, my pond is now 7 years old and seems have sorted its self out. Add waterlilies and other plants to shade the surface. Barley straw works but takes time. I haven't been able to get straw so I have used barley in net bags and this seems to keep the alge under control. It will probably never be crystal clear but will cease to look like peasoup.

[Alex_Parrott]

Hey, my pond is just about three maybe four months old and has naturally balanced itself out. like Roitelet I would advise staying clear of chemicals as there is no need. Make sure you have a good combination of oxygenators and marginals and eventually the pond will see itself through. Hanging BArley straw in the water I heard works well to take away the algae but then essentially you are taking away a food source.

[lizzylemon]

water lillys are ace at keeping the green water at bay but you need to sink them in the middle, they love deep water. Water cress is good but goes mad and causes it's own problems

[TEB]

Chemicals NO!!!!!!!! .

So what do you think happens when you put Barley Straw in the pond, it breaks down and you then have hydrogen peroxide, an alternative is a UV lamp/pump but these can get expensive depending on the size of the pond.

I used to use a UV lamp and the pond was crystal clear despite very little plant matter and about 90 fish. I finally gave away/culled the fish and then the pump packed up, so I have filled it with water lillies and a barley straw bale (bought from Morrison not an aquatic shop) and while it stills get a bit of algae/blanket weed it isnt too bad and on the last count there are 7 smooth newts, quite a few frogs, lots of dragonfly larvae but not too many tadpoles left because of the newt and dragonfly predation.

[evvy2]

I would avoid chemicals too. I might try the watercress myself.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Whoops forgot about reporting back.

Solar powered pond air pump works well in bright sunlight only.

Barley straw extract made no difference whats so ever.

Colin

[endymion]

We found barley straw extract worse than useless, but several blocks or bags of barley straw do work, although it can take a few weeks to make a difference. It's interesting to fish them out every now and then too, to see what's living in them. They're a great place for tadpoles to hide, and various damselfly and dragonfly larvae.

Ours is a wildlife pond, 4m x 3m and about a metre deep at the deepest, which should be deep enough not to freeze completely in even the worst of weather, and it gives newts etc somewhere deep to hide from the local herons.

It's full of 'native' plants too, some we got quite cheaply from an auction site.

Solar powered pond air pump works well in bright sunlight only.

Barley straw extract made no difference whats so ever.

Our pond is too far from the house for electricity without all sorts of extra gizmoes, so we've thought of buying one of these things but haven't been sure if they actually work.

[Potstubsdustbins]

As I say they work in bright sunlight at full tilt and the two air stones do a decent job. However when a cloud comes over you can hear the pump die away and 20 minutes after the direct sunlight as left the solar panel its full stop until the next time.

Colin.

[dave_norm_smith]

Hi

I have a three thousand gallon, 6 foot deep pond, which sits alot of the day in full sun. The only way you will truely get clear water is a large pump running through some sort of filter ( you need to turn the water over about every 1-2 hours) and a UV light, again suitable to the gallonage of the pond. The UV causes the algae to clump together into larger particles which are then removed via the filter. I can help with diagrams of the set up I have at home if you need further info. However this is a very clinical pond so it depends what you are trying to achieve as this type of set up is not really a 'wildlife' type. Incidentally if you do have water lilies try and find out there names, if you throw the wrong one into deep water you'll never see it again, to grow and flower they need to be set at their right planting depths.

Dave