hi my pond water looks like it has green tea leafs in it and it is staring to get that i can not see the bottom of pond as befor it was clear i have changed the UV bulb about 4 to 6 weeks ago tests on water are good i have just got sturgen and using sinking food which seems to turns to dust after about 1 hour in the water
i have a filter with the foam filters and i am getting like a light brown slim on the top foam filter if there is some thing i have to put in the water i have to think about the sturgen as thay not like most treatments
if the UV bulb as gone how can i tell ?

hanks

If I remember correctly, you have a lot of large (or potentially large) fish? If so, it's not suprising that your water would become green and not so pristine.

Since you recently changed the UV bulb, perhaps it's not seated correctly or got some smudges on it. You might want to check it. Don't look directly into the UV light but you can check to see if it's on by removing the cover while it's on just enough to see if light comes out. How well the UV lamp works (when it is on) depends on how it's positioned and how clean the bulb is. Older lamps don't emit as much radiation. Was your new bulb the exact same kind as the old one?

You should not use sinking food that falls apart. Either remove uneaten food after say 30 minutes or use a kind of food that holds together longer. The fats and oils in the fish food will increase the DOC in the water which can result in foaming or oily stuff on the surface. That may be part of the brown slime, or that could just be debris or dead algae.

My page on algae is http://www.fishpondinfo.com/plants/algae2.htm
There are a number of natural treatments for algae - good filtration, good bacteria, lots of plants, barley straw, etc.

I think that in your case, the problems are the size and quanitiy of the fish themselves and that fish food fouling the water. A larger filter could help short term.

thanks will look into the bulb and will get some other food tetra pond do some for sturgeon fod but could not find the food in a big boxs only the smaler tubs my email tetra
i have a floting net for my pond to stop the cats and the like did have the green fur like algae on them but as if by magic it as gone well all most do u get more algae when it rains ? as rain water got any thing to do with algae here in england we have had floods in some places so had a lot of rain

thanks for all your help

An algae bloom can result after rain especially if the rain washes in dirt, mulch, fertilizers, etc. from around the pond. The added nutrients and minerals help the algae to grow. If during a rain, there were no run off at all, then rain water which is virtually distilled water, would actually dilute the nutrients in the pond.