3 days with the UV lite on and I can now see the whole side shelf of the pond( 6 inches from the surface). My 5 remaining goldfish have been on a spawning/feeding frenzy and we've got a frog in the waterfall!! Also with checking the ph 3 times a day, there has been NO change..the range stays at 7-7.5. :rolleyes: I did notice one small string of 'solid' poop floating, but they were all up with me at the surface so that's a wait-n-see.

I'm glad things are improving.

My pond now has a lot of coverage from water lettuce. I was fertilizing yesterday and dropped a few pills. When I do, I just push the plants aside, and I can see clearly to the bottom once things stop moving. It's easy to take clear water for granted.

Looks like most people use the UV light for their ponds, is that something that once started you have to continue?

I check my ph in my pond am and pm and the am ph is about 7.0 to 7.5 and the pm ph is between 8.0 and 8.5. I am not adding any ph lower now and am getting these results. Now, we have had some cloudy days so I am not sure what will happen when we get the sun blazing down but my guess is that it will go up. I did change the soil in one of my pond plants and replaced it with some aquatic media that I had leftover so I don't know if that was causing my ph trouble.

I am jealous of you guys and can't wait for my pond to "settle down".

Ok now, I gotta ask :unsure:

I see posts about poop :rolleyes: , what's up with that? Sadiemay says that "I did notice one small string of 'solid' poop floating, but they were all up with me at the surface so that's a wait-n-see. " what does she mean by floating?
Is that a sign of trouble??

When I first got an aquarium ( first time in my life ) I went nutso checking the water chemistry. I finally settled down to watching the fish poop. Both me and the fish finally settled down when I started doing that. ( Robyn has pages on fish poop ).

Speaking of water clarity, Robyn;

Mine is the same, very clear water.

My question is; now that algae/water clarity is under control, do I continue adding maintenance doses of beneficial bacteria, and barley?

Thanks,
John

I've never had a UV light. My pond is clear. I think that most people who start using them don't stop.

If fish waste has a lot of gas in it, it floats. Gassy waste tends to indicate digestive woes that may be problems alone or part of general ill health.

I have multiple pages on fish poo? That's news to me! I didn't know I had even one page on poo. I may mention a sentence here or there. Where are these fecally pages?

Even if a pond is clear, you should continue with the natural methods of control to reduce chances of the algae returning. That means continue with lots of plants, good filtration, good bacteria, and barley straw. Even if algae is not a factor, those things all have their benefits for the pond. Barley straw's may not be as evident. It provides refuge for microscopic animals, fry, and bacteria and may help feed microorganisms.

Thanks Robyn.

Robyn wrote:

I tend to agree. My feelings are a pond having excess suspended algae is out of balance. Adding a UV light does not do anything for balancing a pond/eco system, it only kills the suspended algae. So, if your pond is out of balance, and you add a light to kill the suspended algae, you still haven't balanced your pond, so chances are you'll always need the light.

Johnnyboy, what do you mean by this: "do I continue adding maintenance doses of beneficial bacteria, and barley?" What is beneficial bacteria-what I mean is, what would I look for if I needed to buy some? I have been trying to understand what you "guys" are referring to... :unsure:

tlc, there's lots of beneficial bacteria products on the market; in both dry and wet forms.

Dr's Foster and Smith carries a line of beneficial bacteria products made by Microbe-Lift. That's what I'm using this year, and am very happy. I started off the year using Microbe-Lift Spring/Summer cleaner (came in 8 individual packets), and Microbe-Lift/PL (Liquid). I added the packets per instructions. When all 8 packets were gone I didn't need anymore (hence summer/spring cleaner). The Microbe-Lift/PL is a liquid bacteria for maintenance. Both products come with application rates/schedule. The maintenance schedule for the Microbelift/PL is once a month. Working up to maintenance starts off with doses twice a week for a bit, then once a week for another stretch, then once a month for maintenance.

I also switched this year to liquid concentrated barley from Drs. Foster and Smith.

Previous years I used "dry" products from Aquascapes, but was not as happy as I am this year. The dry bacteria is called Aqua Clearer. The barley, also dry, comes in bales and pellets. I found the bales to be better than pellets. But again, this year I'm finding I really like the concentrated liquid barley.

I hope this helps. I know it can be confusing. Let me know if not.

I look at it similar to maintaining a swimming pool. Maintaining a pool you add chlorine, maintaining a pond you add beneficial bacteria and barley.

I totally agree that my pond is still out of whack, but the immediate problem was the algae bloom and the resulting ph swing. My pond is FULL sun, after about 10am till dusk, with very little floaters. Hopefully I won't need to run the lite full season, just spring and fall...at least that's the plan. The bottom is starting to clear up, just being able to see outlines of the pumps. We now have 2 brown and 3 black fish babies..and possible 2 larger UFOs swimming in the deep end. :ph43r: Something kept catching my eye but I couldn't connect. lol OK, it's been awhile, but Robyn, if you don't have the fish poop page then you have a link SOMEWHERE to the fish poop..and that helped me out alot. I have one fancy goldfish that's a female...my question....are fancy fry born with the fancy bodies or do they 'mutate' to the potbellies and triple tail fins as they get older?

Johnnyboy, I started using this product 2 weeks ago: http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/TetraFish/...ent.aspx?id=458
for sludge. I read the label after reading your reply and it contains beneficial bacteria but is for sludge. This is the product that my neighbor said she uses for her pond. I posted about this is a different thread. I can't see any difference in my pond but I don't know really what I am looking for other than "better" water. The instructions say to use it every two weeks at a certain amount. I think it's really made for larger ponds. Maybe I need a bigger pond ;)
I have seen the liquid barley and wondered if it worked. Like you said, there is so much to pick from it's hard to know what works and what is hocus pocus. I will do a search on the stuff you are using to see what I come up with and maybe get a better handle on all this bacteria stuff.
Thanks :)

tlc, I checked it out; yup, beneficial bacteria and enzymes for breaking down sludge/debris. It takes awhile to see the effects. I wouldn't expect much in two weeks.

Too late now, but what you have is intended for sludg/debris breakdown, I'd start off next year using it much earlier in the season, then switching to someting else for maintenance. The product you have looks like a dry form. May be similar to the dry/dissovable packets I started my pond off with this year.

Again, not all products are equal. I've had best luck with liquid, and I've had better luck with Microbe Lift than Aquascapes products.

Are you also using barley?

My secret for clear water is lots of plants, and lots of moving water. Of course not forgetting barley and beneficial bacteria. My pond is in full sun too; why I have so many floaters for shade.

There are probably a hundred products out there that are a mix of bacteria and/or enzymes that are sold to help maintain ponds by breaking down waste and competing with the algae and bad bacteria. I personally use BZT (see http://www.united-tech.com ) and Microbe-Lift (like Johnny).

Fancy goldfish are born with the number of tail fins that they'll have as adults as well as the general body shape but it's not as obvious or pronounced when they're tiny. The smaller fry are just so small that you can't really see the split tails until they're larger.

Johnny and I both have clear ponds and are following similar regimens to reduce algae. Sometimes I worry because my 1800 gallon pond is so devoid of algae. I do have some wads here and there of hair algae or the like floating around in the marginal area which provide some cover and food for the wee animals. I have always said, "A pond without algae is a dead pond."

I started with the sludge remover really b/c of my pond ph. I don't have much sludge in the bottom as yet but the neighbor thought it might help to balance things out. So what you are suggesting is that I use something else for maintenance now and save the sludge remover for next year or continue with what I have and change to sludge remover then a maintenance product for next year?
I am not using barley yet. Can't figure out which way to go. I didn't want those bails of barley floating around b/c my pond is so small it would be kind of an eye sore to me (remember my pond is about 100 gal). That is why I was interested in the liquid type.
I do have lots of floaters now and my pond is about 1/3 to 1/2 covered with them. I hope they will help keep the water cooler with the summer heat.
Thanks btw for all the good ideas and links. They are so helpful :)

tlc, it's difficult to tell you what products to use.

100 gallons is tough to maintain, not something I would even attempt, so from the sounds of it you're doing pretty good.

I use sludge/debris remover as sort of a spring kick if you will to re seed bacteria colonies after winter (bacteria population reduces during winter temps), and to take care of whatever debris that collected during winter. I don't know it to be true, but I feel the sludge remover/spring starter products contain a more potent variety of bacteria that help take care of the abundance of nutrients that would otherwise feed the algae (spring bloom so to speak).

Even while using the sludge remover/spring starter product; I also use MicrobeLift/PL and barley. When the spring starter runs out I just don't re order until the next year. I guess you can continue using your product; I don't see what it would hurt.

If you're not using barley, I suggest getting some. Try the liguid if you don't want to see the bales.

Glad to hear you're getting some shade on that thing.

John

Ok. I found this: http://www.microbeliftstore.com/home/ml1/p...ft_pl_16oz.html the instructions say (for 201 to 500 gal) to use 10 oz to start, then 3 oz for the next 4 weeks, then 3 oz for monthly maintenance. I know that you folks use a much larger quanity but the dosage is pretty close to my pond size. My question, is this the maintenance product that we have been talking about?
This is a link to the info on the barley http://www.microbeliftstore.com/home/ml1/s...w_products.html . I haven't had a chance to read all the info but it gives me a starting place.

I know you can't tell me what to use but it does tell me why you use product "X" and what it does for you then it's up to me to decide what would work for me. I am very curious and knowledge is a good thing :)

Yup, those are the products I use. MicrobeLift/PL and the Concentrated Barley Straw Extract. And yes, I use a lot more than you will, but doesn't matter it's all relative to the number of gallons.

When I said it's difficult telling you what to use; I didn't mean difficult in the sense you took it. What I meant was every pond is different; products that work for one may not be what's needed, or work for another. It all comes with experience, which comes with trying different products. That's the difficult part, figuring out what's needed, when, and which form works best. I think you're on the right track.

The container for the liquid barley looks like the container that my neighbor uses for delivery of a glucosamine suppliment for her horse. I've had to use it before and if I remember correctly you squeeze the container which then transfers the liquid into the top which measures the dose-does that sound right?
If so, then my next question would be with my pond being so small I would have to gues-itmate the amount, that shouldn't hurt if I'm off a little bit do you think, as long as I don't overdose???

Yes, squeeze the container to fill the dose, that's it.

I wouldn't be too worried about over dosing beneficial bacteria or barley. Maybe I shouldn't say that. Having 3,500 gallons allows a lot more flexibility (room for error) than with 100.

No, you don't want to gues-timate the amount; you want to measure it. At least until you get comfortable with the amount. Not difficult to calculate. If the minimum dose reads for 300 gallons of water, and you only have 100 gallons of water, you would measure 1/3rd the recommended dose for 300 gallons. Once you get that close, being off a little isn't a big deal.