No, not another thread about some of our regular posters....

The other day a couple of ducks took a fancy to our pond, which for once
was actually looking quite clear at the time. Alas after they departed,
we noticed a few patches of green foam floating on the water that had
not been there before. That seemed to rapidly spread and multiply, and
within a couple of days pretty much covered the whole thing....

Said guests, swimming in green foam before it covered everything:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...dCritters1.jpg

Up close and gloopy:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ndGreenGoo.jpg

Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would
be a suitable treatment to deal with it?

The water under the foam seems relatively clear. The same pair of ducks
keep returning so obviously are not to fussed by the goo. I suppose this
means whatever treatment I go for, it probably needs to fix them as
well! (assuming they were the vector in the first place)

(violent or culinary solutions for the quackers would probable meet with
a veto)


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
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\================================================= ================/

On 28/03/2012 20:47, John Rumm wrote:
No, not another thread about some of our regular posters....

The other day a couple of ducks took a fancy to our pond, which for once
was actually looking quite clear at the time. Alas after they departed,
we noticed a few patches of green foam floating on the water that had
not been there before. That seemed to rapidly spread and multiply, and
within a couple of days pretty much covered the whole thing....

Said guests, swimming in green foam before it covered everything:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...dCritters1.jpg

Up close and gloopy:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ndGreenGoo.jpg

Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would
be a suitable treatment to deal with it?

The water under the foam seems relatively clear. The same pair of ducks
keep returning so obviously are not to fussed by the goo. I suppose this
means whatever treatment I go for, it probably needs to fix them as
well! (assuming they were the vector in the first place)

(violent or culinary solutions for the quackers would probable meet with
a veto)


Looks like spirogyra to me. Gardening newsgroups may have a solution.
You can remove it physically by twirling it up on a piece of stick but,
as you have discovered, it grows at a good rate when conditions are right.

"John Rumm" wrote in message
...
No, not another thread about some of our regular posters....

The other day a couple of ducks took a fancy to our pond, which for once
was actually looking quite clear at the time. Alas after they departed, we
noticed a few patches of green foam floating on the water that had not
been there before. That seemed to rapidly spread and multiply, and within
a couple of days pretty much covered the whole thing....

Said guests, swimming in green foam before it covered everything:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...dCritters1.jpg

Up close and gloopy:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ndGreenGoo.jpg

Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would be
a suitable treatment to deal with it?

The water under the foam seems relatively clear. The same pair of ducks
keep returning so obviously are not to fussed by the goo. I suppose this
means whatever treatment I go for, it probably needs to fix them as well!
(assuming they were the vector in the first place)

(violent or culinary solutions for the quackers would probable meet with a
veto)

Ahhhh yes, the lesser spotted "guard duck", known for ****ting frogspawn.

I'll get me coat.

(violent or culinary solutions for the quackers would probable meet
with a veto)

Ahhhh yes, the lesser spotted "guard duck", known for ****ting
frogspawn.

No. er indoors!!


--- Posted via news://freenews.netfront.net/ - Complaints to ---

On 28/03/2012 20:47, John Rumm wrote:


Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would
be a suitable treatment to deal with it?


Looks like spirogyra to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirogyra

Try barley straw. (not a pond expert)

Andy

Andy Champ wrote:
On 28/03/2012 20:47, John Rumm wrote:


Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would
be a suitable treatment to deal with it?


Looks like spirogyra to me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirogyra

Try barley straw. (not a pond expert)

Andy
sort of works, but fish eat it and high O2 buggers it so other plants
compete- plant plants add fish


--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.

John Rumm wrote:
No, not another thread about some of our regular posters....

The other day a couple of ducks took a fancy to our pond, which for once
was actually looking quite clear at the time. Alas after they departed,
we noticed a few patches of green foam floating on the water that had
not been there before. That seemed to rapidly spread and multiply, and
within a couple of days pretty much covered the whole thing....

Said guests, swimming in green foam before it covered everything:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...dCritters1.jpg

Up close and gloopy:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ndGreenGoo.jpg

Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would
be a suitable treatment to deal with it?

The water under the foam seems relatively clear. The same pair of ducks
keep returning so obviously are not to fussed by the goo. I suppose this
means whatever treatment I go for, it probably needs to fix them as
well! (assuming they were the vector in the first place)

(violent or culinary solutions for the quackers would probable meet with
a veto)


blanket weed.Too much nutrient, not enough oxygen.

Buy oxygenation plants:add fish.


--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.

In message , John
Rumm writes
No, not another thread about some of our regular posters....

The other day a couple of ducks took a fancy to our pond, which for
once was actually looking quite clear at the time. Alas after they
departed, we noticed a few patches of green foam floating on the water
that had not been there before. That seemed to rapidly spread and
multiply, and within a couple of days pretty much covered the whole
thing....

Said guests, swimming in green foam before it covered everything:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...dCritters1.jpg

Up close and gloopy:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?...ndGreenGoo.jpg

Any pond experts out there that know what this stuff is, and what would
be a suitable treatment to deal with it?

The water under the foam seems relatively clear. The same pair of ducks
keep returning so obviously are not to fussed by the goo. I suppose
this means whatever treatment I go for, it probably needs to fix them
as well! (assuming they were the vector in the first place)

(violent or culinary solutions for the quackers would probable meet
with a veto)

Too late! The shooting season ended 31st. Jan.

You need shade!

Green algae is sitting in all water waiting for adequate minerals and
sunlight. Duck crap may have helped with the minerals.

You can effect a temporary cure by spraying the surface with a hosepipe
(if permitted). This liberates the bubbles of oxygen and allows the
green gunge to sink.

In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg

regards



--
Tim Lamb

In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg

oops. line wrap seems to have buggered that!

regards

--
Tim Lamb

On 28/03/2012 22:17, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg

Nice planting ;-)

To answer a bunch of questions here... yup algae is a perennial problem
in that pond - often goes quite green, however I have never seen it
foamy like that before.

Its definitely nutrient rich, since there are loads of fish in there
(hundreds or possibly thousands of gold fish and possibly the interbred
offspring of a couple of carp like things!). The filtration system[1]
was designed for the previous owners koi, but does not seem that
effective...

There are a couple of lilies that perk up for a few months of the year
and then vanish. Alas there is not much shallow shelf around the edge to
place baskets on before it gets quite steep, and deep (its probably
about 9' at the deep end)

[1] Four deep cylindrical chambers. The first is basically a large empty
vessel - bottom fed from the bottom and side drain of the pond. That
overflows into the base of the next, which has a pile of brush type
affairs not unlike a sweeps brush. Thence a couple with koi mat, but
that has large cutout sections, so is not a filter as such. Finally
thought the pump and out via UV exposure tubes.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , John
Rumm writes
On 28/03/2012 22:17, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg

Nice planting ;-)

To answer a bunch of questions here... yup algae is a perennial
problem in that pond - often goes quite green, however I have
never seen it foamy like that before.

Switch the Sun off! Plant some shade on the South side.

In 15 years we have had:-

The years of Duck Weed, Blanket Weed, Water Soldiers, Mallards,
exploding pond lilies, floating pond liner.

I wonder what this year will bring?

regards



--
Tim Lamb

Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , John
Rumm writes
On 28/03/2012 22:17, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg
Nice planting ;-)

To answer a bunch of questions here... yup algae is a perennial
problem in that pond - often goes quite green, however I have
never seen it foamy like that before.

Switch the Sun off! Plant some shade on the South side.

In 15 years we have had:-

The years of Duck Weed, Blanket Weed, Water Soldiers, Mallards,
exploding pond lilies, floating pond liner.

I wonder what this year will bring?

the year of global freezing?

regards





--
To people who know nothing, anything is possible.
To people who know too much, it is a sad fact
that they know how little is really possible -
and how hard it is to achieve it.

In message , Martin
writes
On Wed, 28 Mar 2012 23:03:45 +0100, Tim Lamb
wrote:

In message , John
Rumm writes
On 28/03/2012 22:17, Tim Lamb wrote:
In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg

Nice planting ;-)

To answer a bunch of questions here... yup algae is a perennial
problem in that pond - often goes quite green, however I have
never seen it foamy like that before.

Switch the Sun off! Plant some shade on the South side.

In 15 years we have had:-

The years of Duck Weed, Blanket Weed, Water Soldiers, Mallards,
exploding pond lilies, floating pond liner.

I wonder what this year will bring?

Dot "Green Fingers" Cotton forecasts
Plagues
Beginning of the curses: Ex. 5:1€“9, 7:8€“13
. Plague of blood : Ex. 7:14€“25
Plague of frogs : Ex. 7:25€“8:11
Plague of lice or gnats : Ex. 8:12€“15
Plague of flies or wild animals : Ex. 8:20€“32
Plague of pestilence : Ex. 9:1€“7
Plague of boils : Ex. 9:8€“12
Plague of hail : Ex. 9:13€“35
Plague of locusts : Ex. 10:1€“20
Plague of darkness : Ex. 10:21€“29
Death of the firstborn : Ex. 11:1€“12:36

I'd forgotten the year of the *Parrots Feather* pond weed.

Huge laugh when a Cock Pheasant did a 3 point landing on the Duckweed
surface. He struggled out of the water and stood looking very
affronted:-)

regards

--
Tim Lamb

On 28/03/2012 22:36, John Rumm wrote:
On 28/03/2012 22:17, Tim Lamb wrote:

Nice planting ;-)

Nice workshop!
:¬)

[1] Four deep cylindrical chambers. The first is basically a large empty
vessel - bottom fed from the bottom and side drain of the pond. That
overflows into the base of the next, which has a pile of brush type
affairs not unlike a sweeps brush. Thence a couple with koi mat, but
that has large cutout sections, so is not a filter as such. Finally
thought the pump and out via UV exposure tubes.

First is a vortex/settlement chamber where the heavy solids, dead frogs
etc should collect.
There is always a period after the winter when the bacteria in (on) the
filter start to re-grow and re-colonise the filter media however the
first drop of warm water and the fish start feeding and the Algae starts
growing, all far faster than the immature filter bacteria can process.
Pond goes green and algae thrive on nutrients. Plants compete for same
nutrients but unless the fully "fed" water vegetation is cut back when
it's at it's peak, as it dies off it releases everything back into the
water once more.

UV bulb are "supposed" to be changed annually as their UV output reduces
over the years. Normally the UV light is on the water entering the
filter as it makes the algae clump together making it easier for the
first stages to separate off.

My pond is currently in it's 3rd year of manufacture... I can only hope
the 8' paddling pool manages to survive another summer or we'll be
cooking Carp, Roach and Rudd on the barbie' this year.
:¬)

Pete
--
http://www.gymratz.co.uk/books/ fat loss and competition dieting!

On 29/03/2012 12:07, www.GymRatZ.co.uk wrote:
On 28/03/2012 22:36, John Rumm wrote:
On 28/03/2012 22:17, Tim Lamb wrote:

Nice planting ;-)

Nice workshop!
:¬)

Well, yes, but I am sure we have all drooled over photos of that before! ;-)

[1] Four deep cylindrical chambers. The first is basically a large empty
vessel - bottom fed from the bottom and side drain of the pond. That
overflows into the base of the next, which has a pile of brush type
affairs not unlike a sweeps brush. Thence a couple with koi mat, but
that has large cutout sections, so is not a filter as such. Finally
thought the pump and out via UV exposure tubes.

First is a vortex/settlement chamber where the heavy solids, dead frogs
etc should collect.
There is always a period after the winter when the bacteria in (on) the
filter start to re-grow and re-colonise the filter media however the
first drop of warm water and the fish start feeding and the Algae starts
growing, all far faster than the immature filter bacteria can process.
Pond goes green and algae thrive on nutrients. Plants compete for same
nutrients but unless the fully "fed" water vegetation is cut back when
it's at it's peak, as it dies off it releases everything back into the
water once more.

UV bulb are "supposed" to be changed annually as their UV output reduces
over the years. Normally the UV light is on the water entering the
filter as it makes the algae clump together making it easier for the
first stages to separate off.

Going to be a bit tricky with the way this is plumbed since the "pump
house" (slightly over posh description of the dwarf shed I built to
cover the rather unsightly plastic box it was in prior) is at the end of
the sequence of filters.

My pond is currently in it's 3rd year of manufacture... I can only hope
the 8' paddling pool manages to survive another summer or we'll be
cooking Carp, Roach and Rudd on the barbie' this year.
:¬)

Not sure what goldfish taste like, so I suppose I had better keep the
buggers.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 28/03/2012 22:36, John Rumm wrote:

Thence a couple with koi mat, but
that has large cutout sections, so is not a filter as such.

The brushes are to stop more solids getting to the matting which has a
large surface area for the bacteria to grow. The greater the available
surface area for the bacteria to colonise the greater amount of bad
stuff the bacteria can get rid of.


http://www.pondsystems.com/news_biofilt.html
:¬)

On 29/03/2012 12:14, www.GymRatZ.co.uk wrote:
On 28/03/2012 22:36, John Rumm wrote:

Thence a couple with koi mat, but
that has large cutout sections, so is not a filter as such.

The brushes are to stop more solids getting to the matting which has a
large surface area for the bacteria to grow. The greater the available
surface area for the bacteria to colonise the greater amount of bad
stuff the bacteria can get rid of.


http://www.pondsystems.com/news_biofilt.html
:¬)

Ah handy link... nicely answered the question about pump duty cycle I
was going to ask ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In message , www.GymRatZ.co.uk
writes
On 28/03/2012 22:36, John Rumm wrote:

Thence a couple with koi mat, but
that has large cutout sections, so is not a filter as such.

The brushes are to stop more solids getting to the matting which has a
large surface area for the bacteria to grow. The greater the available
surface area for the bacteria to colonise the greater amount of bad
stuff the bacteria can get rid of.

Hence the Barley straw suggestion.

When the blanket weed not eaten by the Tadpoles starts to change colour,
I use the lawn rake to hook out most of it.


http://www.pondsystems.com/news_biofilt.html
:¬)

regards

--
Tim Lamb

In message , Tim
Streater writes
In article ,
Tim Lamb wrote:

In message , Tim Lamb
writes
In theory, once all the nutrients have been used, the pond will
stabilise and clear.

IANAPond expert:-) but have some experience.

http://s828.photobucket.com/albums/z...ew&current=Dev
ons2005001.jpg
oops. line wrap seems to have buggered that!

You need to put and around the URL. Then line wrap doesn't matter.

Yes. But you are all clever chaps and can copy + paste to your
browsers:-)

regards


--
Tim Lamb