Pond question

[MadReefer]

I have a 150g preformed pond and cannot keep the water clear. I am using am old large canister filter in which a pump sits on top and draws the water into it. The pump is broken so I decided to use a mag9.5 placed in the pond with a hose to the canister filter. I have rocks on the bottom of the filter and pads on top with a phosban pad. I am wondering if this is to much flow. Should I dig out my Mag5/7 and use to reduce the flow?
Any help appreciated.

 

[kschweer]

How big is your canister filter? Also when you say you can't get the water clear is it green or brownish? What do you have in terms of fish in the pond and do you have any plants in there?

 

[adesimone1]

Do yourself a favor buy a uv and clean out your canister every other day

 

[MadReefer]

It is very large; don't know model. As for inhabitants all I have is one 12" red ear slider.
The pond was green so I drained it last week and cleaned the sides and refilled it. Now its brown.
I will try and get a pic in a few minutes of the filter and water.

 

[MadReefer]

I take that back the water is green today, was brown yesterday.
Here are some pics. The filter is about 11" tall and 12" wide.

 

[kschweer]

I would suggest adding some fish and also some plants. This will help create an "ecosystem" that will take care of itself. I would also make sure to keep that canister filter clean. I personally am not a fan of uv sterilizers but in your case it may help. Like in our reefs ponds need a balance and when something is off everything else can get thrown out of whack. As far as plants some hyacinths would do great in there and they really pull out a lot of nutrients that feed the algae. Hope this helps.

 

[Lostinthedark]

Every time you drain and refill the pond you add more contaminants. Turtle are notoriously dirty but You filter will handle it. The algae bloom will pass in time but to keep the water
crystal clear you can add an UV light or water lettuce. Either one works well and the turtle will like to pick on the plants and they will add hiding spots and shade as well.

 

[MadReefer]

Thanks for he info. I did have a bunch of Hyacinth's in it last year and the turtles ripped them apart in a day. This in turn clogged the pump and was a hassle to clean and get all the little pieces out. As for fish I am concerned the turtles will eat them. I was considering a large 6" goldfish maybe.

 

[Zippy69]

If you want a nice clean pond....rehouse the turtles. The amount of waste and the as you said the destruction can be great. Red ear sliders are omnivores and will eat ANYTHING! Fish included. If it won't fit in their mouth they will wittle away at the fish tails till nothing is left. If you have direct sun on the pond water lettuce/ hyacinths are fint to reduce light transmission to the water and allow for algae growth. I personally like hornwort. It looks like cambodia(fresh water tank plant) . It grows just under the surface and greatly reduces light transmission to the water, and filters the particulates. Like a refugium when you get too much fertilize the garden with it.

Turtles produce huge amounts of waste and until you rehouse them you will have way too much nutrient content for algae to grow. So embrace green water with turtles or move on to fish only and a great plant ecosystem.

 

[MadReefer]

I cannot re-home them as they are rescues my daughter took in. I am very familiar with turtles as I have quite a few now and in the past. I don't want people to take them and then release them ad RES are not native to NJ and destroy other habits. Funny thing is my homemade filter from 2 years ago worked great. To bad it broke in a storm. I may try making another one.

 

[adesimone1]

We run UV's on all of our systems pond and 2 reef aquariums all of our systems are crystal clear

 

[Jcurry@wesketch]

You may want to try floating a small bale of Barley straw in the pond. The barley straw releases a chemical that will kill the algae without harming anything else.

As others have said the addition of plants, both floating and potted will help take up nutrients that the algae is currently using like nitrate and phosphate.

When I had a pond I used to cover the entire surface with water lettuce, duck weed and hyacinth. As they began to die I would just take them out and put them on the compost pile. Eventually you'll reached a balance where no algae grows and the plants stop dieing off.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0012.html

 

[MadReefer]

I forgot about the barley straw, thanks for the reminder. I was going to add some pond salt too.

 

[twisted]

I use a 300lb sand filter on mine along with a DIY ozone and water stays immaculate. If you go that route just avoid pool filter sand since its silica sand


Twisteds 40 breeder