What If My Pond

There are many little things that can niggle us about our ponds, we want to keep them looking the best they can be and when something isn’t quite right or something is going wrong then what do we do about it.

Probably one of the most frequently asked questions to do with ponds is: How do I keep my pond water clear ? My pond water has gone green and I can’t see the fish, what can I do about it ? After all we all want to see our fish and if the water turns green then that is not going to be possible.

Pond water turning green is normally caused by a nutrient, nitrate that forms from fish waste and decaying food and plant debris, coupled with sunlight can fuel algae growth, it is common in spring when the sunnier days arrive.

So the obvious things to try and prevent algae growth is to clear plant debris as it happens, if leaves are falling onto your pond then clear them straight away. Don’t over feed your fish as food that is not eaten will decay. Check your pond plants for any dead foliage and cut it away before it can decay into the pond water.

Having a good stock of surface plants will help in cutting down algae growth, as will having some shade around the pond to stop direct sunlight. There Nitrate kits available to test the water regularly and are great for your regular routine pond maintenance.

There are also some chemical treatments that can be used to clear algae, but need to be used exactly as the manufacturers instructions.

By far the best way to help keep a ponds water clear is by fitting a UV Clarifier which destroys the algae and has no affect on the pond water at all, so has got to be better than chemical treatment. These units are easy to fit and cheap to run. They do require the bulb to be changed once every year to keep them working effectively.

I recommend the use of a UV Clarifier and the regular testing of your pond water and obviously as mentioned above, not to over feed your fish and clear debris as it happens.

Fish Mate UV and Bio Pond Filter 6000 – 30W Excellent filtration and UV clarifying in one machine The Fish Mate pond filter provides excellent biological filtration for big ponds, and takes care of algae and harmful micro-organisms at the same time Save yourself the hassle of buying and hooking up two units, you’ll get it all in this fantastic filter Other features include: 3 removable filter media trays Frost-resistant quartzless UV chamber Bio media included.