pond problem

MrToad · #1 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 09:32 AM

Hi, I have had a pond for too many years to remember. (over 10 years).
It has always had a large community of frogs and some newts and much spawn at this time of year.

It and is very much in shade most of the time. It has always been clear and fine and I've always been able to watch the frogs and newts easily.

It has plants around the edge for about half of the shallow end and a lily in
a slightly deeper part. It has a 3 feet deep at the other end. It also has Canadian pond weed in to try to get some oxygen in there.

A couple of years ago, it developed the dreaded duck weed which I used to scoop out on a regular basis.

This year I have noticed that the water has a slight green film on the water surface and some bubbles from time to time.

I put some more Canadian pond weed in and put the fountain pump on and it seemed to clear for a few days. but as soon as the pump goes off, the green comes back.

Yesterday I tried dredging the deep part and found an old dead lily plant plus a load of mud and twigs etc. The pump is OK but now seems to get its filter clogged with the mud and small debris that are suspended in the water.

I DO NOT WANT TO PUT CHEMICALS IN especially as the frogs are spawning.

Can anyone one offer any help?

Thank you in anticipation

Mr Toad

posie · #2 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 10:23 AM

Hello MrToad, just came in to wish you a very warm Welcome to WAB, I'm no expert on ponds but before very long others with the info will be in to help you. Enjoy WAB....Posie..

Simples · #3 (**permalink**) 23-04-2010, 11:55 AM

Personally I'd have left the Duckweed alone as it provides good shelter for lots of critters and stops algae growing! Anyway sounds like you have an excess of algae, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and you can buy 'natural' products containing bacteria and enzymes that are supposed to 'eat' the sludge - I have no experience of using them so I don't know if they work. Lots of water snails will do the same job but of course they also produce waste.

zomble · #4 (**permalink**) 02-05-2010, 10:23 AM

Hello! I'm new here but I've had a pond for about 12 years, and it has always had a period of green algae in the spring. I've used barley straw every year and it seems to clear up quite well. You can get it from any nursery which sells fish or pondy stuff and it's totally natural and doesn't affect wildlife. I don't have any experience of those chemicals either, but I'd be hesitant to use them as well. Can I ask you a question about frogspawn this year? Some people here (Thames Valley) say they have little or no spawn, where normally there would be loads of it. Have you noticed this?

Good luck with the algae!

Tobyh · #5 (**permalink**) 02-05-2010, 04:00 PM

This is caused by an excess of nutrients in the water causing / allowing algae to bloom. I'm new to ponds (only my second year) but have a fir bit of it this year too. I am using barley straw and just taking some out every week or so, being very careful not to trap anything living in the material that's removed.

My understanding is that the more rotting leaves etc that are putting nutrients into the pond, the more likely you will have an excess on which the algae can thrive - that said I think it's fairly normal this time of year to get some regardless?

TobyH

MrToad · #6 (**permalink**) 03-05-2010, 10:10 AM

Re the frog spawn problem, maybe its due to the cutbacks and the recession, blame Gordon Brown, everybody else does.

Only kidding, I have my usual quota although it was later and there didn't seem the usual amount of mating activity as normal. There is a lot in the wild pools around the Peak District where I live.

There were stories last year of a frog virus, maybe your area got it worse than up here.

If the spawning season was going to be normal, I would have thought it would have started down your way before up here. Maybe its just a blip and will rectify itself next year.

I know the Peak Park Authority are doing a lot to replace the lost environment
that reptiles, amphibians birds need to survive modern farming methods.

Hope it gets back to normal soon.

Mr Toad

John · #7 (**permalink**) 03-05-2010, 02:17 PM

I have had a pond for a while with fish & frogs in it. It is about 10' long by about 7' one end and 4' the other & ranging from 3' to 4' deep. I have created a waterfall and stream that runs into it using recycled water from the pond.

Last year I built a shallow wildlife pond beside it only about 10" deep and this has been the saviour of the frogspawn as the frogs have laid in it creating literally thousands of tadpoles. Before that the fish would have eaten them.

The large pool developed a lot of sludge in it. Thankfully I keep a preformed pool locked away in the shed for the sole purpose of using if a problem happens with the main pond. I filled this with water from the pond then placed the fish in it before draining the pond. I completely emptied the pond of the remaining water, removed all the sludge and removed the algae from around the pond liner. After cleaning it I filled the pond up, topping up with the water from the preform one then placed the fish back in.

That was about 4 to five weeks ago and everything seems to have settled back nicely.

As others have said. Too much sludge, especially if containing rotting leaves, can cause huge problems with nutrients causing algae to form in your pond. Also a good water filter system can help keep the water healthy.

I am now running my pumped water through an Oasis Clear Pond filter system and for the first time in six years my fish have gone berserk with their mating, splashing about all over the place, some of them even forcing their way into the reeds and getting stuck. I have to keep an eye on this and have had to rescue three fish that have done this and throughout this period the pond has remained very clear and the plants are coming on a treat.

It was a bit drastic what I did but the pond does seem to have benefited from it enormously.

John

John

dampflippers · #8 (**permalink**) 03-05-2010, 04:11 PM

Rotting water lily leaves and stems can be pretty evil smelling. If it is all dead, try to take it out. Certainly fish out dead leaves if you can.

zomble · #9 (**permalink**) 04-05-2010, 06:11 AM

I'm sure sludge and rotting leaves are a big problem, but mine is a completely new pond this year, so no sludge at all! I think it also has a connection with sunlight on the water at a time when the new growth on the pond plants hasn't had a chance to cover the surface.

So now, wise peeps out there, please help with this one. Since I haven't got any frogs or tadpoles, and just one lonely newt, I have literally clouds of mosquito larvae filling up this new pond. Yesterday I nearly bought a goldfish (£3.50 for a little one! Robbers!) in desperation although I don't want a fishpond; it's for wildlife. I know the odd fish can exist without too much trouble to the wild things, and I don't want to be eaten alive this summer. So, what do I do? Buy the fish and hope for a heron when its work is done? Kidnap some tadpoles? Any better ideas?

toadpole · #10 (**permalink**) 04-05-2010, 03:07 PM

hi there

to be honest i would leave it well alone for this year ...... and i know its a very hard thing to do

but the fact that you have 1 newt means that you are on your way to a well established little pond ...the only thing i would suggest is getting a nice bucket full of water from another well established pond to really start the life-force of water creature going ....its amazing what that will bring ..and i remember being facinated and quite satisfied watching everything establish ...i even brought some live daphnia from the garden centre and added that ....then WHEN the next little newt /frog/toad arrives there will at least be plenty to eat

good luck with your pond Marion