New Garden Pond

[George&Ade]

Finished pond at last (see sig.for picture)
Holds about 1000 u.k.gallons.
Filled it with water and added tap water treatment 2 weeks ago,then added 4 fish(2 shubumpkins and 2 sarosas) 4 days ago.
Is it normal to have quite a substantial build up of slime/algae already?
Everythings covered in the stuff.....liner.....rocks......plants...pump...hoses etc...
Im using a very good pump/pressurised filter (with u.v.)
Have 2 airballs working in there also.
Outside temps been about 66-70 degrees and partly cloudy for the last 2 weeks (typical british summer)
So could someone let me know if this green stuff is normal or not please???
(have tried to include picture here)

 

[Cat]

That looks really nice yopu have done a good job there george

 

[ryan]

Very nice indeed.

 

[George&Ade]

Thanks ........But George is the wife.......I did all the work

 

[Cat]

Thanks ........But George is the wife.......I did all the work

oh well its getting late and i'm tired lol.

ade good job doing the pond but george worked harder directing you

 

[ryan]

You ladies think you do it all, all the brains involved.

 

[George&Ade]

Hey........interested.........you must have been watching.........lol

(she does make a lovely cuppa though )

Does anyone have an answer to my original question though?

 

[Opcn]

The algea is a good thing It keeps down nitrogen in the water and provides stability in the water quality and a little snack if the fish are starveing. Idealy you scrape out algea by hand and let more regrow or go with more real plants and ely on them but the algea is a good sign. althought at two weeks in a 600 gallon with 4 fish you may want to feed a bit less.

Opcn

 

[ryan]

There is normally some algae in all ponds, a good pond has a good balance that allow some algae growth but it is kept in check by pond life and competition from plants.

 

[Cat]

It would look god with water lillies in ,if its deep enough

 

[George&Ade]

Thanks for the replies.
Its actually a 1000 gallon pond and i have got some water lillies growing in there.
Apart from the shelf around the sides,it varies from 22" to about 34" in depth.
Guess ill just have to wait and see what happens with the algae.
Maybe when the plants establish themselves a little,this will shade the pond a bit

 

[ryan]

Plants will compete with the algae for nutrients and light so as they grow that will help. I find floating plants are very useful for this. You may also want to consider a UV light in your filter?

 

[George&Ade]

Yep,i do have a "u.v." light in filter,but one thing puzzles me.....
I have a "Bermuda"7500 pressurised pump filter and according to the instructions,it says there is a "backwash facility"
It says to "unscrew the backwash tap,and use this to close the water outlet,then attatch a tube to the backwash outlet,and switch on the pump"
I take it this will get rid of some of the debris on the outer sponge and help to keep the filter clean.(i do understand that there must be a certain amount left on the sponges to accumalate helpfull bacteria)
Do you think i could carry out the above "backwash process" to do water changes too?

 

[ryan]

Interesting, why not try it out, its a new pond so it won't do to much. Its obviously there for a reason along those lines so I should think its a good idea to do so.

 

[Phantom Thief]

I am not sure if this has to do with it, but maybe.

I have an external filter attached to the water suppy pipe. When you backwash, it moves the water backwards, so that the gunk comes out.

HTH
P.T.