Love that dirty water…not

I had an attack of green water yesterday. It’s not exactly dirty water, but I can’t help quoting a pop song. My water quality readings were actually quite good.

Green water is a nuisance, however – I want to see my pretty fish. If I want pea soup, I can visit the local diner.

I just offloaded 4 medium sized koi, so the last thing I expected was more algae. Apparently, I did not cut my feeding back far enough, and the downside of properly functioning biological filtration is that the poisonous ammonia cycles into harmless nitrate, which is fertilizer. Or it could have just been one of the outbreaks of pea soup that comes naturally with a weather change – I have been told that hay fever and green water occur in tandem.

I took the following steps:

1. Skipped a meal and calibrated the next one to be no more than 1% of the total fish weight. That turned out to be a lot less than I was giving them!

2. Rinsed out the filter media, which was clogged with suspended algae, with pond water.

3. Added a floculant to clump up the algae so that my fish would eat it and the filter could handle it.

24 hours later, my water is clear as glass, so I don’t have to go to the dreaded Step 4 of applying an algaecide. I try to avoid using an algaecide in a small pond because it depletes oxygen, and my water still reaches into the 70s during the day, which means its oxygen holding capacity is low. Also, you risk killing the “good” algae on the sides and bottom if you overdose. In a large pond, doses can be gradually ratcheted up and temperatures are more stable, but calibrating the optimal amount in a small body of water is difficult. If you choose to use an algaecide, read the label carefully. Some of them show fish on the label but are only appropriate for fishless garden ponds and contain copper, which is toxic to fish. The large ponders to whom I gave my koi have cleared their water with an algaecide, but it required a lot of effort.

I have heard that UV will clear the suspended greenies as well. Has anyone tried it with a small pond? The downside of UV is that it can kill beneficial bacteria and that green water acts as a warning signal for problems like overfeeding, dead plant matter, or a dirty substrate.

What has worked for you to clear green water?

My troubling

Here is an introduction to the fish remaining in my pond post-koi. Be sure to click the photos to get a full, uncropped view:

This is Pumpkin, a orange-dominate Shubunkin. Impressive fins!

Ginger is a slim red wakin. I got him at the end of the season from Fins Feathers Paws and Claws, a great pond store in Harleysville, PA.

Bumpkin is a 6″ midnight blue shubunkin that I lucked upon at Aquatic Connections in Trevose.

I bought three little 4″ blue and red shubs from Aquatic Connections to complete the pond. Cal has red down one side and is mostly silver blue on the other.

Sil just has just a patch of red. He is a bit shy, but should be used to the pond soon.

Dom is a fireball in every sense. Lots of red, and he immediately started socializing with the bigger fish.

The newest residents of the pond are a pair of watonai from Hawai’i. Watonai come from breeding wakins with ryukins to create a pond hardy fish with a broader fantail than the wakin. They are named Sparky (white dominate) and Flash (red dominate).

Koi Transfer Day

I found out the hard way that koi do not belong in a small pond. I bought them thinking that they would conform to the size of the pond. Goldfish do to a small extent, but koi most definitely do not. They grow twice or more the length of goldfish and weigh (and crap) many times more. If allowed to grow up in a small pond, they will suffer malformation and disease. A 24 inch koi cannot even get up a good head of steam to exercise in a 300-500 gallon pond.

So I offered my beautiful 6-8 inch koi to some friends with a much larger pond, thousands of gallons. I was a little nervous about giving them up to a pond I had only seen on Flickr and video, but I have known Kathy for years and was confident the new home would not be a cesspool.

The pond exceeded expectations. It had beautifully clear water with just the right coat of algae on the sides and bottom. My kids took to it and began schooling with Kathy and Phil’s comets right away. They took a particular liking to a big black and red comet called Spot.

They had quite a ride out to the country. One of the bags was leaking, and three separate traffic accidents, none involving me, caused the 25 mile ride to take nearly two hours. Spino jumped out of the pond while I was trying to catch him, but he landed right in the transfer bucket! Marble was no trouble, and Redchel, who has quite the crush on Marble, went easily when she realized that he was gone. I didn’t think I would ever catch Mistress. She was on to me right away.

I have attached pictures of some of the adoptees taken in my pond. I have retained visitation rights, so I hope to have photos of them in their new surroundings soon.

Redchel is the Israeli aka bekko, Spino is the orange ogon, and Marble is the black and white butterfly koi. Click the picture to get a good look at Marble.

This shot includes Mistress, the showa koi that went to Phil and Kathy’s, as well as Bumpkin, my midnight blue shubunkin, who is crashing the koi party.

Preparing for Winter

I attended a fantastic seminar at Aquatic Connections in Trevose PA (near Philadelphia) last Saturday on the subject of winterization. Terrible word, but there’s nothing better. George gives a great presentation, very clear and full of humor. He takes every piece of equipment apart so that the audience can see how the gear works. He responds to every question completely differentiates between small and large ponds. George even provided a handout to take home.

Aquatic Connections has a friendly, knowledgeable staff and a great selection of accessories. They quarantine their fish and rotate what they have on hand. Give them a call or an email if you are in the Philly area, and they will tell you what they have on hand at any given time.

Check out their website at www.aquaticconnections.com

I have attached a copy of his excellent advice. Most of it pertains to large ponds, but there is much for all ponders to ponder and act upon. It may feel like summer right now, but cool weather is around the corner.

Aquatic Connections Winterizing Seminar