Question> THIS IS THE FIRST SPRING THAT I HAVE HAD MY POND AND I NEED HELP ON HOW AND WHAT TO DO TO CLEAN MY POND IS SMALL ABOUT 200 GALLON MY FISH HAS SURVIVED THE WINTER MY POND STAYED CLEAR ALL THROUGH THE WINTER UNTIL THE LAST FEW WEEKS AND IT HAS TURNED GREEN IN THE BOTTOM .

I HAVE NOT PUT MY PUMPS AND FILTERS IN MY POND YET BECAUSE IN THIS AREA THE WEATHER IS NOT WARM ENOUGH I WOULD REALLY LIKE SOME ADVICE ON HOW AND WHAT TO DO TO CLEAN MY POND.

THANK YOU FANNIE DICK
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Answer

Hi Fannie,

Spring is normally time when algae does appear, and the water will begin to turn green or mucky brown.

This is because all the organic waste in the pond from the fall (leaves, etc) and the fish waste from over the winter, is now starting to decay more rapidly, as the water begins to warm up.

This is an ideal combination for algae to grow, so Spring-time is always a challenging time for pondkeepers.

Here are a couple of products that we recommend for helping with this problem. Microbe-Lift makes a family of biologically friendly microbial additives that will aid and enhance the ponds' ability to break down these decaying organics, and remove them from the pond before the algae can take over.

http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com/microbe-lift/microbe-lift-products.shtml

I particularly like the Microbe-Lift PL and the Spring / Summer cleaner. Try these every Spring, and you'll have much less trouble with Spring algae.

However, we do recommend that you use a pump and filter - and UV sterilizers are great. They're very effective in preventing green water, or suspended algae from taking over.

Tetra Pond makes a very affordable and effective unit for small ponds here:

http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com/Tetra_Pond/tetrapondUV.htm
Good luck!

Question

I was trying to build a new pond bigger then the one I have ,and keep the same amount of water. but I don't know how to figure out the math. please email me back the example .

ps. My new pound will be 32' x 20'. My old pond is 10' x 22' and three feet deep.

Your Friend
Freddie
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Answer

Hi Freddie,

Great question...

Many people are confused as to how many gallons their pond is. Fortunately, here's a simple calculation that will tell you.

Just measure the Length x Width x average depth (L x W x D) which will give your cubic volume of the pond, then just multiply that number by 7.5, or 7 and a half gallons per cubic foot, and there you have your pond size in gallons.

For example, your old pond mentioned above would be (10 x 22 x 3) x 7.5 or 4950 gallons.

So, to keep your new pond at the same volume of water, the formula would be D = 4950 / (L x W x 7.5) to figure out the depth of your new pond.

Your new pond would have to be 4950/(32 x 20 x 7.5) or 4950/4800 which equals 1.031 or just about one foot deep.

Depending on where you are, I wouldn't necessarily recommend that your new pond be this shallow, because it will be more prone to algae outbreaks in the summer, and in may freeze completely in the winter.

Hope this helps,
Brett
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** ORLANDO KOI SHOW **

We just returned from the South Florida Koi Show in Orlando, which was great!

We'll be posting a bunch of great pictures, and some new videos in the next few days. Everybody loved the pictures from the last show, so we're sure you'll love to see these as well!

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