Simply Koi and More Koi

For water clarity- which is best?

Water is looking a little green in last day or 2 so do I go for a proper FF from the shop or re-instate the home made one or hope the uv(turned on 3 days ago after 8 months of being off)is dirty or bulbs exhausted?

Andy,

A UV will take roughly 10 days to clear a pond, so bear with it. Alternativly take it apart and clean the quartz tube and replace the lamp, both can affect the output.

Andy

The bulbs in all UV units only last for 6 months (constant use)
So you should replace the bulb at least & clean the inside tube
of the UV.


Best Regards

Yeah I will check that out although not too bad tonight,
Would the FF take the "tint" out the water??? I think the home-made one seemed to last time but then it was cooler water then, now at 14.8c

Andy, is it the water that is coloured or the suspended matter in the water that is making it look coloured.?

get a pint glass and fill it with pond water then leave it to settle on a window ledge for a day or so. you'll either see the crud settle out or it'll just all go green. thisll give you a better indication as to whats causing the colour in the water. you'll then be able to get a real solution to the problem rather that using guesswork.

if the water has a browny green tinge to it you could try putting some charcoal in a mesh bag in the filter, it will soak up the colouring in the water a treat. remember it will also soak up any meds you have in the water. remove it after a week or two and throw it away.

Andy, is it the water that is coloured or the suspended matter in the water that is making it look coloured.?

Is this not the same thing?

I will grab a pint in the morning and see what happens.............

no its not the same. think of a cup of tea (no milk) its coloured but will never clear. now think of a cup of muddy water, if left the mud will settle out and leave the water nearly clear again.

your pond water could be coloured just like either example,

So far the pint looks like clean water, no particular amount of stuff in the bottom and clear as glass?

Will leave another day or 2...........

well, if the water in the glass is clear then your pond should be the same. it never works that way though, your UV must have made an impact on any suspended algae over the last 8 days (if the bulb is still effective).
the fact that there is no crud at the bottom of the glass tends to sway that its the water thats got a slight colouring and giving that your looking down through feet of water and not inches would mean that you cant see the bottom .
a good way to check the water is at night with a torch, our pond looks clear at daytime but at night with a torch you can see all the little bits floating around in the water.
to clear all the little bits from suspention you need them to clump together so that they are heavier and then they fall to the bottom and get filtered out.
we use "accu-clear" by API other may use something else but weve used it for years in ponds and aquariums and it works everytime. its also cheaper than most of the products out there with a picture of a koi on it. "LOL"

this is the size of bottle we buy.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?View ... 0304282595" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
its good enough for over 18000 litres or 4000 gallons
which is good enough for two doses in our 3000 gallon pond, you just mix it in a watering can with clean water and then pour it all over the pond. within a day youll see the difference in the suspended crud. and in the crud in the filter.

hope this is of help...

Thanks for that, types quickly while we have aol connection briefly!

The pint is basically clear and nothing in the bottom.
The pond, we can see the bottom all the time but the "tint" is there some days and not others but quite happy with it for the most part.

My aim for this year is to see the bottom all year! So far so good although having to clean static each day......

Probably due to feeding 3x the amount we were when filter was converted.....

if the water has a browny green tinge to it you could try putting some charcoal in a mesh bag in the filter, it will soak up the colouring in the water a treat. remember it will also soak up any meds you have in the water. remove it after a week or two and throw it away.

Would that be ordinary BBQ charcoal? How fine a bag and does it need a rinse first?

Just re-reading a few posts, pond is quite good at moment. I think the majority of floating bits is fresh fish poo which will always happen as always feeding.

Just put a v3 Foam Fractionator in the filter, quite a bodge this time but collects a buck of brown stuff each day for the plants!
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