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| What is causing white foam on the top of the water? Pond is free of ice , has a big pulsating pump going and today we turned the waterfall on. I see a few fish tail sticking out occasionally. These are foot long koi and I know there is an algae problem so we keep adding water and pumping some out. I just never saw foam before. Pond is 6 years old and these are the original fish born in the pond. |
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| The foam is probably due to an excess of organic compounds. At this time of the year I would look at decaying plant material. A mechanical filter may catch the compounds. Removal of any dead plant material would also help. My pond is still asleep and half covered with ice and snow. |
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| Where do you live in PA? My pond has not had ice for weeks now. I just have too many koi and it's not been a problem till now. I add fresh well water daily in the summer. Too much algae is killing the fish and I hope it clears soon with the filter going now. |
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- Posted by turnerwaterscaping 5 (My Page) on Mon, Mar 8, 10 at 9:55
| If your string algae is that bad you need to remove it as best as possible using a stick or something to pull it out. String algae thrives in this cooler weather because your pond plants have not come up yet. Just running your filter will not stop the algae from growing or contain it, the plants are the only thing that will do that unfortunatly its still to cold for plants. If you are worry about somthing else is in your water use a carbon filter pad in your filter. The carbon will nuetralize anything in the water. You can pick one up at your local pet store. greg |
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| Lily, I live near the Pocono Mountains. My pond is still about half covered with snow and ice but the iris is starting to sprout from the snow. I have some string algae in my pond and I allow it to grow until the other plants can catch up. Algae is a plant and it does absorb nitrates like the other plants. All part of a balancing process. String algae can also help prevent suspended (pea soup) algae by competing for nutrients. If you have to remove some of the string algae try duck taping a toilet brush to a broom handle or plastic pipe. It always worked for me. |
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- Posted by maryjo(mjeckhard@gmail.com) onSun, Aug 21, 11 at 16:32
| I just added Tetra Pond Algae Control to my pond 3 hours ago and now I have foam on top. It wasnt there before. The water was only slightly green but was tested to be fine. The algae was thick though on the walls and bottom of the pond insert so I added the Algae Control. We have small fish, plants and a frog in the pond. What can I do or should I do something about the foam. The fish have come closer to the surface since this morning. |
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- Posted by pondbucket 5, KS (My Page) on Wed, Aug 24, 11 at 10:30
| MaryJo, I'm wondering if you added the prescribed amount or just over did it and added a jar of the TP AC... If it is the latter then I would guess it's some sort of chemical reaction going wild. Like the earlier posts suggests in spring when pumps are sometimes first started and weather a little chilly, the amount of organics in the water can cause excessive foam. This usually subsides with filtering to where you only have mostly lite little rings of small white bubbles popping up around floating leaves, like water lilly pads. I think this last situation is indicative of the organics being slowly removed with filtration but there's also surface tension happening at the top water. If the foam is big buffy stuff then get a fine net and skim the surface a few times a day. If the foam is widespread and shallow you may want to try Foam-B-Gone, a product that I use in the spring and fall on ocassion. It's one of my "must haves" in my box of aquatic goodies. Re: Algae. If it is thick string algae on the walls, bottom and perhaps waterfall, a net or your hand just scooping it out - my hand in the water has always worked best for me. Take it a little at a time. At this time of year, if Algae is a problem then I would venture to guess you don't have enough submerged aquatics in the water to out-compete the algae. Good luck. |
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