May 1, 2010 - Got up this morning at 5:45, and noticed that the flow of water coming from the falls was reduced. Yup, you guessed it, the cotton-like filter media was clogged with more GREEN GUNK. I did my morning cleaning and replacement of the filter media. The last two days has really dirtied up the pond. WHERE IS ALL THIS GREEN GUNK COMING FROM? Put in my monthly three tabs of Muck Defense. Fed the fish 1/8 of a cup of food. Checked on the quarantined fish, and fed them a few pellets. They are still very skittish. I decided to let my new fish in the quarantine tank got into the pond today. The water in the tank in the garage was starting to warm up a bit too fast. They seemed to adapt quickly to their new environment. Each of them were able to eat during their first group feeding. I did my weekly cleaning off of the pond light lenses today. There was A LOT of string algae. I was able to grab a bunch of it with my hand near the air stone. I thought this stuff didn't like moving water? It seems to flourish near the most movement. I threw in one more Muck Defense tab near the air stone. Put in 8 oz of Clear Defense, and three tea spoons of beneficial bacteria. Put in new filter media at 9:00 pm. Started to rain at 9:25.
May 2, 2010 - Got up this morning at 4:30, I was worried about my filter media choking off the pump, but not to worry, it rained during the night, and the water level was up a bit. I cleaned the cotton-like filter media, AGAIN, and replaced as usual. Around 8:30, I drained about an inch of water from the pond to bring it back down to "normal". There is still A LOT of string algae gowning on the sides of the pond, and the plant pots. It is EVERYWHERE! I hope all the beneficial bacteria I put in last night does helps get the nutrient levels down a bit. Did a bit of side wall cleaning, got quite a bit of GREEN GUNK. There is still a lot of string algae in this pond. Put in 16 oz of ULTIMATE, and 3 oz of blue pond tint. I need to figure out how to stop this string algae! Added 2 oz of OneFix, just in case. Time to be patient, if that is possible!?!
May 3, 2010 - Got up this morning at 5:00 to check on the skimmer, but it was doing just fine. Still a lot of GREEN GUNK, but not enough to choke off the pump. Did my usual cleaning this AM. Sent off an email about my string algae issue, and have decided to dose with 25 table spoons of Koi clay. Some say this will do this trick. See image below of just a bit of my sting algae issue...
I went home and put 25 scoops of Koi Clay into a 5 gallon bucket. I then distributed this solution around the pond turning the water a blue-gray color. I will do this daily or until I see the string algae going away. Put in another 25 scoops of Koi Clay just before I went to bed. Cleaned out the skimmer pad at 9:00.
May 4, 2010 - Got up at 5:30 to clean out the skimmer pad, all was well, still a lot of GREEN GUNK, but at least the pump was not being choked. Gave the fish 1/8 of a cup of food. The two new Koi seem to be doing well so far. I have decided to got to Alco or Pamida to buy some quilt batting to use in place of the cotton-like filter media. The batting is cheap, and I can just throw it away after each use, instead of rinsing it off each time, which is a huge mess! Purchased some polyester quilt batting from Alco at lunch, also went home a dosed the pond with 25 scoops of Koi Clay again, this was the third dose. That string algae is growing like mad on the planter pots, as well as everywhere else! I will keep my fingers crossed. Put in two sections of quilt batting around 4:00 today. I will use this, and then just throw it away. I did my night time filter media change out, and I noticed, with the pond lights on, that there was a lot of string algae just waving in the flow of the water. I tried to reach into the pond, and grab what I could. I got enough to fill a small coffee can. Crazy!!!
May 5, 2010 - Today, the replacement of the skimmer pad is so much easier without having to clean them off, I now just throw them away. I have pre-cut several sections of polyester quilt batting to fit into my skimmer. So now, twice a day, I just take out the old one, run my pool skimmer a few times in the basket, rinse off the 2" filter media and replace it, and put in a new polyester quilt batting section. The entire process went from 20 minutes each time, to only about 2 minutes. Got to love that! Fed the fish this morning 1/8 of a cup of food. I also added 16 oz of
Liquid Clear Defense to boost the beneficial bacteria. When I came home from school today, around 3:30, I noticed the falls were not as full as usual, and of course, the skimmer media was full and choking off the pump again. I quickly did a polyester quilt batting change, and all was good. I put up the
SOLAR SHADES today as well. I was able to hand pick a lot of sting algae from the sides of the pond. The stuff was about 2 feet long, just waving in the pond. Just think, these are trillions of single celled creatures all strung together to form these long strands. That is just hard to imagine. I added 2 oz of OneFix around 4:00. I added 8 oz of Microbe Lift PL around 8:00. I did one more change of the quilt material around 10:00, as well as grabbed some more waving string algae.
May 6, 2010 - Did my morning routine of changing the filter media in the skimmer around 5:45. The water had just started to be choked off a bit, but not enough to choke the pump yet. I did not feed the fish this AM, I will feed them at noon. I think they can go to work on all that algae, I hope they get their bellies full. Put in a few table spoons of beneficial bacteria, removed the 2" filter media from the skimmer, and inserted some black and green matala mat in its place. It has less of a chance of clogging while we are off to see my oldest daughter graduate from college in Pensacola Florida. We will be back on Sunday, in the mean time, my father-in-law will be rinsing off the media, and feeding the fish once a day 1/8 of a cup.
May 7 - 8, 2010 - My Father-in-law checked on the pond while we were away. He rinsed off the matala mat skimmer media and replaced twice daily.
May 9, 2010 - Arrived home at 3:52 pm after a 12.5 hour drive and a total trip of 1,881 miles to Pensacola Florida to see Danielle Graduate. I am beat. The pond water was CRYSTAL CLEAR, but there was a lot of string algae all around. Spent some time hand picking string algae, the toilet scrubber on the end of a pole doesn't seem to work very well. The stuff is EVERYWHERE and it doesn't look like it is slowing down any time soon. I replaced the 2" filter media back into the skimmer. I kept it on the pond shelf while we were gone as to not kill off all the beneficial bacteria. I also put in a polyester filter pad on top of it, now I am back to my twice daily changing of filter media until I figure out what to do with all the string algae. I dosed the pond with 25 table spoons of Koi Clay around 7:00 pm. Changed the filter pad at 9:30, and off to bed, I am a ZOMBIE!
May 10, 2010 - Changed the polyester filter pad at 5:30 AM. I am currently in the process of doing a 5 - 10% water change. I try to do this weekly. I pump down as far as I can as not to choke off the pump. Then I refill the water level from my sand-point, and then pump back down again and refill, then I do it one more time for a total of three times. I place the pump on the bottom of the pond when I do my water removal. Once the water change was complete, I tested the PH, Hardness, Nitrates, Nitrites, Chlorine, Alkalinity, and Ammonia. All levels were in the in the proper place. The water was a bit on the hard side, but that was the only red flag. I added 8 oz of Ultimate, and 12 oz of Pond Logic Crystal Clear Defense.
May 11, 2010 - Did my daily twice cleaning of the skimmer media, or should I say, replacement of the filter media. I have noticed the amount of GREEN GUNK is diminishing. That's a good thing! I received my shipment from Foster and Smith of
Barley Concentrate with Peat during my lunch time. I put in the initial 8 oz treatment. I also grabbed several more handfuls of string algae off the sides of the pond. Tomorrow my order of Koizyme should arrive.
May 12, 2010 - This morning, I did my daily routine of changing the polyester filter media in the skimmer, and it was not even slowing down the flow of water, so the GREEN GUNK has started to subside, KNOCK ON WOOD! The weather has been so cold, I have stopped feeding the fish. They have not been fed since Sunday. The water temp is in the mid 50s. I have some cold weather food arriving today, along with some
Koizyme. There is still an abundance of string algae, and I try to grab what I can when I see it waving in the water. It is growing on EVERYTHING! I added 100 ml of KoiZyme to the pond, this is the first of three doses every third day. I had to double the dose due to the cold pond water temperatures. Currently, the pond water is 56º. Noticed some muck on the bottom near where the liner meets the pea gravel. I was able to scoop most of it up with a net. I am wondering if this is the first sing of dying string algae. Fed the fish an 1/8 of a cup of my new Cold Water Food.
May 13, 2010 - Did my daily switch of filter media this AM around 6:10. The water level behind the filter media was starting to go down, so the GREEN GUNK is coming back. Fed the fish and 1/8 of a cup of my new COLD WATER food, everyone was eating, even Baby. I am still getting large handfull's of string algae off the sids of the pond.
May 14, 2010 - Did three skimmer media changes today, morning, around 3:00, and then at 9:30. I was gone on the Senior Class Trip, so my daughter Chelsea did the 3:00 changing, for I didn't think it would make it until I arrived home. There was a lot of waving string algae, and I grabbed what I could, and used my make-shift toilet brush on a broom handle to try and get the rest, but I just don't think it works as well as others have reported.
May15, 2010 - Changed this media this morning around 7:00. I also put 10 oz of "Liquid Clear Defense" in and around the skimmer. I put 8 oz of Microbe Lift PL near the air bubble column. At noon, I am going to add my second dose of KoiZyme near the air column under the bridge. The water is still cold, so it will have to be a double dose of 100 ml. The regular dose is 20 ml/1000 gallons. So I got just a tad more in my 2400 gallon pond, actually it is 2500 with the two 55 gallon drum filtration units. (20 ml + 20 ml +10 ml = a dose for 2500 gallons) So 100 ml will be the double dose. Okay, I put in my dose of KoiZyme, and while I was doing my routine cleaning off of the pond lights, I noticed thousands of strands of barley from my barley bail on the bottom of the pond. They were EVERYWHERE! I tried to get up what I could, but there is still a lot of them on the sides and bottom of the pond. So I dosed with a lot of beneficial bacteria today. I put in 4 Muck Defense tabs, 4 scoops of dry beneficial bacteria, along with the treatment from this morning. The water is still crystal clear, but this is just one more problem that I did not anticipate!!!!
May 16, 2010 - Did the usual twice cleaning and twice feeding today. I did not do any thing else to the pond today. We went to Peoria to buy a new mattress set for Chelsea, spent most of the day working and driving. I did notice some more string algae on the lights that I had just cleaned the day before.
May 17, 2010 - Did the usual cleaning again today of the skimmer pads. I had to drain off about 2" of water from the 2" we received during the night. Very cold and wet spring. I am still feeding the fish the COLD water fish food. I added 2 oz of OneFix to the aeration column. Fed the fish twice today, 1/8 of a cup each time of COLD water fish food.
May 18, 2010 - Again I did my twice daily change out of the skimmer pad material. I am running low, and need to resupply. This morning I added my third dose of KoiZyme, 100 ml which is twice the normal dose for a pond of 2,500 gallons due to the cold water temperatures. My pond is 2400 gallons, and my filter is 100 gallons for a total of 2,500. This spring has been cold one, it is still in the lower 50s in the morning. I noticed a lot of wavy string algae once the sun went down, and my pond lights came on. I was able to grab fist fulls of algae from the pond. This stuff is CRAZY!
May 19, 2010 - Did my daily skimmer cleaning/change out. I have run out of the polyester material, I will buy some more today during my lunch time. I cut up enough filter pads for 18 days, I hope this is enough.
May 20, 2010 - It is raining today, my pond is a bit low due to my last pump out of rain, so this will be like a mini water change. I will do my major 10 - 20% water change on Friday, since it is raining today. Still fighting the STRING ALGAE! I am thinking about using 2½ pints of Hydrogen Peroxide to take care of the problem. Waiting on someone else to try it first.
May 21, 2010 - Changed the cotton-like filter media twice today, as usual. Pulled fist fulls of string algae from the water and the sides of the pond. Added 100 ml of KoiZyme to the water, this is the 4th initial dose.
May 22, 2010 - Changed the filter skimmer media again twice today. Started to pull the seedling trees from all the seeds that fell upon the rocks around the pond. There are thousands of them. Planted a new plant today we purchased from Ace Hardware to add color to the pond, and to replace the plant that did not make it that I ordered previously.
May 23, 2010 - Did a major water change today. I would estimate between 20% and 25%. Added 10 oz of "Ultimate", 8 oz of MicrobeLift PL, and 8 oz of Barley Concentrate Plus Peat. I drained the water, from the bottom, as far as I could without choking off the pump. The I replaced the water back to normal levels. I did this a total of three times. Picked some more weeds from around the perimeter of the pond. There is an endless supply! Temperature today was in the upper 90s.
May 24, 2010 - Got up this morning at 6:05, and the filter media had started to choke off the water supply to the pump, not all the way, but in another hour, it would have been different. I changed out the polyester skimmer media, and added the last of my initial 5 doses of KoiZyme to the pond. Even though the water temp has started to go up, I added my usual 100 ml of KoiZyme. The string algae is still out of control, last night I got a softball sized clump. For some reason, you can really see it waving in the pond at night with the pond lights guiding the way. Temperature today was in the 90s. Changed the skimmer media twice today, as usual.
May 25, 2010 - Changed the skimmer media twice today, as usual. The water temperature is really going up fast due to the last few days of HOT and HUMID weather. Big change in such a short period of time.
May 26, 2010 - Changed the skimmer media twice today, but I barely made it to the night time change. I had to do several scrapings of green gunk off the media in order to make it to after 9:00 pm. I also added 2 oz of OneFix to the pond.
May 27, 2010 - Did my daily routine with the skimmer media changes. Will this GREEN GUNK ever go away?
May 28, 2010 - Did the usual twice daily changing of the filter media. Today was the staff golf outing, and the pond held up well.
May 29, 2010 - Started adding just 25 ml of KoiZyme today. Also added 2 oz of blue pond tint, 8 oz of MicrobeLift, and 2 oz of barley plus peat. Also cleaned off the pond lights today.
May 30, 2010 - Changed the filter media in the skimmer twice today. I also pulled more seedings from around the pond perimeter.
May 31, 2010 - Changed the filter media three times today. This is probably due to the 1 1/2 of rain we received in about an hour this morning. The water got a bit cloudy after all the rain.
