I had a previous problem with algae which I cured successfully, but now I am
suffering with a sludge issue. I have a pond that is 5m x 5m x1m and has
adequate filtration and plant cover. The fish are not overfed, and eat
everything I give them. I now have a green sludge forming around the plants
in the pond and covering the base, it clogs over the pump and is very
difficult to remove.
Any advice to what could cause this issue? Would pictures of the sludge
help?

Thanks

--
XBL : D0C RAY

We'll be Gunning for you

Hi KerplunKuk,

It might be time to clean the pond. Even
in a well balanced pond stuff gathers and
needs to cleaned out. Mother Nature's ponds
are designed to fill in and we try and counter
that with skimmers and bottom drains.
For those of us who don't have them we
have to shovel the stuff out from time to
time.

kathy :-) www.blogfromthebog.com
this week's entry - blackfly
Pond 101 page for new pond keepers ~
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"KerplunKuK" [dot]uk wrote in message
...
I had a previous problem with algae which I cured successfully, but now I
am suffering with a sludge issue. I have a pond that is 5m x 5m x1m and
has adequate filtration and plant cover. The fish are not overfed, and eat
everything I give them. I now have a green sludge forming around the
plants in the pond and covering the base, it clogs over the pump and is
very difficult to remove.
Any advice to what could cause this issue? Would pictures of the sludge
help?
=========================
It may be time to drain and clean it out. We do ours at least every two
years.
--
McKoi.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

"KerplunKuK" [dot]uk wrote in message
...
I had a previous problem with algae which I cured successfully, but now I
am suffering with a sludge issue. I have a pond that is 5m x 5m x1m and
has adequate filtration and plant cover. The fish are not overfed, and eat
everything I give them. I now have a green sludge forming around the
plants in the pond and covering the base, it clogs over the pump and is
very difficult to remove.
Any advice to what could cause this issue? Would pictures of the sludge
help?


Drain the pond to the point where you can safely wade into it, maybe about
45cm deep. See if you can get a wet-dry shop vac, pump out the sludge into a
few buckets. Just dump it around the garden, think of it as fertilizer. It
might have a smell for a day or two, but after it dries up, the smell goes
away.

The sludge is the accumulation of dead bacteria and algae, fish waste, dust
and leaves that were blown into the water, the carcass of aquatic insects.
It's natural, every so often we all have to clean it out of our ponds and
dispose of it. A lot of times you can just use a pond skimmer net to scoop
out the thicker sludge.

-S

Snooze wrote:

Drain the pond to the point where you can safely wade into it, maybe
about 45cm deep. See if you can get a wet-dry shop vac, pump out the
sludge into a few buckets. Just dump it around the garden, think of
it as fertilizer. It might have a smell for a day or two, but after
it dries up, the smell goes away.

The sludge is the accumulation of dead bacteria and algae, fish
waste, dust and leaves that were blown into the water, the carcass of
aquatic insects. It's natural, every so often we all have to clean it
out of our ponds and dispose of it. A lot of times you can just use a
pond skimmer net to scoop out the thicker sludge.

-S

Thanks, I thought it had arrived due to poor balance in the pond or
something. Glad to know that it is a regular thing. I assume that my
turtles adding lots of waste do not help!
--
XBL : D0C RAY

We'll be Gunning for you

"KerplunKuK" [dot]uk wrote in message
...
Snooze wrote:

Drain the pond to the point where you can safely wade into it, maybe
about 45cm deep. See if you can get a wet-dry shop vac, pump out the
sludge into a few buckets. Just dump it around the garden, think of
it as fertilizer. It might have a smell for a day or two, but after
it dries up, the smell goes away.

The sludge is the accumulation of dead bacteria and algae, fish
waste, dust and leaves that were blown into the water, the carcass of
aquatic insects. It's natural, every so often we all have to clean it
out of our ponds and dispose of it. A lot of times you can just use a
pond skimmer net to scoop out the thicker sludge.

-S

Thanks, I thought it had arrived due to poor balance in the pond or
something. Glad to know that it is a regular thing. I assume that my
turtles adding lots of waste do not help!
===========================
Don't forget that like aquariums ponds need partial water changes BESIDES a
yearly or bi-yearly cleaning/draining.
--
McKoi.... frugal ponding since 1995...
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o