The Common Mistake That Almost Never Helps Clear Green Water

If you’ve got some green water showing up in your pond and you’re kind of feeling freaked out about, you’re not alone. In fact that’s a common response.

For many pond owners, the next logical thing to do would be to think that something is going way out of kilter with the pond and that they did something wrong when they added water to it. After all, just a few days ago things looked pretty good and now it’s a green swamp.

So what seems to make the most sense would be to start over. Drain the water out and add some fresh stuff and see if this time, things will go better.

But alas, this is not the right thinking at all.

You Can’t Keep Changing All The Water Out And Expect A Different Result

In fact, in almost every case, you’ll find that in a few days, your pristine, freshly filled pond, will be turning green again!

No matter how many times you drain and fill it, the results will usually be the same.

You see, green water isn’t all that unusual in a pond, and in a newly started pond, it’s quite common. The reason this little single cell algae can grow so well and so quickly is that the basic biological processes that help keep a pond cleaner and clearer, aren’t really evolved enough yet.

Here’s What You Should Do For Green Water…Be Patient!

In fact, after we fill a new pond, or refill an old one, we always add some beneficial bacteria to the water as soon as possible. We might also get some plants going in the pond, and then we give it some time. The good microbes will start to build up, and if you have a biofilter, they’ll begin to colonize inside it. And often, within about 6 to 8 weeks, you’ll most likely have much clearer water.

If beyond that point you still have a problem with greenish water, there are other things you can do (such as consider a UV light) but this initial startup process will work a lot of the time.

I would caution anyone to not do two things. Don’t change out all the water as this whole process is getting established (or you’ll have to start all over again). And secondly, don’t add an algaecide to the water just to keep it looking better. Some of these will harm good bacteria and set you back in that way too.

One simple little trick, ad you’re going through this patient “wait and see” start up, is that you can do some partial water changes and not hurt a thing. Try changing out something like 10% of the water with some fresh stuff every few days, just to see if it will help lighten the green goblin. Quite often you’ll find this to be helpful.

Just remember to leave most of that good, established water in the pond where it will eventually do you a lot of good!