Water is Tea color-Help
Debra Dion
25 stream and bio filter. Water was great all summer, clear
as a bell no algae and 4 happy 6inch (now 9 inch) Koi. Could
see to the bottom of 3 1/2 foot pond.
In the last week my water has gone to a tea color and the
only thing I can attribute it to is leaves in the stream. I
covered the pond to keep them out but dod not worry about
the stream. Figured I'd deal with it when all the leave had
fallen from the trees.
Ph ok
Nitrate ok
water 55 degrees
Any ideas why the tea color.
-Ryan
Jacqui T
stream if it's causing a problem in the pond.
Jacqui
"Debra Dion" <dd...@sgi.net> wrote in message
news:3BD332C3...@sgi.net...
Phyllis and Jim Hurley
dying plants and leaves and pine needles. Clear, but tea. Good luck.
J&P
"Debra Dion" <dd...@sgi.net> wrote in message
news:3BD332C3...@sgi.net...
Mark
"Phyllis and Jim Hurley" <james...@att.net> wrote in message
news:lMcB7.137110$3d2.4...@bgtnsc06-news.ops.worldnet.att.net.
..
> Sun will eventually bleach the water. Ours, however, stays tea
colored from
> dying plants and leaves and pine needles. Clear, but tea.
Good luck.
>
Assam, Earl Grey or lapsang souchong :-) Is it the decomposing of
the leaves that turn it a tea colour or is it something that
seeps out of the leaves themselves? The sycamore above our pond
is starting to shed it's leaves and whilst I get all the floating
ones out each day a lot are sinking to the bottom. I was going to
wait untill all the leaves had fallen before getting in to
exctract the sunken ones, might this be too late.
Mark
Bonnie Espenshade
Mark wrote:
>
> Assam, Earl Grey or lapsang souchong :-) Is it the decomposing of
> the leaves that turn it a tea colour or is it something that
> seeps out of the leaves themselves? The sycamore above our pond
> is starting to shed it's leaves and whilst I get all the floating
> ones out each day a lot are sinking to the bottom. I was going to
> wait untill all the leaves had fallen before getting in to
> exctract the sunken ones, might this be too late.
>
> Mark
I also have a sycamore near the pond. The leaves are really
heavy and plentiful. It's best to cover the pond with
netting or screening.
I perfer Lady Grey.
--
Bonnie
NJ
http://hpphoto.com/home/ViewMyAlbum.asp?coll_id=876614
http://www.users.fast.net/~maebe/index.htm
June
"Mark" <mark.ha...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:9r3sq1$qelrv$1...@ID-98948.news.dfncis.de...
wasn't pea green with algae and I could see to near bottom. I had no leaves
in the pond (from trees) to colour it that way at that time. On the other
hand, I've a great big Bee Balm Plant near the pond..Now *that's* the stuff
(leaves) if fallen into the pond will make a great cup of Earl Grey. ;-)
best wishes,
June (PA)
Mark
"Bonnie Espenshade" <ma...@fast.net> wrote in message
news:3BD59592...@fast.net...
>
>
> Mark wrote:
>
> >
> > Assam, Earl Grey or lapsang souchong :-) Is it the
decomposing of
> > the leaves that turn it a tea colour or is it something that
> > seeps out of the leaves themselves? The sycamore above our
pond
> > is starting to shed it's leaves and whilst I get all the
floating
> > ones out each day a lot are sinking to the bottom. I was
going to
> > wait untill all the leaves had fallen before getting in to
> > exctract the sunken ones, might this be too late.
> >
> > Mark
>
> I also have a sycamore near the pond. The leaves are really
> heavy and plentiful. It's best to cover the pond with
> netting or screening.
> I perfer Lady Grey.
This year the tree was really cut back hard so there aren't a
great number of leaves, but as it's over 80' high I think it
might be more of a problem in coming years.
So do you cover the whole pond? and if so how do you get the
netting round the plants; by cutting it to shape? We have
numerous birds that come each day for a bath and drink, don't
they get tangled up in the netting? Also with having a small
island I can't figure out how to overcome this.
Mark
Bonnie Espenshade
Mark wrote:
>
>
>
> This year the tree was really cut back hard so there aren't a
> great number of leaves, but as it's over 80' high I think it
> might be more of a problem in coming years.
>
> So do you cover the whole pond? and if so how do you get the
> netting round the plants; by cutting it to shape? We have
> numerous birds that come each day for a bath and drink, don't
> they get tangled up in the netting? Also with having a small
> island I can't figure out how to overcome this.
>
> Mark
Hi Mark,
I cover the koi pond. In previous years I covered the lower
pond but did have small birds get caught in the net - the
frogs didn't like the net either. Now I don't cover the
lower pond and I must scoop leaves daily. Sometimes it
seems as if I could scoop non stop. I have added photos to
my web page of the netting. The chipmunks actually can run
across the netting.
Mark
Lovely ponds Bonnie,
No wonder you cover it, at least you'll have plenty of leaf
mulch. I think scooping should be OK for a couple years yet there
is
no where near as many leaves fallen off our tree.
Mark
DeKa
My pond was tea coloured too!
The solution is Activated Charcoal from an aquarium shop... put some in a
stocking, in your biofilter (I have a Bioforce 9000UVC here in Australia)
and it keeps it crystal clear... only need to put new charcoal in every 3
months or so.
--
Derek
My new pond & watergarden forum
http://www.rockaroundtheblock.com.au/forum
"Debra Dion" <dd...@sgi.net> wrote in message
news:3BD332C3...@sgi.net...
Don Cunningham
I built an 8X14 foot frame of 1x4 hinged in the middle. Covered it with
1/2 in mesh netting. you cut back the plants so they are below the net. It
gets 95% of the leaves. Saves a lot of cleaning .
don cunningham
"Mark" <mark.ha...@btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:9r6aes$rncl1$1...@ID-98948.news.dfncis.de...
Old Man
Jerrispond
Just like tea.....tannin is in both, you should see the water of the
okeefanokee swamp....dark as coffee, and like a mirror. I like green
tea....wonder if thats why I"m having an algea bloom in the big pond??? :-)
....Jerri
http://www.fringeweb.com/Ponds/JerrisPond
Bonnie Espenshade
There are many cedar lakes in South Jersey. The trees are
growing in on near the water and have actually scented the
water as well as coloring it brown. As a kid we would visit
them and I always thought it was a special treat to swim in
the scented water. It was so much nicer than the chlorine
at the local swimming pool in Philly.
Mark
> There are many cedar lakes in South Jersey. The trees are
> growing in on near the water and have actually scented the
> water as well as coloring it brown. As a kid we would visit
> them and I always thought it was a special treat to swim in
> the scented water. It was so much nicer than the chlorine
> at the local swimming pool in Philly.
> --
> Bonnie
The company I work for has a place in the NE of England by the
coast, the sales director (now retired) used to swim in the sea
by the sewage outlet when he was a youngster as it was nice and
warm. Yuk!!!
Mark
jan
watch your pH, it could crash unless you have good buffered water. Maples
being one of the worst.
I cover my stream and ponds with bug netting (screen door mesh) keeps
every thing out, except dust. See pictures, click on *My Ponds* pages 1 & 6
of my webpage show the screening. On the lily pond I plan to try out shade
cloth.
Now just because you screen the ponds, doesn't mean you can just let those
leaves pile up. Rain can make a drip tea maker out of your screening, also
some screening (fruit tree netting) stretches under even a light load of
leaves, right into the water.
Carbon in the filter can help, better/faster is water changes. ~ jan
See my ponds thru the seasons and/or my filter design:
http://users.owt.com/jjspond/
~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website
Mark
"jan" <JJs...@noe-mail.com> wrote in message
news:4omtttci8lhr3kbso...@4ax.com...
> Yes, it is the tannin "acids" in many leaves that turn the
water brown, so
> watch your pH, it could crash unless you have good buffered
water. Maples
> being one of the worst.
>
> I cover my stream and ponds with bug netting (screen door
mesh) keeps
> every thing out, except dust. See pictures, click on *My Ponds*
pages 1 & 6
> of my webpage show the screening. On the lily pond I plan to
try out shade
> cloth.
>
> Now just because you screen the ponds, doesn't mean you can
just let those
> leaves pile up. Rain can make a drip tea maker out of your
screening, also
> some screening (fruit tree netting) stretches under even a
light load of
> leaves, right into the water.
>
My neighbours definitely think I'm mad now, at the weekend I
climbed into my wetsuit and entered the pond, cleaned out the
leaves and installed an in pond skimmer. This has already cleaned
the surface, so should be OK this year. However, as we are
planning to plant several trees in the next few weeks; screening
will be on the agenda for next year.
Mark