Pond troubles?
Question:my mom has this old bathtub that we filled up with water and put some fish in its in a fairly sunny spot so theres lots of algea she bought som ekind of chemical at walmart but its not strong enough do you know anything that will work??
Answers:
You need to create an ecosystem in the bathtub pond. Don't panic; it's easy and you've already started.
1. Fish. Fish eat algae.
2. The tub should be in shade 1/2 of the day. Doesn't matter which half.
3. Plants. Go to a pond store and get some inexpensive floating plants. They will help shade the pond. Algae doesn't like shade.
4. A little pump and sprayer. This keeps the water moving and oxygenated, which helps the fish and plants. It also looks and sounds pretty!
5. "Beneficial bacteria". These microscopic beneficial bacteria will live in your pond and help keep it clear of algae. You can buy it at a pond store. I use "Microbe-Lift".
Yes, this is complicated at first, but once you have createad your little ecosystem, your pond will take care of itself.
You may have to take the fish out and scrub it out like a fish tank. Make sure if you buy chemicals that they won't kill the fish.
UV lamp filter, so far it's the only thing that works. Tetra makes several sizes the smallest will be right for a bath tub. They sterilize the water and zap the alge,They're using these for drinking water in TWC's, nothing else will do!
the sunlight feeds the algea. shade it and dont listen to thosebad advisers.
First of all, try and shade the tub - the more light it gets, the more algae will grow. Second, get plants in there - they use up the nutrients in the water that the algae needs to grow. You can set a milkcrate in the center and stand a few pots on top of that if it's too deep for anything other than water lilys. A couple of water lilys would be nice otherwise - tie them to a brick to keep them submerged. Plants also add oxygen that your fish need. If you have a pump & filter (which i hope you do) be sure the water returns into the tub a couple of inches above the water level to add even more agitation (i.e. no mosquitoes) & oxygen. Maybe you could rig up an old faucet and have the water return through that?? Stay away from chemicals - they create havoc with the filtration and the resulting dead/rotting algae can raise ammonia levels and kill your fish. Remember that the algae growing on the sides is beneficial to any pond - fish love to eat it and it also creates oxygen. It's the floating microscopic algae (that turns your water to "pea soup green") that you want to get rid of - that is done by the above... plants and shade. Hope that helps - sounds like a cute pond!
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