This is more of a pond/fountain issue but I think the water chemistry should be the same. I have a small pond/waterfall I built in the front yard a few years ago. It’s only 50-80 gallons with a small pump and surrounded by ornamental rocks which also build the rise for the waterfall. I have a constant problem with algae. I’m doing my annual cleaning now and I’m looking for advice. In the past I have tried many algaecide type products with little effect and have used a bit of bleach each week with some success on the algae but it tends to bleach the ornamental rocks a powdery white – kinda defeats the purpose. One guy online said he used a 1 inch chlorine tablet once a week in his small pond and it keeps it clear, but I wonder if I would still have the bleaching problem. The goal is to keep the water clear – no plants, fish, or critters to worry about – and not discolor the rocks. Any advice appreciated. Thx
algae problems
- Thread starter papacat21
- Start date
- Jan 4, 2016
- 5,288
- Pool Size
- 44000
- Surface
- Plaster
- Chlorine
- Salt Water Generator
I have a similar situation. The rocks bleach only if the chlorine gets too high, or it's actually algae dying that causes the colour change.
Try using just a fraction of one of those tabs, like a teaspoon. It puts a little cyanuric acid in the water which stops the chlorine from burning off in the sun, which occurs in 30 minutes to an hour without CYA. The CYA stays there, so you can't keep adding it because it ties up the chlorine and acts as a buffering system. You can use our PoolMath calculator to get your numbers right. Enter 80 gallons as your pool volume. Enter 30 PPM CYA and 5 PPM FC as your "target" and 0 PPM as your "now". We're talking teaspoon range of bleach per day, or every other day. At the bottom is a section that shows effect of adding chemicals. Those tabs are trichlor. If you enter even 0.5 ounce, you'll see that it would add a lot of free chlorine, but you could add a pinch a day over a multiple days and make it work
You would need to flush it out periodically because without a test kit, it's guesswork. There are forums with aquatic garden info as well. I'll bet they have better techniques for you
Try using just a fraction of one of those tabs, like a teaspoon. It puts a little cyanuric acid in the water which stops the chlorine from burning off in the sun, which occurs in 30 minutes to an hour without CYA. The CYA stays there, so you can't keep adding it because it ties up the chlorine and acts as a buffering system. You can use our PoolMath calculator to get your numbers right. Enter 80 gallons as your pool volume. Enter 30 PPM CYA and 5 PPM FC as your "target" and 0 PPM as your "now". We're talking teaspoon range of bleach per day, or every other day. At the bottom is a section that shows effect of adding chemicals. Those tabs are trichlor. If you enter even 0.5 ounce, you'll see that it would add a lot of free chlorine, but you could add a pinch a day over a multiple days and make it work
You would need to flush it out periodically because without a test kit, it's guesswork. There are forums with aquatic garden info as well. I'll bet they have better techniques for you
