Winter time is planning time. I put a waterfall in my 1/2 acre pond and love the affect. What I am wondering about is the pool that I put at the top of the waterfall.

My thought was to have a small pool where I could keep some minnows for use in the pond. It is about 2 feet deep and 10 feet across.

this is the best picture I have. the pool is at the top.


Here is my concern and question. Since the waterfall pulls water from the pond, it is high in nutrients. That causes lots of algae in the pool since it is shallow and the water does not constantly move. I treat the pool, but it just flows into the pond and does not recycle. I want a cleaner water feature situation. Do I need to get rid of the pool and just have a river that goes to the waterfall (rocks in front)? What have others done with this situation?

Explore using peroxygen carbonate - Phycomycin or green clean for treating algae in the pool connected to the pond. It is a very effective algacide in that situation and basically has no harmful residue . Used properly it will not harm minnows or their fry compared to copper based algacides. Phycomycin for a good price is available in MI from Cygnet Enterprises.
http://www.cygnetenterprises.com/Product...sn=62&pn=37

PM me for other good uses around the house for Phycomycin.

If you have power for a pump, you have power for a UV sterilizer, perhaps that will help limit growth of nasties in the pool apart from what Bill is suggesting. However it may wipe out minnow chow too.

Brian:

I second the Phyco treatments. They'll probably be needed every 6 weeks.

A client has a .8 acre pond that had a FA problem. We stocked Tilapia in it. He also has an almost 4' wide waterfall/stream that uses water from the pond. While the pond stays clean of FA due to the Tilapia, I have to treat the stream every 6 weeks with Phyco.

You might be able to put one or two Tilapia in the pool, but they won't do anything for the stream itself. I don;t know if the Tilapia get hungry, if they'll eat the minnows.

Cool, I will give that a try. Time for Spring (since I am not going to get good enough ice to fish consistently).