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Joined: Feb 2008
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Lunker
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"Just pondering."
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I don't know the chemical process, but my little ponds, which are fed by well water have that exact same color. And it happens immediately, so it's not algae. Lusk looked at my pond and said it's because of the minerals in the water.
Holding a redear sunfish is like running with scissors.
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It's either one of two things: clay particles or iron. Or it could be both. (Didn't your recently have a rain event too?)
Everyone thinks that iron is always brown/orange but when it's diluted it green/cloudy. Iron does not precipitate right away as it comes out of the ground and the water will be as clear as glass. Howvever once the water gets oxygenated the iron precipitates and the water gets color to it.
The only other possibility is an algae bloom but an algae bloom won't happen this quickly.
My trout pond that gets water 24/7 in the summer is the same exact color as you picture from iron. If I would stop the pump as I do in the fall, the iron will eventually settle and the water will be as clear as a swimming pool.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 04/06/08 09:38 AM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Editor, Pond Boss Magazine Lunker
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I've looked at ponds all over the nation. I have looked at chemical analysis of pond water from all over the nation. A common thread between color of water (sans a plankton bloom)is what's dissolved into it, especially minerals. In sandy soils of piney woods, water has a dark brown tint, like tea. That water is acidic and soft...whether it's in Georgia, Alabama, Canada or Texas. In areas where there's a heavy influence of limestone under the subsoils or mixed into the soils, water is a rich greenish color, sometimes with a blue tint.
Extremely low pH water, less than 4.0, the water is a beautiful cobalt blue, like the Caribbean. Scares me to death when I see that gorgeous color.
I would bet that if you analyze your water (which you should do anyway, for future reference) you will find a mixture of different metals and minerals with a heavy influence of limestone.
Always remember this...scientists call water the "universal solvent." Water can dissolve even the biggest, toughest rocks and metals and then deposit that stuff elsewhere. It can dissolve organic matter (that's why acidic water is brown...usually from tannins from leaves and pine needles and wood) as well as some inorganic things. Water has some magically powers and our job is to know about it and nurture it.
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"Extremely low pH water, less than 4.0, the water is a beautiful cobalt blue, like the Caribbean. Scares me to death when I see that gorgeous color."
Bob, can you say why this scares you?
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:"
"She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Bob,
My wellwater has a lot of calcium carbonate, high PH, limestone rock, and very, very hard too, but it's the iron in a dilluted state that gives it that green color. Once the iron settles it's crystal clear. When I first fill a pond for the year it's brown, then it's dark green, then light green, then crystal clear.
I don't doubt what you say at all Bob, but this is what causes the green in my area vs. later when an algae bloom is the cause.
I've also see a lot of literature that explains the green color due to iron.
And I've seen glacial melt water that is rich in clay and silt particles that has a cloudy green color to it.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 04/06/08 10:44 AM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Lunker
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Could it be that the "clear" water flowing into your pond is really already green but that you can't detect the color in such a thin layer? The blue water of the the tropics does not look blue in the shallows. Also, ferrous sulfate and many other water soluble metal salts are green. The varieties of complex chemical inorganic and organic compounds which could be giving this color are daunting, I think.
Layton Runkle
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Sunil, long ago, about 1985 or 86, I had the opportunity to stock a beautiful cobalt blue pond, water clarity to eight feet near Bastrop, Texas. It sits in the area called "Lost Pines." I tempered the fish, made sure the water temperature was right and then released the creatures. They immediately went to the bottom, sat very still and began to tilt. Within four hours they were all dead, lying on their sides on the pond bottom.
I called the extension fisheries specialist and he explained something to me...."Check the pH." I did, it was almost battery acid low, as I recall it was something like 3.7. pH that low is fatal to fish. That's why it scares me to death.
Cecil, if you read my post, it doesn't dispute what you said. I have no doubt that iron influences the color of your water. I also know that the calcium carbonate does, too. I bet, if you check the chemistry of the "colored" water compared to the water when it's clear, that you will see different values for your pH, your iron and your lime. I suspect the lime is part of the reason that your iron settles out. I bet there's a chemical reaction over time where the lime reacts with the iron to oxidize the iron and make it precipitate. And as the lime values drop, the water clarity changes.
Headed to church...see ya'll tomorrow night on RFD-TV.
Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Could it be that the "clear" water flowing into your pond is really already green but that you can't detect the color in such a thin layer? The blue water of the the tropics does not look blue in the shallows. Also, ferrous sulfate and many other water soluble metal salts are green. The varieties of complex chemical inorganic and organic compounds which could be giving this color are daunting, I think.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Sunil, long ago, about 1985 or 86, I had the opportunity to stock a beautiful cobalt blue pond, water clarity to eight feet near Bastrop, Texas. It sits in the area called "Lost Pines." I tempered the fish, made sure the water temperature was right and then released the creatures. They immediately went to the bottom, sat very still and began to tilt. Within four hours they were all dead, lying on their sides on the pond bottom.
I called the extension fisheries specialist and he explained something to me...."Check the pH." I did, it was almost battery acid low, as I recall it was something like 3.7. pH that low is fatal to fish. That's why it scares me to death.
Cecil, if you read my post, it doesn't dispute what you said. I have no doubt that iron influences the color of your water. I also know that the calcium carbonate does, too. I bet, if you check the chemistry of the "colored" water compared to the water when it's clear, that you will see different values for your pH, your iron and your lime. I suspect the lime is part of the reason that your iron settles out. I bet there's a chemical reaction over time where the lime reacts with the iron to oxidize the iron and make it precipitate. And as the lime values drop, the water clarity changes.
Headed to church...see ya'll tomorrow night on RFD-TV. Bob, I wasn't disagreeing with what you said either. Just wanted to state what causes the green color in the ground water that is newly exposed in my area. Additonally my Ph never changes no matter what happens in the water i.e. water clearing, diurnal algae changes etc. The alkalinity is so unGodly high it resists changes. I've even used copious ammounts of aluminum sulfate when I had clay particulate problems and the PH doesn't budge.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 04/06/08 10:50 AM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Good info guys. thx. I will get a water tester and check the PH. i noticed on another thread that the pet store can carry a sufficient water testing kit. Is that still the case? If so one is just down the road from the house and I will pick one up hopefully today and check it out. As for the spring water color, LRunkle, it looks like glass to me while it flows swiftly at a depth of about 1-3'. Interesting hypothesis though. I will take some pictures after a few days since we have had so much rain lately. I don't think any plankton bloom yet since it just filled up and the temps just now are getting over 60 consistently.
"Just pondering."
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pondsea, I would have your water analyzed by an independent lab to test more than just the pH. There's more to it than that. Our land grant university here, Texas A&M, does that service for $20.
Our well is so high in iron, when it runs across the ground, the ground is soon rust colored, like it has been painted. There is so much I don't understand about the chemical reactions in water...our ponds, like Cecil's, once the iron flocs to the bottom and solids settle, our water is also a greenish tint without a plankton bloom. It's a pleasant color. Our hardness and alkalinity, just like Cecil's is way high, somewhere above 250 ppm. We have lots of calcium and lots of carbonates and lots of buffering capacity.
Teach a man to grow fish...
He can teach to catch fish...
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THanks Bob. I bet our local univ does the same. Small price for accurate results. I wish I had some pics of today. I went out to the pond and it is a mix of milky green in areas and very dark green in others. The dark green are like large streaks across the pond and when it hits the spillway drain it comes out dark green all the way down the creek below. Even like a dark green algae color. It was very interesting looking to me.
"Just pondering."
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I bet you are just starting a plankton bloom. The limestone rich water is warming and picking up the nutrients from the soil and the plankton gets going especially in a new pond.
Last edited by ewest; 04/06/08 08:39 PM.
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Thx for the time ewest. I have a strong feeling you might be correct. I wish I had pics, but it was too late by the time I got down to the pond today. Man the water was green. It has started turning a dark deep green that reminds me of algae. I mean it looks kind of sick. I wonder if spring pollen has anythng to so with it. And you are right, I noticed the water temp really warming compared to last week. So if that is what a plankton bloom looks like, maybe my pond is not a plankton virgin any longer. Maybe time to get some FH in this weekend?
"Just pondering."
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