I want to start by asking if well water grows good algae. I was told that algae likes cool so it helps but is it full of nutrients too? Always, "Algae problems are caused by excess nutrients". Algae gets thick in troughs were there isn't a lot of decaying bottom sludge.
Background: I tried to raise fish in a pond that had a lot of dairy cow runoff. Added a circulation pump and diverted most of the watershed. Added some well water. Found Pond Boss. Drained, started over with aerator. Had serious duckweeed problem that outdid algae problem.
Tried, failed. Tried, failed.
Finally had enough and drained. After I got a lot of equipment stuck (we had a lot of rain last year) I cleaned out the bottom muck pretty good.
Now I have a severe algae problem that I'm trying to figure out. I'm thinking these are most of my problems that will improve next year.
1. I left some chunks of crap.
2. I filled it with well water to about 4 or 5 feet then stopped to wait for my bass--I figured it would be easier to get them on feed if it was smaller. Not a good idea. Caused #3
3. Pond weed started around the edges and before long my pond started to lose its pretty green color wich grows good water weeds.
4. Filling it slowly. Pondweed and algae like the perimeter of ponds. As I started to fill it slowly the pondweed grew as fast as the water level. It's now growing in ten feet of water. Algae did the same. Also, by the time I finally finished renovating, grasses and weeds grew all over. The algae has a lot to grow on. And the rye grass feuls the algae?
5. Never got my Tilapia.
Sorry for a long boring post but I'm perplexed. Are my thoughts on track? If everything dies this winter will the moss be more restricted to the edges next summer and not be quite so bad? I'm also hoping the grass will decay some and the pond will "age" some. I've seen some new ponds fill with algae the first year.
I'm not looking for squeeky clean.
This pond had whooped me time and time again. I dream of giving up but I LOVE MY FISH.