How can I keep a small outdoor pond with goldfish clear of any algae?

Question

I have 8 goldfishes in a pond and a filter with UV that's suppose to get rid of algae built up along with water flow.

Answer 1

Add 5ppm of copper sulphate into the pond.

Answer 2

Wow, the U/V should help, perhaps the water flow is too fast for the U/V bulb to do its work. Have you looked at the U/V tube,is it clean, so the U/V rays actually get to the water? Also do you have any other plants to compete with the algae for light and nutrients? Try some Fox tail and also some floating plants like Water Lettuce(Pistia) or Water Hyacinth to give the algae some competition. The result will be that you won't get to see your Goldfish as much,but they will be more secure and well fed,and you won't need to feed them as much(which will also help to keep the algae at bay.) Even with all these measures there may be times of the year when the algae will win for a while.Where I live this is usually in the Springtime.-------Good luck, ponds are fun.------PeeTee

Answer 3

You probably feed them too much, if a few minutes after feeding there is still food on top of the water, remove it as it will just become fertilizer for algae. How old is the bulb in your UV filter? Are you running the water through it too fast? fast enough? You might want to add some aquatic plants to the pond that will compete with the algae, then physically remove the algae and hopefully the plant will keep the resources tied up and make it harder for algae to come back.

Answer 4

how large is the pond? is it the algae that turns the water pea soup green or is it long hair algae? the hair algae is best got out with a stick. if you don't already and have room, pond plants (water lillies, reeds etc) will use up nutrients that algae would otherwise feed on.

i do NOT recommend any kind of catfish for your pond unless you're in a tropical country! the only catfish that can survive a winter grow too big for anything smaller than a lake! and the waste they produce will probably cause more problems anyway.

you could try snails, pond, bladder, ramshorn, but they of course would reproduce also, and the fish may snack on them ;).

Answer 5

You could try to introduce an algae eater tropical fish... having said that, tropicals like 75 degree water. Get a 'Pleco' when the water hits around that temp and put him in... over the summer, he will do his job but once the temp goes below about 70 in the water, you may have to take him out and bring him inside for the cooler weather. He won't bother your goldfish and they can grow to 5 or 6 inches long! Just think, when you put him back in the pond, what a feast!
Good luck

Answer 6

Oranda = 46 and 68 degrees F Shubunkin = 32 - 68 degrees F Lionhead = 46 - 71 degrees F & Fantail = 46 - 68 degrees So you can definately keep shubunkin goldfish in your outdoor pond during winter also but u should house other fish in indoor aquarium during winter.

Answer 7

I would try a plecostomus fish.

They are quite good at eating algae. Usually they are about three inches long when you buy them but they can become as long as 2 feet long when placed in a large tank. In a pond... I can only guess. They are also nice looking, somewhat like a shark but with a flat belly.

They are active mostly at night so you will probably not see it in the day as they tend to hide in dark crevices and under plants.

Answer 8

Avoid sunshine to hit directly on the pond. i.e keep the pond in the shade

Answer 9

You can buy a chemical that is fish safe to put in there at a pet store or lawn and garden place

Answer 10

it is very simple just buy ganitor fish to clean your fishpond from algae