Water question....similar to pond situation?

Question

This isn't a fish question....but "fish" people lol know alot about water quality & how to fix it so thought I'd ask here :)

My dogs have a kiddie pool. When I first got it, the water stayed clear for about 4 days, NOW (a few months down the road) the water turns a icky green color in the matter of a day or two. I am constantly having to dump the $$$$$ water out & refill it, I've trid even doing "water changes" as same principal as a tank rofl. Its in the shade & only gets the afternoon sun. I have scrubbed it with soap a million times & rinsed it out. Even tho I set out a fresh bucket of water for them.....the pooches prefer to drink out of it (especially if they wade in it). Is there anything I can do about this? I thought perhaps someone with an outdoor pond might also have this problem and have some ideas. Thanks!!!

thx craig..no I sure don't want to add chemical...I was mostly just wondering WHY it was happening so fast..your answer makes good sense :)

Answer 1

well if there is no water flow the water becomes stagnent and the pups playing it makes the water dirty so with no filter or and natural water flow to keep the water moving will cause the water to become dirty really fast. So the only way is to keep cleaning it or get some sort of filter hooked up so it. Even just a pump that at least moves the water will help,not as much as a filter but it will help a little. So for now you just gotta keep cleaning it and changing the water or invest in a filter. you dont want to add chemicals to it because the pups drink from it so thats about all you can do.

No problem glad i could help.

Answer 2

Your dogs are probably picking up algae spores on their paws from the soil around your yard, and when they wade in the pool, they comes off in the water. The spores germinate, and you get algae.

Answer 3

block any and all light source and maybe use a water clarifyer (fish store) also that green stuff loves oxygen-poor water so may be aerate/pump/agitate