Algie, UV Lights, and filteration.

[koifishgirl]

Something I am wondering about and would like some comment on this.

If you have a pond that does not have proper filteration and the water is staying green all the time and you add a UV light what will happen to the quality of the water? Could this cause a water quality problem and kill your koi by killing of the algie?

[Tim C]

I don't see where adding a UV will cause the water quality to degrade. That being said IT WILL give the hobbiest a false sense of security or assumption that just because the water is 'clear' that it is good.

[koifishgirl]

Tim, I was thinking that if a pond does not have a good filteration system and a UV light is added and it kills of the algie that is keeping the water in check well then what happen to the water quality? Will you have a ammonia spike or what/

[koifishgirl]

Come on guys a little more help with this please

[maryland_ponder]

The 1st thing is that a UV lite only kills what passes thru it. If you have algae growing on the sides of the pond it wont die. The the UV light will sterilize most anything that passes thru it. That said anything that is in the water like bacteria will be killed as it passes thru. The water quality will be improved in that sense. You may be decieved into thinking the water is now ok because its clearing up. Buying a test kit for the most common problems like nitites etc. is the best way to deal with water quality. You have to know whats wrong to fix it & thats really the bottom line.

[koifishgirl]

My understand is that the UV will not kill all your good bacteria as this is all over the place in your pond, ,my question is adding a UV light to a pond with poor filteration. I can just see someone new to the hobby thinking ok let me add a Uv light because my water is green and I want to see my koi. Adds the UV light not knowing what will happen , the filter is not mature and in turn he has a ammonia spike and his koi get sick and die off. I want to know if this is possible.

[maryland_ponder]

UV lites kill all bacteria. Its the reason that it should be placed AFTER your filter. It doesnt descriminate between good & bad bacteria. it just kills all that passes thru it.

[dick benbow]

Judy...
the fact that the pond has algea means there is food present for this single cell plant to consume. They are trying to help water quality by eating the plant food known to us as amonnia. This does help the water quality. But if they can't keep up with the food source then the green water covers up the sores from ammonia burn/infection and other problems. So we put a UV light on the water and......
GET A BETTER LOOK AT THE SORES AND THE PROBLEMS!!!!!!!!!!

green water means that the filter ( for whatever reason) is not doing it's job!

Here in the pacific NW many ponds have trouble in the spring because the weather is cool and lingering for long and suddenly a heat wave hits! we feed the koi and the filters cannot keep up and are overwhelmed. a uv light used at this time, and a light feeding hand till the filter kicks in with the warmer temps can help. If the filter cannot keep up with 2-3 weeks of assistance than the filter is not big enough or designed adequately to do the job.

i do not encourage anyone to use a UV light continuously. It's an assitant to the filter and can also be used between 50 and 60 F to get parasite hatchlings.

[koifishgirl]

Dick are you saying with green water that the koi will still have problems with ulcers?

[dick benbow]

No I can't say that. There are times in a grow pond which has a light green tinge that is healthy grow water and other conditions prevail.

But for most ponds, an ammonia check test kit will be the determining factor